Young Bull Elk Angry as it Faces off with Photographer during Rutting season
Video footage of the incredible incident shows the photographer sitting on the ground by the side of a road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which straddles North Carolina and Tennessee.
He acts submissively by keeping his head down but the elk appears to become increasingly agitated, knocking of his hat and repeatedly jabbing him around the head and neck with its antlers.
Close call: A photographer gets up close and personal with an buck elk in the middle of rutting season
The man manages to remain calm, despite his predicament, and continues to act submissive, perhaps thinking the elk will lose interest and walk away.
Incredibly he even manages to take a few cheeky photographs of the animal as it hovers just inches away from his face.
The elk continues to stand its ground becoming more and more aggressive. At one point it menacingly begins rubbing its hoof on the ground looking as if it is about to charge.
Stick around: The elk hooks its antlers underneath the photographers shirt as it becomes increasingly aggressive
Aggressive: The photographer holds onto his hat as the elk continues to jab him with its antlers
Head butt: The powerful animal continued to lunge at the photographer, who was at risk of being seriously injured
Eventually a ranger arrives and the photographer calmly gets up and walks slowly away to his vehicle. But he leaves his camera equipment by the side of the road and the elk starts trying to eat it.
The video has been posted on YouTube by Vince Camiolo who later emailed the photographer to get his side of the story.
The photographer replied: ‘My first thoughts were “wow, he’s getting pretty damn close here.”
‘But I’ve been up close before without incident. I hoped being still and passive would see him pass on.
When he lowered his antlers to me, I wanted to keep my vitals protected and my head down. I felt that standing up would provoke him more and leave me more vulnerable to goring.
Submissive: The photographer calmly walks away after the animal refused to back down
Nibble: The Elk tries to eat the photographer’s equipment
I think that while protecting myself with my head down, having my head down was a signal that I was rutting with him.
I was concerned at first, but when he started rearing back and lunging at me later on, I got scared and pi**ed off.
‘So I guess at some point if the Ranger hadn’t of pulled up, I would have had to disengage the best I could. I’ve joked with my friends that at least he took me for a buck and not a cow!’
