A bull elk manages his harem in Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, including a cow that Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife researchers had captured and fitted with a radio collar to study the herd’s movements. The state issued 45 special hunting permits for the refuge in the 2014 seasons. Hunters who drew the permits in a lottery are strictly limited to walk-in hunting for a specific period in only a portion of the 18,217-acre refuge south of Cheney. The elk mating season was in full swing when Buck Domitrovich of Cheney took this photo in Turnbull on Sept. 11. “The fall ritual has begun,” he said. “This young five-point bull had about 15 cows with him.”
Section:Photo
