Yellowstone National Park 2017 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
22 through 25 April 2017
~ April 2017 ~
Saturday - April 22nd
40 degrees in Gardiner and 31 degrees in Lamar Valley this morning, clear all day with a high of 57 degrees. At 6:50 a.m. 926F, 949M, and Small Dot of the Lamar Canyon's were on the really old bison carcass at Round Prairie. At 7:00 a.m. I spotted the tall grizzly digging south and east of the Soda Butte Cone. At 7:20 a.m. we had a black bear south of Midpoint in the tree line viewed from Picnic Pullout. At 7:35 a.m. I found a dark grizzly east of the Horizontal Forest moving into heavy trees. At 7:50 a.m. John G found two sub adult grizzlies above the trees south and west of Fisherman's Pullout viewed from Coyote Overlook. At first John assumed the two grizzlies were the sow and yearling since they were in the same place most of yesterday. But these were too sub adults. At 8:10 a.m. I spotted a black wolf on the east end of Jasper Bench moving east. The wolf people figured it was a Mollie's wolf pack member. It continued east and was in view all the way down to Picnic Pullout. At 9:30 a.m. I found an un-collared gray wolf on top of the sage den at Slough Creek. This is the general area where the Junction Butte pack had two females in the same den last year. The problem is that this gray is a Prospect Peak pack member. I believe the gray is in the den with puppies. Towards evening, when I was not there, the seven Junction Butte wolves returned. They did a lot of scent marking and checking for smells of what was in the den. It is assumed that the gray was in the den growling at them. At 10:25 a.m. the grizzly sow with one yearling came over the ridge south and west of Fisherman's Pullout. They were within a couple of hundred yards from where the two sub adults were at earlier in the morning. At 10:45 a.m. a large grizzly appeared on Amethyst Bench. We watched from Coyote Overlook, but others had a better view from the Institute. At 11:45 a.m. we had two grizzlies quite a ways from each other north of the eastern curve pullout east of Footbridge Pullout. The large dark grizzly was feeding near the tree line and the smaller lighter grizzly was feeding in the middle of the clearing. We determined it was the courting pair we had seen a week ago in the same spot. The large dark one being the boar soon disappeared into the tree line while the lighter sow feed for about a half hour before following where that dark one entered the trees.
 |
Sunday - April 23rd
42 degrees in Gardiner but 35 degrees in Lamar Valley. Shortly after daylight the snow came in and the visibility dropped to least than a half mile. The snow lasted to about 10:00 a.m. and it got up to 55 degrees in mid afternoon. At 7:25 a.m. 926F was on a freshly killed elk carcass just east of Footbridge Pullout. At 7:35 a.m. 949M was south of Soda Butte East Pullout. At 7:45 a.m. Josh A called with a light grizzly moving thru Round Prairie going west to east. I did have a THREE DOG DAY today. At 8:40 a.m. Jennings S made a good spot in the snowstorm to find the tall grizzly digging south and east of the Soda Butte Cone. At 9:20 a.m. seven of nine Junction Butte wolves must have crossed the road near Fisherman's Pullout and were seen in the snowstorm to the south. They eventually bedded on the west end of Jasper Bench and were found when the clouds lifted and the snow slowed down. At 10:15 a.m. Josh A called saying a grizzly north of Footbridge was trying to cross the road to the south to get to the elk carcass. As I arrived we had three wolves on or near the carcass: Little T, Small Dot, and 926F. Then the grizzly crossed road and slowly headed for the carcass. He got confused and went the wrong way, then got diverted by 926F leading it away from the carcass, but it finally got to the carcass. Like a kid in the candy store it was a happy grizzly. At 10:30 a.m. someone noticed a small grizzly coming out of the trees to the south. It only came out a couple hundred yards, smelled the area, and left to go back into the trees at a run. At 11:15 a.m. I found the grizzly sow and yearling on the skyline south and west of Fisherman's Pullout viewed from the Institute. At 11:30 a.m. Bruce P found the two sub adults just west of the Amethyst Drainage chewing on some type of old carcass. We moved to Dorothy's for the next four hours watching the seven sleeping wolves on Jasper Bench and most of the time also watching the sow and yearling and sometimes also watching the two sub adults after they moved to Amethyst Bench.
