They have been so thick lately, I keep wanting to buy some insurance, term, life, auto, as long as it's from Hartford. That's the power of advertising I guess.

This guy was outlined against the early morning sky as I skated over the ridges headed towards the valley. I was real low as soon as I would be real high once over the valley. The instant I saw him I thought of Hartfords logo (and I'm a Farm Bureau customer), so I whipped out my smart phone, googled them, and sure enough there he was, amazing.

A day later and 100 miles away, this gaggle, nicely posed against the Lost River Range. Anyone know why they would go to all that work to get up on the ridgetops where there is no water or food? For the view?? They all work for Hartford? Turns out he has a name.....http://www.tvacres.com/adanimals_hartford.htm

Has there been an inversion with warmer tempratures higher up on the ridges? That will often push game up.

What do you mean no water? All they have to do is suck on some snow

That's the main reason I'd like to have a much slower and quieter aircraft. To sneak up on wildlife like that. Great pictures!

Cub271 wrote:Has there been an inversion with warmer tempratures higher up on the ridges? That will often push game up.

Big time inversion going on, good call, much warmer up high.

There's a recently thinned-out (by the game dept I believe NOT hunters!!) herd near Sequim WA which I see semi-regularly, hanging out on the east side of town. Also spotted a little bunch about 4 miles west of Concrete last week.

hotrod150 wrote:There's a recently thinned-out (by the game dept I believe NOT hunters!!) herd near Sequim WA which I see semi-regularly, hanging out on the east side of town. Also spotted a little bunch about 4 miles west of Concrete last week.

Those are the Roosevelt Elk. Big and tasty! Don't let the wolves know; they'll start commuting from the dry side.

Ridges are usually wind blowen and bare, more food available for less work, plus warmer than river bottoms and deep timber. I see them every time I'm up flying on the ridges around here ( Kremmling, CO).

The Hartford picture is of a Red deer - the royal tines aren't right for an Elk??

Nonetheless -- those are some cool photos. You sure are blessed to spend so much time "working".

There are times when Elk , sheep and other wild life will look for minerals for there digestive systems.

The elusive "mud lick" . I've tried putting a salt block out in the yard to attract deer (for looking at, not shooting) but that didn't do the trick-- I saw them graze in the yard while ignoring the salt block.

Here's some pictures of the elk lining up for their free breakfast in the kittitas valley this morning.

These are part of the Yakima herd in Central Washington. They are Rocky mountain Elk that were transplanted here. They migrate to the low lands in the winter so the game department has built an ELK fence all along the foothills to keep them off farm land. They try to migrate but end up concentrated along the fence so the game department feeds them. They could fend for themselves if they would disperse but I guess their instinct to contine migrating to the lower country is too strong.

They are fed an average of about 7 pounds of hay per elk per day to supplement what they can forage. There are about 800 in this herd and another 800 at the next feeding station about 5 miles south of this one.

There are about 100 head outside the fence. They spend the days on the open wind blown slopes and ridge tops pawing through the snow to get at the grass.

There's a lot of elk at another game dept feeding station area, Oak Creek, off hwy 12 between Yakima & Rimrock.