{"id":9532,"date":"2013-09-22T05:53:16","date_gmt":"2013-09-22T11:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=9532"},"modified":"2026-03-01T08:04:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T14:04:04","slug":"my-first-visit-flaming-gorge-national-recreation-area-two-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/09\/22\/my-first-visit-flaming-gorge-national-recreation-area-two-years-ago\/","title":{"rendered":"My first visit to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area two years ago"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AnotherFlaming Gorge in early morning light<\/span><\/p>\n

Two years ago I made my first journey to Flaming Gorge National Recreation\u00a0Area<\/a> in Utah and it was an eye opening experience.<\/p>\n

Gorgeous scenery along with bountiful animal life and to be there during an Indian Summer was divine. Two years ago today the sun rose to a cloudless sky and lit up the mouth of the gorge and accentuated the deep blue water of the reservoir.<\/p>\n

\"PronghornPronghorn buck marking his territory amongst Rabbitbrush<\/span><\/p>\n

But the main subject of the day? A large herd of Pronghorn being watched over by a very territorial buck.<\/p>\n

This buck had a harem of about 25 does and young pronghorn that he was very aggressive about keeping away from a lone buck interloper who kept trying to; pardon the pun, horn in on his territory.<\/p>\n

He was successful for the most part but some of the does thought the other buck was appealing and would try to escape so he stayed very busy.<\/p>\n

\"PronghornPronghorn doe with dark canyon walls behind her<\/span><\/p>\n

I just liked how this Pronghorn doe seemed to glow against the dark canyon walls. She wasn’t a part of the herd with the very aggressive buck, she was several miles away from him.<\/p>\n

\"PronghornPronghorn does on a hillside<\/span><\/p>\n

Now these does were a part of the buck’s harem that were close to the campsite at Antelope Flat and though it might look like they were paying attention to me and my long lens that was focused on them… their attention was on the lusty buck!<\/p>\n

It is pretty cloudy this morning so I won’t be going out shooting but I can look at these images from two years ago today and still feel the warmth of an Indian Summer day at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Two years ago I made my first journey to Flaming Gorge National Recreation are in Utah and it was an eye opening experience. Gorgeous scenery, bountiful animal life and to be there during an Indian Summer was divine. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1159,3464,981,183,26,99],"tags":[4004,4291,4096,4184,4056,4390,1817,887,519,4035,343,185,9356,4249,102,4032],"class_list":["post-9532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-flat","category-daggett-county","category-flaming-gorge-national-recreation-area","category-pronghorn","category-utah","category-wildlife","tag-adult","tag-antelope-flat","tag-antilocapra-americana","tag-buck","tag-does","tag-flaming-gorge-reservoir","tag-harem","tag-herd","tag-nature","tag-nature-photography","tag-photography","tag-pronghorn","tag-reservoir","tag-rut","tag-wildlife","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/flaming-gorge-national-recreation-area-mia-mcpherson-6057.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2tK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4348,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/02\/09\/flaming-gorge-national-recreation-a\/","url_meta":{"origin":9532,"position":0},"title":"Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Last September I visited Flaming Gorge National Recreation area for the first time. Wow, nature never ceases to delight and amaze me.","rel":"","context":"In "Bighorn Sheep"","block_context":{"text":"Bighorn Sheep","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bighorn-sheep\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"View of Flaming Gorge from the Dowd Mountain Overlook, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Daggett County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-5748.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-5748.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-5748.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-5748.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48321,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/01\/welcome-september-autumn-pronghorns\/","url_meta":{"origin":9532,"position":1},"title":"Welcome September – Autumn Pronghorns","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The first of September means the start of Autumn to me. It means the oaks in the high country have already begun to turn red.","rel":"","context":"In "Daggett County"","block_context":{"text":"Daggett County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/daggett-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pronghorns at Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Antelope Flat, Daggett County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-9903.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-9903.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-9903.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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I'll just say Flaming Gorge is awesome at sunrise with storm clouds moving in.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Flat"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Flat","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-flat\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flaming Gorge at sunrise under stormy skies, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-8101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-8101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-8101.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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