After hiking and waiting around for a few hours, I was just about to pack up and call it a day. The only remotely interesting wildlife so far was a variety of birds, but with noon approaching, I was ready to head back since the light is generally at its worst in the middle of the day.

But before I left, I heard a faint noise that I couldn't quite pinpoint -- and couldn't quite ignore. Sometimes the source is close by, but the animal is small and quiet. Sometimes the source is much further away, but coming from something a little larger. I considered disregarding it, but I grew convinced that there were some grouse or birds of some type in the bushes not far away.

I slowly walked towards the bushes, and listened for the faint noise to repeat again. It was infrequent and rather quiet. Each time I heard it, I stepped forward a few more feet and would pause for a better perspective on the source. I reached the bushes where I thought the grouse may be hiding, and then I heard the noise again. It was so faint, without any clear change in volume or direction... but clearly further away somewhere.

With no wind or anything else making noise, it was an exceptionally quiet morning. After five or so minutes, I finally figured it out. The first calls were carrying from much much further than I would have expected, but now that it was closer I was able to get eyes on the target. It was a big bull moose quietly vocalizing for a mate. Moose aren't loud when they vocalize, and his call was slightly different from other moose I've heard in the past.

I sprang into action. I knew that he was on to something and he was walking on a very specific line. This moose was on a mission... a mission to find a mate.

Unfortunately, I was north of him, and the light would have been much better if I were on the south side. The distance, speed, elevation, and conditions were just not conducive for me to get on the better side of the light, so I did the best I could with the situation.

The bull saw me clearly and he paused to size me up as moose often do. He quickly went back to the business of smelling around and scouting the area for a female. Soon, I would find where she had been sleeping, but she and her yearling calf must have left earlier that morning. The bull was tracking her whereabouts, and that was the only thing on his mind. He didn't care one bit about me, and I probably could have followed him for miles if my legs could have kept up.

In total, he spent around 30 minutes around treeline where I had intercepted him. He was determined to continue tracking the female and I bid him good-bye as he disappeared into the thick forest.

Super impressive bull. Not the biggest that I've ever seen in Colorado, but perhaps in the top 10 that I've photo'd thus far in the state. His antlers show signs of a few serious battles, but judging by everything else I would guess that he's often winning those battles. At his closest, I would estimate he was 40-50 feet away. Fun encounter.