Upcoming photo excursion.

[MN Shutterbug]

Monday morning, I'm heading to a NWR about 50 miles south of the Canadian border and 300 miles north of where I live. I'm going to spend a couple days just shooting wildlife. I've been informed that the sandhill cranes are starting to group up. I was also told that someone spotted a bobcat with kittens about a month ago. That would be so cool to get a shot of that. There has also been seen, albeit rarely, wolves and moose in this NWR. Bears are supposed to be quite common here.

Wish me luck. I hope to take 100's of photos and have a couple dozen worthy of showing to the rest of you photographers.

[Steve Foss]

XT, which NWR you going to? Some good ones around NW Minnesota. Agassiz, maybe?

At any rate, have a great time at whichever NWR you're going to. Don't forget to check in with the office staff when you get there. They know where all the cool stuff is. Lots of young of the year birds and wildlife all over the place. Here's hoping you get wet, get muddy and get your CF cards loaded with great images.

[MN Shutterbug]

Steve, you guessed right. I've already been in phone contact with the refuge manager. As long as I get there by 3:30 monday, she'll be there to provide me with detailed maps of the refuge and hints and tips of where to go. I may stop at Rydell NWR on the way back. I'll be staying at the casino in Thief River Falls, so on the last day, I may as well point my SUV in the right direction. I understand that Rydell is mainly hardwoods, but just 10 miles to the west away is whole nother story.

I've never taken this type of trip before for just photography. I'm really looking forward to it.

[Nate McVey]

Be on the look out for elk in the Thief River Falls area!

[Steve Foss]

Cool, XT. Rydell is nice, too, but Agassiz is the big kid on the block up there.

And like Nate said, there be elk about the area. I think the elk herd is doing better there than the moose are.

Hope you bring enough CF cards — or a laptop so you can download and burn backup CDs so you can clear your cards and keep shooting.

[MN Shutterbug]

I just read that Thief River Falls NWR is home to the only elk herd in the state. I won't be far so if I hear their bugling, I'll follow the sound. Unfortunately, I'm told the moose population is in a drastic decline in that part of the state. However, I understand there is an abundance of bears in the area. I just saw a photo of an elk that someone got while in the Canadian Rockies. The elk charged within 15 feet and then just snorted and pawed the ground. Wisely, the photographer slowly backed away. It was later that he realized that the elk's harem was nearby. I suppose maybe he looked like competition.

I have a 512 mb and a 1 gig card and extra battery and charger for my camera. I'll also have my laptop with me, plus my L.L. Rue photo blind, bulb squeaker like Steve uses , and digital recorder with the sound of a screech owl on it. Hopefully, I'm not forgetting anything.

tripod - check

monopod - check

weather radio - check

binoculars - check

night vision monocular - check

rain gear - check

jacket - check

Have I forgot anything? There are some decent room rates at the casino this time of the year - only $39.99 for your choice of rooms, including fireplace and balcony.

[Steve Foss]

CF card reader for laptop? Check?

[MN Shutterbug]

Check. It's already in my lens bag. I just threw a CD in my drive, so covered there too. Also bug spray, even though they tell me they are no longer an issue up there.

Thanks for the reminder.

[Steve Foss]

I'd throw in half a dozen CDs just in case. Takes up little more space than a single CD, and if you fill your cards in one day you're going to need to burn two CDs as backup to let you keep shooting.

That's just imo, but as a traveling digital photographer, I'm not happy clearing my cards unless I have all my images stored both on the laptop and backed up on CD.

Bug spray is good. An unseasonably warm day can bring out the bugs in a big way.

[Paul]

I think I would maybe bring some good ziploc bags to hide stuff in if it rains. Nothing worse than giving a $1,000 bath to your camera.

[MN Shutterbug]

Great idea Paul. And I thought I had everything ready to go. However, in my case, it would only be about a $400 bath.