WATCH: Woman in Estes Park CO Encourages Elk to Kill Tourons

Idaho and our Northwest neighbors are no strangers to wild animal encounters. Hardly a week passes where you don't see some kind of reminder posted by wildlife officials, or a close call posted on social media of someone trying to snag a selfie with a bison.

Warning: You'll want audio for this one, but note there's some NSFW Language

In this week's installment of People Risking Life and Limb for a Pic, a man was nearly gored by a bull elk in (according to the comments), the mountain town of Estes Park, Colorado, while a woman yells at the elk to 'kill 'em!'

There's not much new going on here that you don't see in a typical encounter: People with cameras out and at least two of them getting way too close to an agitated elk, while onlookers watch the elk give chase following plenty of fair warning.

What's unique to this encounter are the comments coming from either the person taking the video or someone very close to them, egging the elk on to kill the tourons that are about to get gored. At one point, she expresses disappointment that the men were able to walk away from the encounter without injury.

Some say she was rude but I get where she's coming from

Some comments were criticizing her for being rude, and perhaps rightly so, but I get it. While I can't say I endorse the sentiment, (I don't want to see anyone killed - and I doubt she did either), I totally understand the feeling of frustration of watching someone risk their life for a TikTok. What's even more frustrating, is that people seem to believe that herbivores don't pose a threat. I did some digging and was able to find one fatality within the last few years involving an elk, and the number of serious injuries by an elk were numerous.

How close is too close to safely view an elk in the wild?

If you come across elk in the wild, it's okay to take pictures but please be aware of the real danger. The minimum safe recommended distance is 50 yards. Or even better, you can check out all these sweet aminal pics we gathered for you below.