On thin ice....

My dad and I drove to Clam Lake Wisconsin looking for elk a couple of weeks ago. We headed right to a likely spot where we had seen elk in the past and... 

we actually found some elk!

 

 

 

It was a group of seven or eight cows and calves browsing on plants in the forest.

 

 

 

And grazing on dried out grass.

 

 

 

The sun came out for just a bit as one of the calves stopped eating long enough to see what we were doing.

 

 

 

After making a few images, the sun went back behind the clouds and we went looking for other subjects to photograph.

 

 

 

At a boat launch on Day Lake we walked out to this view of clouds, shadows and snow.

 

 

 

Clouds can make all the difference.

 

 

 

 

 

I kept working the angles with sky, trees, shadows, and clouds in order to find pleasing compositions.

 

 

 

The warm light of the setting sun lit the poplar trees to the east.

 

 

 

The view to the west as the sun dropped below the horizon.

 

We had seen fresh elk tracks crossing the road on the way to the lake and went back to try and find the elk who made them.

 

 

 

Our luck held, as we found a group of seven more elk including three young bulls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sun again slipped behind the trees and I lost the light for good pictures so we headed for a different spot on Day Lake.

 

I had been trying to make decent images from this particular spot for years without any luck. With a few clouds in the sky and the sun sinking low from our new vantage point I thought I might have a chance.

 

The lake was iced over and if I hurried I might be able to make some useful images before the sun disappeared completely. My dad stayed in the car and I jumped out with a camera, an extra lens, and a tripod.

 

 

I had to walk about a quarter mile in order to use the tamarack and spruce trees as a foreground to the evening sky. The clouds had mostly disappeared and the color was disappointing, but I tried to do something with what was there.

 

 

 

As I was walking out there I realized that I didn't actually know how thick the ice was and it had snowed the day before covering the ice surface.

 

I slowed down and started to pay attention. I came upon a beaver lodge and could see the snow was wet around it. I stopped and backtracked and looked for a safer route.

 

 

 



So far, so good. So I kept shooting and moving and trying to compose some pleasing images. None of it was working very well and I was starting to feel frustrated.

 

I took a few breaths, took these last couple of images,

 

 

 

 

 

and then put my camera in it's case, hung it on my shoulder, shortened the tripod legs and stood there.  I decided to enjoy the moment rather than struggle for images that weren't there. It was 18 degrees, the sun had just dropped below the horizon, and it was a good day.

 

After a couple of calm, beautiful minutes, I took a step back to take in the scene, and KAWAAK!! I heard that sound or something like it as the bottom went out from under my feet. 

 

Instinctively, I grabbed my camera case and lifted it as I launched myself backwards. I didn't actually know what had happened until I was putting both hands on the ice behind me and pushing myself out of the water and back onto the ice. My left leg was soaked past my waist but my right leg was mostly dry.  The ice I was now standing on held as I stood and took stock of my situation.

 

My camera case was mostly dry and I had zipped the zipper all the way shut so I was good there. The lens in my right side coat pocket seemed dry and undamaged, and my tripod was covered in ice but still in my hand.

 

Where I had fallen through must have been only about waist deep and it seems I successfully pushed off the bottom with my left foot as I threw myself back when the ice had given out. All things considered I was in great shape. I only had a quarter of a mile to get back to the car and there would be a heater waiting for me when I got there.

 

I took a look around and found a seemingly safe path back toward the road.  As I got to a stretch of open ice between me and the car I thought about how stupid it had been for me to assume the ice was good on the way out.

 

I walked slowly and thought happy thoughts about how light I was as I made it across that ice to the car.

 

I put my stuff in the back and my icy tripod in the trunk, got in shotgun and asked my dad to crank the heat. I told him what happened, felt lucky how it all turned out and looked forward to a hot shower when I got home.

 

 

No pain in the aspen

Many trees had already lost their leaves by the time decent fall color showed up near Clam Lake Wisconsin.

So I was pleased to find this stand of quaking aspen

 

 

 

 

 

Looking resplendent in gold against the blue afternoon sky. 

 

I was near Clam Lake to try and photograph wild Wisconsin elk and finally found a lone bull just after sunset.

 

 



 

 

Elk & Frog & Toad

I found this bull elk just before sunset near Clam Lake Wisconsin.

 

 

A day later this bull was staying near a couple of cows in a shaded forest.

 

I was hoping to photograph a larger bull so I headed back to Clam Lake.

 

I didn't find any good bulls, but I did find.....

