Black Hills ~ Rocky Mountain Bighorns

The Black Hills of South Dakota is one of my all time favorite places to visit. There is such a wide diversity of interests to explore and enjoy in this area. If I did not love Alaska so much and the fact that my family is there, I would have to give the area of the Black Hills some very serious thought. But, I will be content in visiting it, to take advantage of the natural beauty of the area.

I last visited this area in the fall of 2009, during that trip, I had the opportunity to come face to face with four Rocky Mountain Big Horn Rams. I enjoy viewing and photographing wildlife.

Having that opportunity to witness those Rams running together was a sight that I thought was one of those "once in a lifetime experiences".

I returned to the Black Hills again this year, hoping to have that opportunity just one more time. I was not disappointed, I thoroughly enjoyed over three hours of watching and photographing seven (7) Big Horn Rams. I took over three hundred shots, which will provide me a long winter project to sort through.

Each of the Rams were at least a 3/4 curl or better in size. These are the breeding Rams that will soon be going into the rut. There were no ewes in the area, just the Rams hanging out together, for a few more days. This is typical of many of the wildlife species just prior to the rut. They accommodate each other currently, in another couple of weeks they will be butting heads to determine their dominance in the breeding cycle. They are a massive and impressive animal. "The Gang of Seven"

In the event you are wondering, these shots were taken in a range of 20 to 60 feet in distance.