Elk During The Morning Chores

Getting ready to head across the river for the morning feeding, I looked past the tree and the bridge that crosses the river and saw a herd of elk along the hillside.

Traveling over the bridge, the view became clearer and we saw at least 20 elk heading toward the hay field for a day of grazing.

This is the mid-sized herd from out of the 3 that visit the farm.

Once we were over the bridge, the herd caught the sight and sound of us moving toward them. About half of them were already over the fence and in the hay field when the herd reversed direction and bounded back out of the field.

The herd traversed through the green trees and jumped another fence to get onto the hillside that had been clearcut and replanted several years ago. Still, it was hard to track the group on the uphill climb.

About 300 feet above the hay field, I caught a glimpse of the herd.

Because the hill had no big trees, I was able to watch the silhouettes against the sky as the animals trailed along the top of the ridge.

From this spot, the elk have 7 miles of timber ground that spreads out toward the ocean. I hope they find good grazing so that they will stay out of my pastures.