Bull elk and cow

As we approached the fire pit Remington alerted to something beyond the fence.  I could see 2 large brown-orange lumps on the ground.  We walked closer and the smaller lump got up and walked back away from us.  Then the bull stood up broadside to us.  I took a few pictures and dropped the leashes.  Buddy went right completely ignoring the elk but Remington went left right up to the fence and started barking—not fiercely, more of a ‘Hey, who are you?’  The bull raised his head and sniffed the air while facing Remington.  I gathered up all 3 dogs and headed toward the house.  The bull remained in his pose until I couldn’t see him anymore.

Elk in Paradise

On our lunchtime walk down to the fire pit I spotted the elk lying down in the forest on the other side of the fence—he did not react to my calling out or the presence of the dogs.

First day of Fall on the calendar

The elk next door is bugling a beautiful bell like song, the forest paths area covered with crunchy leaves and the hummingbirds seem to have gone to warmer climes. I didn't get home until 6:30 tonight so we only walked in the meadow after dinner. We are trying to avoid porcupines and other nocturnal creepy crawlies. It's still a good walk but only half as long as through the trees. The bald-faced hornet's nest on the tree in the top line is in good shape but the chickens have shredded the lower hive.
It appears that the equal day/night is Friday! On Sept 25 sunrise is 0602 and sunset is 1803 in State College. Here is another very interesting site about the equinox.

Proof

10 points? Asymmetrical. And an ear tag so he is probably left over from the Paradise hunting days.
It's 16 degrees with occasional flurries in the air and a light breeze; too cold for the camera and bare-handed photographer for very long.

After a lot of research we are calling this an elk. Any readers have a different call?

Monster deer at Paradise Ranch

From the Baron and Gambol:

This morning at 0800 when I took Gambol out for a walk we had a real experience--there was about 3-4 inches of new powdery snow and under that was a layer of ice. Every step caused a crunching sound as the ice broke in a oval around my boots. We were making a racket walking along one of the forest trails that we usually take. It runs to our property line where you can see the old 10-12 foot high fence that surrounds the hunting lodge property behind us. The fence was installed to keep the imported trophy deer and elk within the hunting property's 777 acre boundaries. As we approached the fence I noticed that there was a horizontal shape, the size of a large log, on the other side of the fence that shouldn't have been there. It was the profile of a huge deer (I want to say it was a mule deer because of its size) and it had what I estimate was an 8 point rack with a spread of 2.5 to 3 ft--this was a monster deer. It was watching us approach and I could see it move its head and antlers as it tried to get a better look at us through the branches of the trees that are on our side of the fence. At this point Gambol spotted the deer and barked several times. This did not seem to bother the big buck and he slowly walked away from us, perpendicular to the fence up a 20 ft wide logging trail. I turned Gambol around and he got back to sniffing the snow for squirrels and rabbit tracks and I looked back at the buck--it had turned back towards us and was watching us leave.
Well when I returned from the dentist at 1300 I took Gambol out again and sure enough, the buck is still in the same area. I turned us around before we got too close so we wouldn't spook it--although it sure wasn't spooked when we saw it this morning. I planned to take the camera by myself (sorry Gambol) and see if I can capture it with pixels later this afternoon. What a monster of a deer!
As you might imagine, when I returned to the area at 1500 with the camera around my neck there was no sign of the big buck. I think I will try to look for him again over the next few days, but I will have a camera with me just in case.

After later research: It turns out that Paradise Ranch is being renovated.