August 7th, 2013. I’m in Jackson County, Northern Colorado. It’s early in the morning and the sun hasn’t risen over the nearby peaks so the light is flat and not exceptionally bright.

Five of these big boys were hanging out in a field about 50 yards from the highway. I pulled off and started making photos of them. One at a time, they pick up and walk to the highway to cross into another field on the opposite side of the road. They move through my position, both in front and behind me on the side of the road. I got a brief stare from each of them as they walked by me, but none of them were interested in me and they were on a mission.

It’s a lucky break for me. It isn’t often you stumble upon five fully mature bulls in close proximity to one another and be close to them too. I made some good photos of each of them as they moved by me. Once they settled into the other field, I was able to get close to them again. The were so busy chomping on the willows, I wasn’t even on their radar.

The problem was now they were spreading out a little and I was having a hard time framing up all five in one photo. Patience, patience, patience. They slowly worked themselves back together, but two of them had decided to go lay under a tree in a meadow to the left. The others stayed right in front of me and continued to grace me with their presence. I probably worked these moose for over an hour and I spent the entire time photographing them.

Today’s photo was made shortly before they decided to go lay under the trees with the first moose. I have a few more famous photos from this encounter but I wanted to find something different in the sequence. This shot has never been seen by anyone but me, until now. I actually have some video too. I’ll share that another time though.

As for me, it was one of the easiest encounters I’ve ever had with a bunch of bull moose. These moose literally walked right to me and then posed for me.

Some days, all you have to do is show up.