Category Archives: RF600mm

Elk and Grizzly

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Only 7 miles from our campsite in Yellowstone was the famous Elk Carcass and Grizzly story that unfolded while we were there.

There was a 700+ Bull Elk that tried to get a drink from a small pond that ended up getting stuck in the mud.  After almost 30 hours from the first report the park rangers decided to humanely put the elk down.  Within a day a huge boar grizzly drug the elk carcass out of the mud and covered it with grass.  The Grizzly that the locals called Big Red then proceeded to  guard his buffet for the next 10 days.  He pretty much ate the entire thing in 10 days.  By the end of it, he had grained a ton of winter weight.  He was successfully able to defend his prize from several other grizzlies.  Every time I checked on him, he was always eating of sleeping on it.  Pretty cool to be able to witness.  There was so much more to see and do in Yellowstone that I didn’t hang out there for hours on end waiting for a fight or something more exciting to happen.

Look at his claws!

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Life is good and I am blessed!

Kent

Day 18: (Friday 9/26/25), Red Rocks Tour & Rocky Mountain National Park.

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Day 18: (Friday 9/26/25), Red Rocks Tour & Rocky Mountain National Park.

No alarm morning.  Felt good to sleep in, got up at 7:30, that is late for me.  This stop in Golden CO, was to see Connie, Sharon’s sister and spend some time together.  Unfortunately, her work called her out of town this week   I have always wanted to see a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater.  So, this morning we took the tour, then we back to the camper and grabbed the dogs.  Headed to Rocky Mountain National Park.  They have also gone to the “Time Entry” program.  But no ticket needed after 2:00 pm.

This concludes the fun part of the trip.  All that is left is a couple crash and burn nights on our way back to Illinois.  Tons of photos to edit, stories to write with each one as I relive and post them.  I could have done a much longer trip, but Sharon is more than ready to be off the road.  She did great and we decided she is a traveling “Glamper” not a camper.  Meaning she doesn’t want to go sit in the woods and do the bon fires and bourbon.  She like traveling to see new adventures, but the connivence of sleeping in her own tiny house.

Red Rocks view from the top looking down on the stage

Yes, I went down and stood on the stage.  1 minute of being a Rock Star.

Found a harem of Elk cows with one Huge bull watching over them.  There we 3 smaller bulls hanging around but never came close.

It is HARD work fending off other bulls and keeping 40+ women in line.  He finally laid down in the shade for some rest.

My first mule deer buck.  They have big ears.  Larger bodies than a whitetail, but behave pretty much the same.

Second mule deer buck.  Notice how the tines split and then split again, they don’t grow out of one main beam like the whitetails do.

Looked for Moose and Big Horn rams but it was way too early in the day to find them.  Guess I’ll have to go back to find “Frank the Tank” and get a full circle Big Horn Ram.  Other than that I captured most of the wildlife I went out here for!  It has been a great trip.  I’m glad Y’All followed along.

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Life is good and I am blessed!

Kent

2025 Spring Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP)

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My sister (Deb) and her husband (Dave) go to the Smokey Mountains 3 or 4 times a year and have been going for over 50 years.  It is one of their happy places!  They own a time share there, as well as their 40’ RV.  Just about every year they go for all of April for her wildflowers.  This year I decided to drag our travel trailer out to meet them for a week (4/22 – 4/29).  I was more about photographing the Black Bears and the spring cubs.  Once the moms bring the cubs out of their winter dens, it is easier to find them due to the fact that the little cubs can only travel so far.   I am good friends with several of the local photographers that knew where the winter dens were and was lucky enough to find 4 or 5 sets of cubs. 

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Deb and Dave have been staying at the same campground since they bought their RV in 2007. Riverbend Campground is a Christian ran business that most sites back up to the Little Pigeon River in Pigeon Forge TN.  All sites have full hook-ups and concrete pads.  From behind our campsites, I photographed Great Blue Heron, Mallards, and Wood Ducks.  The truck and camper did great! 

I went to Cades Cove 4 of my 6 days there and have over 600 full frame bear photos left to process.  I will continue to add them to this newly created Black Bear Gallery.  We also did a couple of hikes I had not been on before.  One morning we hiked to Grotto Falls, and a couple days later we hiked to the Walker Sisters cabin and school.

I love the Black Raspberry Jam from the Apple Barn in Pigeon Forge,  On our way to go get my yearly supply, my sister spotted a Texas Longhorn running loose.  So of course we had to stop and watch.  I called the local police and reported the quickly growing steer jam.  It was pretty exciting to watch the hands from the Skyland ranch try and convince him to go back up the hill.  He charged them and almost got one of the hands.  He ran right behind my truck.  I was happy he didn’t decide to ram it.

On Sunday, Jarrett, Deb & Dave’s grandson, and their son-in-law, Jeff, met us at the campground with Jarrett’s girlfriend, Sara.  Sara’s family owns and operates the NASCAR Speed Park in Pigeon Forge.  They have 8 or 9 tracks.  We got the full VIP experience and all of us boys drove all the different tracks with the faster cars.  It was a blast and we even went behind the walls to see them working on the cars and carts.

A few other captures:

Super happy with the Canon R5, R52, and the RF600mm f4.

Sorry for the mix of professional photos with a few iPhone ones mixed in.  I noticed the last update to Word Press broke all my “Galleries”.  Guess I know what I’ll be working on soon.

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Life is good and I am blessed!

Kent

GHO in Tree Cavity

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Got a tip from a fellow “Owl’er”.  I took the chance with the weather and took off 80 miles to find the nest, still in Central Illinois.  Had a pin where to park, and a rough map of where the cavity tree was, but still took me a while to located it.  Especially since I had map upside down and started off walking away from the nest.  Went back to the truck and regrouped and started over in the right direction.  When I finally found the hole, only 1 fuzzy white head was visible.  I got 3 shots off hand held before it went back down inside the tree.  Moved the truck into location where I could observe the tree for over an hour with NO activity.  Decided I go to the nearest town, grabbed lunch and a bio break.

Went back to observation spot, still nothing.  I reclined the trucks seat and started streaming Shelby’s college softball game.  I would check the cavity every time they changed the field.  Finally in the bottom of the 4th, mom was spotted in the nest cavity.  I don’t know if she flew in, or if she climbed up from deeper in the cavity.

You can barely see the top of one of the two owlets trying to push it’s way up.

These were shot with the new RF600mm F4 IS with a 1.4 TC so effectively a 840mm f5.6

Loving the new lens, and I’ll be back to check on this family again.  Judging by the size of the one Owlet I saw, they will start to fletching soon.

At least I finally found a brown owl (with help), just wish is was closer to home. I’ll be back in the woods looking for more local owls closer to home next week.

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Life is good and I am blessed!