 |
Monday - April 24th
38 degrees in Gardiner and 32 degrees in Lamar Valley warming up to 41 degrees. The roads were snow covered this morning and the snow was coming down with big flakes so my average speed was 20 mph. The snow and low visibility stopped in the morning but a little rain in the afternoon. At 6:50 a.m. Doug M (wolf watcher) showed me a grizzly in the trees south and east of Footbridge Pullout. At 7:30 a.m. Kim C found three black wolves south of Long Pullout in a snowstorm. At 7:50 a.m. I found them on top of Specimen Ridge just before the visibility dropped off. My count was also three blacks, they were Junction Butte wolves. At 9:45 a.m. I found a bunched up group of bison north and east of Coyote Overlook watching a grizzly. The bison moved towards the grizzly as the visibility dropped to nothing. I tried other pullouts to the east but never found the grizzly again. At 10:30 a.m. Kim C called saying the small brown grizzly had crossed the road to the elk carcass east of Footbridge. Not much left on the carcass as the grizzly was busy dragging the hide around and chasing off the ravens. At 1:00 p.m. we had a black bear sow south of the woods between Specimen Trail head and the Yellowstone Picnic area. The black bear sow has two brown cubs of the year, but she had them up a tree every time I passed to look at them. At 2:00 p.m. the grizzly sow with one yearling was out south and west of Fisherman's Pullout viewed from Coyote Overlook. At 2:30 p.m. Ed A found a small grizzly south and east from Dorothy's Pullout. It was out for a couple of hours, I believe one of the two sub adults from yesterday. I did have a THREE DOG DAY today. At 6:00 p.m. my last sighting for the day was a large black bear south and west of Lava Creek.
 |
Tuesday - April 25th
40 degrees in Gardiner and 34 degrees in Lamar with early snow. Visibility was marginal most of the day warming up to 49 degrees. At 6:25 a.m. five black wolves and one gray wolf of the Junction Butte pack were near a carcass south and west of Long Pullout in Little America. At 7:30 a.m. we had a large grizzly south and west of Hitching Post. Bruce P had seen the grizzly moving east to west at Footbridge and helped us locate it. It slowly moved towards the willows but then slowly moved south and out of sight. At 8:00 a.m. we heard howling to the north near the Moose Head. We moved to Picnic Pullout where Kim C found them to the north and east. Good viewing of all four Lamar Canyon wolves moving to the west not to far above the road. They disappeared then reappeared near the Institute. Then around 11:00 a.m. three of the pack crossed the road going south. The fourth wolf, small dot, howled and howled and finally the other three re-crossed the road back to the north. At 8:35 a.m. Randi M found the small grizzly (we think a sub adult) just east of Amethyst Bench from the Institute. He remained in sight all morning and I heard reports that it was back in view well into the afternoon. At 9:30 a.m. Ralph N called with a dark grizzly east of the Horizontal Forest in Slough Creek. When I arrived it was out of sight, but reappeared and moved east and out of sight. At 1:00 p.m. the un-collared Prospect Peak female was bedded on top of the Sage Den in Slough Creek. It was on top of the Sage Den again at 3:45 p.m. I hiked with Wayne K, John G and Randi M to Calcite up the Tower Road today. On the way back the black sow with two black yearlings made a nice appearance between Calcite and Rainy Lake. At 3:25 p.m. I stopped at the bear jam between Yellowstone Picnic Area and the Specimen Trail head to watch the black bear sow with the two brown cubs of the year. After a little time she sent them up a tree and followed them up the tree. At 4:15 p.m. the un-collared gray female wolf of the Prospect Peak pack was bedded in the eastern trees east of the Sage Den. Then another gray wolf showed up and the new wolf was submissive to the un-collared gray female. Others had seen three grays come in early and leave. The friendly nature of the visit meant they were also Prospect Peak wolves. At 4:30 p.m. Kim and Joyce C found the grizzly sow and yearling on the northern Divide Ridge from Slough Creek. She had been viewed there a few days ago and was out digging again today.
 |
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Doug M, and Lizzie C. From California: Bob and Nell H. From the UK: Alan and Kirsty P. From Kansas: Calvin and Lynette J. From the Netherlands: Yort V. From Idaho: Rick E, Natalie and Warren B. From Oklahoma: Robert and Pam W. From: Idaho: Kim and Joyce C. Bear Watchers: From Washington: John G, and Randi M. From Idaho: Jon and Karen E, Blake M, Carma and Jennings S, and Rob and Karen M. From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Ohio: Jim and Twyla E. From Colorado: Ed A. From Montana: Jack G and Tim R. From Illinois: Wayne K. and from Indiana: Jeff and Terri. Others: From Montana: Bob L, Cliff B, Steve B, Dan and Cindy H, and Lee H. From Idaho: Ray T. From Wyoming: Ed, Bobbie and Jon T. From Mass: Ed S. And lastly from Utah: Bob B.
Yellowstone National Park
Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park
