The Dominant Bull Elk Droptine
They called him Kickstand or Droptine
because of his unique antlers.
They called him Kickstand or Droptine because of his unique antlers. Big, a 6 x 7 point elk, for the September of 2023, he dominated Moraine Park. Periodically, a younger elk might approach one of the females in Droptine’s harem, but without much concern, he would lower his antlers, move aggressively toward them, and the other elk would retreat for its own protection.
Several mornings on
RMNPhotographer Tours, we watched him. Each day he was the bull who had his harem closest to the road. Unintimidated, he was the one who provided the photo ops for hundreds of photographers there for the elk rut.
I liked the name “Droptine” because on his left rack, the side with seven points, while six tines point up, one dropped pointing down. Others liked the term “Kickstand” because like a bike, he had one tine that could prop his head up when he laid down. Either worked, but I preferred Droptine.
I wanted to capture a photograph of him straight on, his antlers back, his mouth open as he bugled his mating call, warning other bulls to stay away. It was a massive bugle, dominant like he was, and it would echo across the distant hillsides of Moraine Park with each bellow.
One morning, he was particularly amorous, and he trotted around the meadow, dipping his head in the dry grasses, flinging it upward, and sending the grass and dirt into the air. His head shaking, time after time he repeated the process until he strode toward us, the grass like a proud crown of royalty on his head.
He Walked Toward Me Bugling
On our third RMNPhotographer Tour to view Droptine, it happened. For a fleeting moment he turned, walked toward where I stood, and bellowed his dynamic bugle. My lens focused, my camera steady in my hands, I held the shutter down taking eight images per second.
Through the camera viewfinder, I would see the details of Droptine’s antlers. They were grooved in steady lines going the direction they had grown. The gray color of each tine led to white tips that had been rubbed sharp against the trees and brush. He was bold and powerful with his eyes staring into you.
You never know if you’ve gotten the shot you seek, not until the images move from the camera to the computer where it can be enlarged. No less, the thrill rushed through me, excited over what I had just captured.
Droptine had given me a moment. The moment of the bugle, the moment with his head back in strength and his eyes staring at me with power. Droptine, for that year, had dominated Moraine Park.
