Elk Herd Brings Football Practice To A Screeching Halt In Estes Park, Colorado

Too many men elk on the field

You’ve heard of a lightning or a weather delay holding up sporting events, right? Well, how about an elk herd delay? When you live near nature, you are bound to have some run ins with it. This Colorado football team, the Estes Park Bobcats, had their practice brought to a screeching halt recently by an elk herd.

Looks like the wild animals wanted to get in on the game.

It’s estimated that over 280,000 elk live in Colorado, which is enough to give the state the honor of housing the largest concentrated population of elk in the world. Believe it or not, that many elk bring in tourists from all over the planet, and one of the more popular places they visit is Estes Park, Colorado – which is referred to as the “Elk Capital of the World.”

Safe to say, if you hang around Estes Park and the surrounding Rocky Mountain area, you are bound to see some elk.

And right now, seeing an elk (especially a bull) in person might be a little dangerous. It’s normal for bull elk to be more aggressive and vocal from September to November. They starting “acting up” during that period of time to establish dominance, and in hopes of securing a female mate. So it’s good that this football practice froze for a bit to let the elk move on through.

Every player out on the field stopped and watched as the majestic, antlered creatures walked right out on the field. Guess you could say the elk were running a “prevent defense,” since their presence prevented practice from going on as it was supposed to. But like I said, it’s good that everyone stayed still… one wrong move or hail Mary route could have triggered an elk to charge.

Though these kids were sporting helmets and padding, that gear isn’t designed to protect them from a 700-pound elk attack. Everyone handled the situation perfectly, and tried to keep a safe distance away. Granted, these kids grow up living around elk, it’s not their first rodeo…

The National Park Service recommends that people keep 25 yards away from elk. Some of the players may have been a touch closer than that (when the elk was at the 30, then the 20, then the 10), but it was the wild animals that kept closing in. Not much you can do about that but stay still and stay calm… and stop all football related activities until the elk herd moves on through:

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A post shared by Good Bull Guided Tours (@goodbullguided)

Inconvenient, yet beautiful. If football practice is going to be delayed, an elk herd being the reason isn’t the worst thing in the world.

Social media users that came across the post were quite impressed with the video posted by “Good Bull Guided,” and also cracked some football-related jokes in the comments section:

“That’s an impressive backfield.”

“Looks like the boys are used to this happening.”

“I don’t think I would ever play that team.”

“They’re trying to run Oklahoma drills, line up.”

“What a place that would be to grow up.”

“Need these elk to play defense for the Dallas Cowboys.”

I’m always here for a dig at the Dallas Cowboys…The post Elk Herd Brings Football Practice To A Screeching Halt In Estes Park, Colorado first appeared on Whiskey Riff.