Pennsylvanian elk

This past Friday I drove down to North-central Pennsylvania with some folks from school to see some elk. I might still be a little sore from camping in the cold, but it was fantastic; if you're in the North eastern US area, I highly recommend visiting Benezzette around this time to see some elk.

 Also, this was just in time for the leaves to start changing color. Our group was given access to a very remote part of the elk's range by the elk biologist, who stayed and answered all of our questions. We didn't see any elk here, but the view was amazing none the less.

May or may not be green with envy regarding this person's cabin location.

 Also interesting this trip were the number of bulls in the herd when we finally found them; there must have been at least a dozen in the viewing field. And then probably close to twice as many cows, and a few young ones that were absolutely adorable.

This isn't even half the vehicles at the viewing site. We were less than 150m from the herd (minimum legal- non harassment-distance is at least 100m, if anyone is interested)

A pair of young bulls. Because the herds in PA are on lands catered to them, and we don't have any significant large predators in the east (even black bears rarely go for the calves), these two will, given a few years, grow up to be some of the largest bulls in the country.

I even managed to get a half-decent video of the bull's bugle and a brief skirmish, they hardly ever stopped.

This trip was great, and while I will be finished with classes by this time next year, I hope to return.
In other news! Feeling inspired by a challenge I saw at one point around this time last year, to get more comfortable with imperfection and what not, I will be doing 30 "finished" drawings this month. And in an attempt to destroy my lack of confidence, they will all involve people. And to tie it into my possible delve into the world of NaNoWriMo in November, they will all be related to that some how either in characters, ideas/concepts and the like. It's going to be fun and likely a little crazy. I've already rounded up some potential references and will start the first tonight while enjoying the October weather with some Sleepy Hollow and McKenzie's hard cider.  My goal is to share progress and finished pieces either once a week or along the way, whichever is more convenient. Until next time, cheers!