Yellowstone National Park 2023 Trip Reports

Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin

09 through 12 June 2023
Yellowstone National Park

Beautiful Mountain Lion ~ Lamar Valley ~ April 10th, 2023 ~ Photo by Linda Rudge Carney © All Rights Reserved

Mountain Lion ~ also known as the Cougar, Puma, Panther, or Catamount ~ Puma concolor

~ June 2023 ~

Friday - June 9th

46 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 73 degrees. We watched a beaver walk up the Soda Butte Creek with the water almost over it from Footbridge Pullout this morning. At 5:45 a.m. Gary G found a courting pair in the Bowl viewed from Footbridge Pullout. We later watched them from the old Buffalo Ranch as the sow lead the boar up and around The Bowl then A-Z Meadow and finally the Divide Ridge and out of sight. At 5:50 a.m. Gary found a dark grizzly between the tree line and the river corridor south of Hubbard Hill. In view for quite a while this morning walking to the east. At 7:25 a.m. Randi M found a grizzly family with two two-and-a-half-year-old cubs in the clearing behind Bear Meadow. As they moved the sow lead off the two two-year-olds but were joined by a second grizzly. Not sure what is going on, but as the sow and one cub went over the hill and the sow sized grizzly joined the other two and half year-old cub. They bedded together for a while but then moved over the hill and out of sight. At 9:00 a.m. a gray collared wolf was seen in the old Druid rendezvous area. At 9:20 a.m. we had a large grizzly roaming around the K Meadow. At 10:15 a.m. Gary G found a medium sized grizzly in the Bell viewed from the old Buffalo Ranch. At 10:20 a.m. we watch a black bear high west of the Bowl. At 10:20 a.m. we had a black bear seen in the old Druid Rendezvous area. At 11:00 a.m. we had a black bear sow with two black cubs of the year in the tree line south of Hubbard Hill. At 11:15 a.m. we watched a dark grizzly moving east in the ridge south of Bear Meadow. At 1:30 p.m. Gary G found a black bear low on K Meadow viewed from Footbridge Pullout. At 2:00 p.m. Randi M found a black bear low on the Northern Divide Ridge.

Saturday - June 10th

50 degrees in Silver Gate but only 42 degrees in Lamar Valley this morning warming up to 63 degrees. I watched a moose at Lower Barronette today and a bull moose bedded near Warm Creek this evening. At 5:15 a.m. I found the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year on # 3 finger on Norris. Good viewing after the light got a little better. At 5:45 a.m. Gary G found some of the Junction Butte wolf pack moving south of Hitching Post. They were basically moving single file and we counted eight black and eight gray wolves south of Hitching Post. At 6:00 a.m. Bob W found a courting pair of grizzlies in the K Meadow. At 6:30 a.m. we had a black bear observed north of Picnic Pullout. At 6:55 a.m. I found a courting pair of grizzlies in the Bowl. At 7:00 a.m. Bob W found a small colorful grizzly above the courting pair of grizzlies in the Bowl. At 7:15 a.m. I found a brown grizzly northeast of the old Buffalo Ranch. At 7:50 a.m. a black wolf was found in the river corridor south of the old Buffalo Ranch eating on a very old carcass. At 7:55 a.m. Gary G found a black bear in the tree line south of the old Buffalo Ranch. Later we observed that the black bear was a sow and it had two black cubs of the year. The cubs must have been out of sight earlier. At 8:50 a.m. Mike S showed me a small colorful grizzly digging in K Meadow. At 9:40 a.m. we had another black bear in the tree line, this one south of the Confluence. At 9:55 a.m. Randi M had a grizzly near the skyline north of Picnic Pullout. At 4:15 p.m. we watched a courting pair of black bears, both black, a Lower Barronette. At 6:00 p.m. we had a large cinnamon black bear high on # 3 finger on Norris.

