7-Point Bull Elk Swims Coeur d’Alene Lake

Some spectacular pictures. That elk is one heck of a swimmer too.

Very cool. This is one good lookin’ fella, in great shape- very nice to see.

What a beautiful elk…glad to see that your friend shot this elk with a camera and not a rifle…

Just to let you know, you can do both, shoot a camera and a gun and not take away from the majesty of the animal, scenery or the beauty of the moment. My grandpa was a hunting and fishing guide in the wilderness of Idaho and spent half the year shooting his camera and has some of the most spectacular wildlife photos there are. He then guided hunters on these animals and harvested some of them. I don’t see a problem here, or a conflict of interest. Hunters have always enjoyed the beauty of the outdoors (the animals, the mountains, the trees, the creeks, the sounds, the smells, etc.) as much or more than anyone.

In the words of (Dr. Valerius Geist, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science at the University of Calgary in Alberta, is a renowned expert in wildlife management and conservation practices. In addition to teaching, writing about, and lecturing on the subjects, Dr. Geist has performed years of in-the-feild research on big game species. He has authored 16 books, seven documentary films and contributed 40 entries to various encyclopedias. “The Outdoorsman”, July 2004 issue, bulletin # 5.) “The wildlife we currently enjoy is not wildlife that was left over from the past, but wildlife restored by a continental system of wildlife conservation that arose after its near destruction a century ago. It is one of the great cultural achievements of North Americans in the 20th century, the greatest environmental success story of that century, and a highly successful system of sustained development of a natural resource.
Since wildlife was financed on a “user pays” basis, the restoration fell on the fraction of North Americans who hunt. The rest of society got a free ride in their enjoyment of wildlife as an important component of high quality of life we enjoy.
Few North Americans are aware of the excellence of the wildlife conservation system developed here by the dedicated public spirited efforts of three generations of thier ancestors. Unfortunately, this ignorance extends to professional wildlife biologists as well. Americans are, after all, not keen of history, following Henry Ford in considering it more or less bunk.” I undersatnd your love for wildlife, as I as well feel the same, but make no mistake about it, it’s the hunting community who has provided this for the last century. Wildlife is one of the most renewable and managable natural resources on the planet, and there is no reason why “harvesters and non harvesters” cannot enjoy it together. The “rifle” has built this “wildlife you and I enjoy so, please don’t “bite the hand that feeds you”.

Thanks Paul D

Wow great pictures. Capturing an animal on film in nature is always inspiring. Thanks for posting this. Lake Coeur d’Alene really is beautiful.