GAYLORD, MI - When you step onto the new viewing platform that gives you a perched look over the city’s Elk View Park, you should be prepared for a little drama. Especially if you’re visiting in the fall.

Mating season means the big bulls in the city’s elk herd can be heard “bugling” to emphasize their standing in territorial power plays. What’s at stake: Selecting their lady friends in this huge penned park at the edge of town.

Elk viewing is such a unique part of life in Gaylord . On a recent morning, locals who were walking their dogs and stopping with their coffee climbed the stairs to the platform and stood along its huge viewing rail. There, they rubbed elbows with tourists who’d stopped to see the dating scenes unfold.

They didn’t have to wait long. Just after sunrise, one huge

See Full Page