 

a beautiful mink frog

 

 

 

 



and a really nice American toad. 

Looking for Wisconsin elk

One afternoon my dad and I drove to the Clam Lake area looking for elk.

Just a few minutes into our drive we saw a group of mallard ducklings and I was able to get this image.

 

Once we got to Clam Lake we started driving some of the roads hoping to find elk. It has been my experience that the only way to get decent Wisconsin elk photos is to locate them from the roads and shoot from the car.

We found this painted turtle soon after we started driving around. I learned a long time ago to photograph the subject I do have when there is good light. So on this day, the turtle in the hand was worth two or more possible elk in the bush.

The turtle wasn't particularly patient with me so we left her to find an appropriate place to lay her eggs and got back to elk.

No elk, but we did see lots more painted turtles. I kept an eye on the clouds and sky planning for possible sunset shots and located a patch of wild lupines that would still be in sunlight later on.

The shadows were getting long and there were still no elk to be had when we headed to the lupines.

As I walked into the patch of flowers it was quickly apparent that a black bear had been there too. Flowers were knocked over and every couple of feet there were bear sized areas where all of the plants had been flattened as the bear sat on them.

I was glad the bear had walked through first, as I could follow its path and knock down a lot fewer flowers myself. I tried to create some decent images before I lost my light.

 

I silhouetted this lupine as the sun got low on the horizon.

 

I was optimistic as we headed for Day Lake hoping to capture some good sunset photos. It turns out, the light never really showed up, but quite a few mosquitoes did as I watched the sun dip below the horizon.

I made only a few images and sat down to enjoy the view as daylight slipped away.

Here I am watching the colors fade after a fun afternoon photographing elk with my dad.



Fall elk in Wisconsin



A medium sized bull elk pauses before crossing the road.



I didn't expect to get the chance to photograph Wisconsin elk this fall, so I was happily surprised to find myself in Clam Lake for part of three days last week.

 

The fall color was already past peak as seen in these morning reflections. 


  





   


   






   





A spike bull browses at the edge of the forest.







 
   


 
  








A family of wild turkeys heads for the woods after feeding near the roadside.



A bull elk walks across highway 77 on an October morning.





 

Golden oak leaves are back lit in a forest opening.





An immature red-tailed hawk watches for a possible meal from its perch.

  

The weather was warm and clear. It got as hot as 85 degrees one of the days I was there. I saw only eleven elk, five bulls and six cows and calves. I also saw several bald eagles, a few red-tailed hawks, and a coyote.

Photographing elk in Wisconsin is nothing like it is out west. There are only about 180 animals in the state and they behave very differently than their western counterparts. The Wisconsin elk seem content to hide out in the sheltering forests of the Clam Lake area. They have all of the food and water they need right there in the woods and don't seem to seek out meadows or other openings to gather harems in the fall.

In Wisconsin it seems to be a matter of catching the elk grazing along the roadside or in the act of crossing the road in order to get decent photos of them. Even so, with some patience, persistence, and a little luck Wisconsin elk can be fun.

Fall elk

A beautiful bull elk a few miles from Clam Lake Wisconsin.

This small bull elk is checking behind it as another bull bugles in the distance.

I located this elk calf and cow wearing a radio collar near the edge of a logging clear cut.  I found them here twice over the course of three days.

This bull elk was staying near the cow and calf.

This is another photo of the best bull I was able to photograph this fall. The bull came out near the road to gather one of the cows from his harem. The cow had walked across the highway to the other side. The bull came up to the edge of the road and waited until the cow came back to his side and rejoined four other cows in his harem.

Here's a glimpse of a little fall color seen from one of the forest roads near Clam Lake.  I made several trips to the area to see, hear, and photograph elk during the rut with some success. 

I learned that Wisconsin elk have very different habits than the elk in Wyoming and Alberta.  Out west the elk seem to gravitate towards open meadows during the fall rut.  The Wisconsin elk seem quite content to stay in the woods and it wasn't easy to find them out in the open during daylight hours.  

It may be that there are so few elk in the area (only 140 or so) that the entire rut dynamic is differerent.  The bull I found with the collared cow and calf seemed quite content to quietly wait nearby for the cow to come into estrus.  He never bugled and didn't seem to want to draw any attention to himself.  I'm not sure if that is normal operating procedure for these Wisconsin bulls or if this bull was mute due to his relatively small size.  Either way, it was lots of fun spending time with wild elk in Wisconsin during the rut.