{"id":101937,"date":"2022-04-27T05:22:43","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T11:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=101937"},"modified":"2022-04-27T05:23:07","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T11:23:07","slug":"shedding-elk-high-in-the-wasatch-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/27\/shedding-elk-high-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Shedding Elk High In The Wasatch Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SheddingShedding Elk grazing in the Wasatch Mountains \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/1000, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was pretty excited to spot a small herd of cow and yearling Elk grazing on a steep slope in a canyon high in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> this past Sunday. I don’t have these large members of the deer family in my viewfinder nearly as often as I would like.<\/p>\n

All of the Elk looked a bit ragged because they are shedding their thick winter coats. In a few weeks these Elk will look much sleeker and shinier in their summer coats. Right now, not so much.<\/p>\n

\"SpringSpring Elk in the Wasatch Mountains \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/800, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though these Elk looked like their coats were messy and worn I still wanted to photograph them and share their images because I believe in photographing nature as it is. Nature isn’t always perfect and I want my images to show that. Some mammals shed and birds molt. It is what it is.<\/p>\n

These Elk just went through a tough winter and their coats show evidence of that.<\/p>\n

\"ElkElk shedding its winter coat \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/800, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Because I was as close as I was I didn’t get many photos of the entire herd of Elk that I liked. I should have grabbed my backup Nikon D810 with my 70-300mm lens attached from my backpack to take photos of the herd. Regretfully I didn’t think about it at the time and I am kind of kicking my own butt for not doing that now.<\/p>\n

The cows and yearling Elk continued moving up the slope as they grazed. I spotted them again just a few minutes later on a ridge walking between aspen trees. Perhaps I will get to photograph them again after they have finished shedding their winter coats. I can hope. I have hope.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Elk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was pretty excited to spot a small herd of cow and yearling Elk grazing on a steep slope in a canyon high in the Wasatch Mountains this past Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":101928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[230,1731,26,773],"tags":[4004,3940,6003,4442,4286,4028,12854,4070,4109,4352,887,751,4069,2817,4057,4351,6455,165,4176,2776],"class_list":["post-101937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elk","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-canyon","tag-cervus-canadensis","tag-cow","tag-eating","tag-elk","tag-elks","tag-female","tag-grasses","tag-grazing","tag-herd","tag-hillside","tag-mountains","tag-sage","tag-sagebrush","tag-shedding","tag-slope","tag-spring","tag-wasatch-mountains","tag-winter-coat"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/elk-mountains-summit-county-mia-mcpherson-8454.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-qw9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":103661,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/06\/27\/two-cow-elk-grazing-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":101937,"position":0},"title":"Two Cow Elk Grazing In The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I was treated to seeing and photographing two cow Elk grazing on a grass and shrub covered hillside in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Elk"","block_context":{"text":"Elk","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/elk\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cow Elk looking at me, looking at her, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/elk-cow-summer-mountains-mia-mcpherson-1349.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/elk-cow-summer-mountains-mia-mcpherson-1349.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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raised my lens yesterday morning in the Wasatch Mountains it was for three Elk I spotted on a hillside.","rel":"","context":"In "Elk"","block_context":{"text":"Elk","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/elk\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring Elk bull in velvet, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/elk-bull-spring-velvet-mia-mcpherson-9517.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/elk-bull-spring-velvet-mia-mcpherson-9517.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/elk-bull-spring-velvet-mia-mcpherson-9517.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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