The big bull's chocolate-colored antlers seemed to float among the golden glow of aspen trees. Without breaking stride, the elk stretched out his neck and screeched out a bugle. From the timber across the meadow, another bull, this one higher pitched, screamed back. Then, a third bull, quite farther off in the timber, bugled.

For 20 minutes, the three bulls screamed and whistled back and forth. The largest bull was not alone. He had a harem of cows to tend to back in the aspen. Should either of the two strangers try to move in on his property, there would be a battle. It is September in elk country. Prime time for some "mountain music"!

During this season, the valleys and ridges will echo with the sounds of bugling bull elk. The bulls, spurred on by the mating season, are calling to prospective cows, or scolding challenging bulls. Their eerie screams and whistles (bugles) will reverberate across the high country. It is truly some of the best "music" to be heard in the outdoors.