Yellowstone National Park 2023 Trip Reports

Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin

04 through 07 October 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

~ October 2023 ~

October 4th - Wednesday

37 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 47 degrees. I viewed two golden eagles flying around Footbridge Pullout today. At 8:30 a.m. Steve B found a grizzly digging in the eroded area of the rendezvous area. It was in view for a long time with good viewing for those at Hitching Post. At 9:00 a.m. I found a large dark grizzly digging under the snow cornices viewed from Hitching Post. I watched it again at 12:00 noon and again at 5:45 p.m. so it was digging all day on that high slope. At 9:15 a.m. Stacey A spotted a gray wolf from Dorthey' Pullout. It was approaching the grizzly from the west. It moved past the grizzly to the east but turned around and passed the grizzly again going back to the west. It was collared and I learned it was 1437M from a Grand Teton wolf pack named Hawk's Rest. This wolf had been seen in Junction Butte territory for the last few weeks. At 10:00 a.m. 1276F, the Junction Butte wolf who was kicked by an elk and has her jaw broken was seen south of the old Buffalo Ranch. She does not look good. From 4:15 p.m. through 4:25 p.m. I watched a black wolf moving towards Prospect Peak viewed from Boulder Pullout. It was very dark, perhaps a yearling, and probably from the Rescue Creek Pack, it moved southeast and out of sight.

October 5th - Thursday

6 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 51 degrees. I had a fox on the road near the Northeast Entrance tonight. At 7:15 a.m. Michele from Wolf Tracker had a nice sized grizzly near the Slough Creek den area. It was slowly moving up hill occasionally stopping for a quick dig from time to time. At 8:15 a.m. while glassing south from just east of Long Pullout I spotted some of the Junction Butte wolves on the east end of Mum's Ridge. It ended up being four black and three gray wolves which included 907F and the alpha male. They made a long journey to the east in sight moving through Lion Meadow then through the Diagonal Forest then through the Yellow Grass Meadow moving out of sight to the east for well over an hour of viewing. The viewing from Slough Restroom or Bob's Knob or Dave's Hill was great. Someone told me of a carcass on the Beartooth Highway outside the park which I investigated this evening. Near dark a medium sized grizzly came to the carcass area, and I watched for over 25 minutes.

October 6th - Friday

37 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 65 degrees. This morning I returned to the Beartooth Highway and was delighted to see a blob of grizzlies on the carcass before first light. It was the grizzly sow with three cubs of the year. She had been seen around the area recently by others I know. Her left front paw is missing two or three of her five claws (a trap earlier in her life is my guess). One of the three cubs is darker without any light colors and the other two are quite colorful. They moved off after twenty minutes. From 8:30 a.m. through 9:30 a.m. I watched four gray and two black wolves on an antelope carcass south of the old Buffalo Ranch. The black pup was there, and the wolf watchers guessed most of the others were yearlings. At 12:00 noon I had a nice sized dark cinnamon black bear cross from south to north in front of my car at Elk Creek. It required me to reorganize the back of my car as I had to brake hard. I also had a THREE DOG DAY today.

October 7th - Saturday

31 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 66 degrees. I hiked with Frank H today. We did the Trout Lake Trail then to Buck Lake then to Shrimp Lake before returning by walking around Trout Lake. At 7:35 a.m. the Junction Butte wolves were spotted on Amethyst Bench moving to the east. I counted nine wolves, but the wolf watchers counted thirteen, eight grays and five blacks.

People Seen

Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Jeremy S, and Doug M. From Tennessee: Stacey A. From Illinois: Andy and Nikki S. From North Dakota: Sandy H. From Colorado: Steve M, and Dale and Faye B. From Missouri: Frank H. And From Wyoming: Larry and Linda H. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Montana: Doug M. From Utah: Scott and JoAnn M. Others seen this report: From Montana: Cliff B, Dan and Cindy H, Russ K, Mike S, Michele, MacNeil L, Kate J, Quinn H, Steve B, Audra C, Michael S, Cris H, and Evan S. And from Idaho: Teresa.

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