Hayden Local

This wolf provided one of the most memorable and adrenaline-pumping experiences I’ve had in my photography career. During my last job in Yellowstone, the wolves were active for the first time in all of my visits. In my experience, even when these amazing animals are “active”, encounters are usually fleeting or at an un-photographable distance. This fella was a different story. I first spotted him about 200 yards out as we were going through Hayden Valley. Unfortunately there was no room at the nearest turnout, so I told my buddy to drop me off and come back around. I was near a cluster of scopes and cameras as the wolf began trotting toward us. Everyone hopped in their cars, but my friend got stuck in the jam of vehicles and wasn’t able to reach me. There was a ranger that began hazing the wolf in an effort to deter any comfortability it had with humans, vehicles, and roads in general. The wolf got scared by the ranger’s cracker rounds (these are essentially projectile firecrackers), and it began running toward the SUV that I was using as cover. I will always do what I can to stay at least 100 yards from apex predators like bears and wolves, but the situation changed incredibly fast and the wolf ended up within 20 yards from where I stood. While there was no displayed aggression with the wolf, I did my best to make myself unnoticeable. Still, as a photographer, I had to peek around the car to capture the shot of this wolf coming up over the shoulder of the road. Although I know there are things I could’ve done better to avoid this situation, it’s hard to explain the feeling I had in this moment. I know many people have encounters like this relatively often, but I have chased this portrait for years and I can say without a doubt, it was worth the wait.


*Side note: I approached the ranger after the wolf was gone to apologize if I did anything wrong. She let me know that I was where I should’ve been, but the cracker rounds unexpectedly changed the wolf’s direction and pushed him toward me.*

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