Wildlife photography is competitive, but we can at least be civilized. Equally important as where to find wildlife, is when . The changing seasons greatly affects the animals' behavior and your photo opportunities. May. Nesting songbirds can be photographed in late June. Mountain goats need to be photographed early in the summer, before they start losing their hair and look like rotting carpets.
Different wildflowers bloom at different times throughout the summer.
The leaves on the aspen trees turn to gold during September, which is influenced by altitude and latitude. Elk start their mating activities in late September, followed by mule deer, then bighorn sheep at Thanksgiving. If you can't make 80 trips to the park each year in all seasons, or don't want to get up at 4AM and drive around in the dark, you might consider buying a book. For less than the price of two rolls of film, you get to see the results of the best days I've had in the mountains over the years. I hope you will get as much enjoyment from my seeing my photos as I had taking them.