Yesterday I was able to observe a herd of elk for about 30 minutes. I had never done that before, so it was fascinating. They were in a very large meadow surrounded by aspens and spruce trees. I was watching them from a mile and a half away with a spotting scope.
The first thing that surprised me is how often they'd start trotting for no apparent reason. The herd was predominantly cows, many with calves. As it started getting darker, they all ran toward a bowl in the middle of the meadow. Two would randomly square off, rear up on their hind legs and "box" with their front hooves. This played out with a lot of different cows over about a 5 minute period. There were three bulls lower in the meadow. One was a spike the other was decent and one had a massive rack. The big one chilled and ate most of the time, although he did butt the medium bull once and a few cows that walked by too. Every now and he'd bluff charge another elk that would get close.
Is this kinda normal of herd behavior for this time of year?