Sunday - June 11th

48 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to a nice 72 degrees with a few small showers coming through in the afternoon. There were three bull moose feeding near Pebble Creek around 2:00 p.m. We watched a green-tailed towhee singing in a bush at Footbridge Pullout this morning. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 5:30 a.m. Gary found two separate grizzlies in the Bowl viewed from Footbridge Pullout. We later moved west to observe the grizzlies and we found that the darker larger grizzly moved up in the Bowl and joined the small colorful grizzly. They mated for well over thirty minutes. Then Randi M noticed another sow sized grizzly approaching the mating pair. As the mating pair split and moved off the sow sized grizzly followed them for a while. The courting pair moved over the ridge, but the sow sized grizzly remained behind digging for quite a while. At 5:45 a.m. we noticed a black collared and a black uncollared wolf on Amethyst Bench. At 6:30 a.m. Gary G and Paul H found wolves northeast of the old Buffalo Ranch. I arrived to find two blacks and two grays, but Paul and Gary had five black and five gray wolves there today. At 6:40 a.m. a small colorful grizzly came over the hill to check what the wolves were doing. There may have been a small fresh carcass by the way the grizzly approached. The grizzly decided that there were too many wolves, so it moved on without checking to closely. At 7:20 a.m. we had a large cinnamon black bear south of the # 1 finger on Norris. At 1:00 p.m. I found two two-and-one-half year old sub adults in the Bowl. These are the Specimen Ridge sub adults. At 4:20 p.m. after a brief rain shower, I found the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year on the # 3 finger on Norris. Great viewing from Soda Butte East Pullout then and later in the evening.

Monday - June 12th

46 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 65 degrees but cooled off with afternoon showers. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 5:25 a.m. someone in the group found a black wolf on Amethyst Bench viewed from the old Buffalo Ranch. At 5:30 a.m. I found a medium sized grizzly digging in the Bowl. At 5:35 a.m. we had a black bear northeast of the old Buffalo Ranch. At 5:40 a.m. I found the two Specimen Ridge sub adults digging side by side on Bear Meadow. At 5:45 a.m. I found the small grizzly (same one as yesterday, in the same place) northeast of the old Buffalo Ranch. At 6:20 a.m. we watched a large cinnamon black bear walking the tree line going east south of Footbridge Pullout. At 7:00 a.m. Kyle found the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year again on the # 3 finger on Norris. They were in view about 1:00 p.m. in the same place. At 10:10 a.m. we had a cinnamon black bear south of Long Pullout in Little America. At 11:00 a.m. and until 12:00 noon we watched four different grizzlies (not including the two sub adults out earlier) in the bowl that Paul H showed us. First was a courting pair of grizzlies who moved in and out of sight several times. Then a small colorful grizzly moving to the east out of the Bowl. And finally, a nice dark grizzly moving above the BFM (big fat meadow) just above the east end of Jasper Bench who appeared to be hunting elk calves. At 11:30 a.m. Paul H found a small black bear moving east to west above the BFM meadow..

People Seen

Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, John and Carolyn G, Jeremy S, and Taylor R. From Mississippi: Chuck and Wynelle M. From Utah: Paul H. From Wyoming: Larry and Linda H, and Christina G and Paul. From California: Bill W. From Colorado: Dale and Faye B. And From Oregon: Bruce and Kelly H. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Mississippi: Gary G. From Washington: Randi M. From New Mexico: Bob W. From Wyoming: Terri W. From Montana: Doug M. From Colorado: Kim H, and Rick and Tanner H. From Wisconsin: John and Marie E and Mike S and family. From South Carolina: Scott P. From Georgia: Sandi R. And From Idaho Terry and Marsha J. Others seen this report: From Montana: Michael S, Audra C, Bob L, Mike S, Grant J, Pete B, Cliff B, and Chris H. From Vermont: John K.

Beautiful Mountain Lion ~ Lamar Valley ~ April 10th, 2023 ~ Photo by Linda Rudge Carney © All Rights Reserved

Mountain Lion ~ also known as the Cougar, Puma, Panther, or Catamount ~ Puma concolor

Yellowstone National Park

Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park