James York took a trip to the Cataloochee Trail in the Smokies, set up his equipment along the side of the road and began shooting photos. That’s when a bull elk made its way down the road, past the designated “safe” area and headed straight toward him.
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York remained still, kept his face and head protected and moved as little as possible as the elk began headbutting him.
When the photographer planned his October 2013 trip, the last thing he expected was such a close encounter with the wildlife.
“He just kind of looked up at me,” York told Knoxville’s 10News of the encounter. “I just paused and waited for him to move on, but he decided to take more interest in me.”
When confronted by an elk, it’s usually advisable to stay as far away as possible from the animals. When that isn’t possible, as in York’s case, it’s suggested that you make yourself appear larger and dominant, to maintain eye contact and try to gain upper ground on the elk by climbing a tree or positioning yourself so that a larger object lies between you and the animal.
York wasn’t able to exhibit all of those behaviors, but according to park rangers, he took the correct actions to not agitate the elk.
“Because I [was] standing up, I couldn’t protect myself as easily as I could down on the ground by curling up into a ball,” York said of his reaction.
The once-in-a-lifetime encounter was all captured on video by bystander Vince Camiolo.
“Definitely got pretty nervous for the photographer pretty quickly,” Camiolo said of what he witnessed. “I was following the lead of the other photographers who were there because I thought they were experienced, maybe this was common?”
Luckily, aside from a very shaken York and a clearly agitated elk, neither were injured during the tense, 7-minute plus confrontation.
Unfortunately, the young elk has since been put down, with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park citing a “risky” relocation due to the animal’s dangerous behavior.
But the encounter, in which found York up close and personal with an elk during rutting season, is one that will likely live on in the photographer’s mind forever.
