Wolves, Pygmy Owls, & Blizzards: An Adventure To Remember
TRIP REPORT:
6-Day Winter Wolf Watching Package Feb 2-7, 2025
Our adventure together began and ended with some epic winter weather.
After picking up the group from the hotel in Bozeman and maneuvering the van through semi-plowed streets, we began our journey—driving with minimal visibility— south towards Yellowstone National Park. Our hopes were high; we all were here for primarily one thing. To learn about, and hopefully observe, one of the most fascinating predators in the world, Canis lupus – the gray wolf.
A wild wolf howls as witnessed by Yellowstone Wild guests on tour in Yellowstone National Park.
When starting these trips, there is always a vibe—an electricity—within everyone that guides and guests alike cannot ignore. Weather aside, everyone is buzzing with anticipation, excitement, and hope.! Wolves can be elusive, and indeed, they had not been seen in the three days prior to our excursion. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel the pressure. Would our adventure end this dry spell? Only time will tell.
We arrived in the park mid-afternoon on our first day with virtually zero visibility. Near the road, we soon encountered a herd of bison navigating through the deep snow, appearing as though they’d just survived an ice age. Their enormous bodies were moving through the snow seemingly effortlessly. They munched on the dry, dead, fibrous grasses underneath, using only their massive heads as a snow plow. Despite the lack of quality nutritional value, these grasses are the primary food source until spring brings the relief of new shoots. Until then, they can only dream of lush green fields, as they slowly burn through their fat reserves built up the previous year.
A bison endures a blizzard while eating fibrous winter grass.
Video captured by YW Naturalist/Photo Guide Evan Watts
As we waited for visibility to improve, we witnessed another kind of wildness you can almost always find in the winter: cars and trucks slipping and sliding off the roads. In one case, we waited 15 minutes while rangers hooked up a tow rope to an unplanned “off-roader” and hauled him out of the snowy drifts. That was enough for one day. We returned to Gardiner for a hot and delicious catered dinner at the Sagebrusher’s Cafe, a good night’s sleep at our cozy lodge, and a fresh start tomorrow.
We departed early the next morning in darkness, eager for the day’s adventures. Heading up and into Yellowstone’s Northern Range, we occasionally made stops along our route and simply listened. Listened for the early morning wolf howls often heard as wolves communicate to one another before first light. Listened for birds’ alarm calls, perhaps indicating a presence on the landscape still unseen to human eyes. And we listened to the incredible silence – a profoundly deep hush that few can imagine. This morning on the Blacktail Plateau—a vast glacially carved valley with no other humans or vehicles nearby—the silence envelopes us like a comforting blanket.
It’s time to move now so we continue heading east. As the morning light makes it possible to see our surroundings, we turn into a pullout and get out spotting scopes. This is also breakfast time. While we scope (and hope!), we enjoy fresh-baked scones and hot beverages overlooking an incredible vista well known for providing excellent wolf-viewing possibilities. We breathe in the views of the landscape stretching to the eastern mountains, and welcome the sunrise.
Famed wolf observer and author, Rick McIntyre, glasses for wolves in the early morning Yellowstone light.
It’s worth noting that Yellowstone could very well be the best place on the planet to observe wild wolves. One of the reasons for this is the way Yellowstone’s landscape has been geologically shaped. Yellowstone’s Northern Range includes a series of immense valleys carved out by glaciers as recently as 14,000 years ago. Glaciers release sands and sediments as they inch across an area as the ice-age recedes, leaving behind a sedimentary soil called “glacial till.” This till is a hard-packed, non-porous soil, not allowing for tall or dense forest growth–as water struggles to saturate taproots–but outstanding for catching water on and near the surface to support the fibrous roots, rhizomes, and stolons of grasses, sedges, and forbs. Because of this—as well as water and glacier-carved canyons and valleys, we are offered unobstructed views for miles and miles of some of the best grazing habitat in the lower 48. Perfect for finding prey animals and, fingers crossed, wolves.
Package participants spread out observing the Junction Butte wolves feeding on a bison carcass in an open snow-covered valley in Yellowstone. Picture by YW Lead Naturalist Laura L.
The absolute thrill of scanning for wolves never ceases to amaze me. My pulse quickens, my heart rate elevates just thinking… “are they out there?” Collaborating with other Yellowstone Wild guides, local wolf enthusiasts, and members of the Wolf Project helps tremendously when searching for what could be equated to finding a needle in a haystack. With an average population of 100 wolves across a 2.2 million acre expanse of wilderness ( less than 2% accessible by road), this sentiment indeed rings true. And then. *gasp!*…”got ’em! Wolves on a hillside!”
Wolves moving in to feast on a recently deceased bison. Screenshot of video footage captured by YW Photo/Naturalist Kyle Moon.
What this also means is often, when we watch wolves, it is from a distance of about a mile away, sometimes more. This does not deter us for a moment. Our top-of-the-line spotting scopes and nifty cell phone attachments get set up quickly, allowing us to view and even distinguish individual wolves as they rise from their bedded spots on the hillside and make their way to breakfast. Today breakfast consists of a recently deceased bull bison. The bison feast is visible low on a hillside among a flurry of large birds including bald eagles, golden eagles, ravens, and magpies.
These wolves were viewed using top-quality spotting scopes. Picture was taken with a phone adapter mounted to the eyepiece of the scope.
Through speaking with a member of the Wolf Project, we know these wolves are the Junction Butte pack, along with some ‘visitors’ and former family members from the more recently formed Rescue Creek pack. These two packs have had some rough and tumble interactions, including one recently leading to the death of the former Junction Butte alpha female 907F. Throughout a serious and violent physical altercation between these two packs just a few days before Christmas, 907F was mortally wounded by members of the Rescue Creek’s, leading to her eventual death on Christmas Day.
Junction Butte matriarch 907F in August of 2024 @ age 11. Photo courtesy of YW Lead Naturalist Matt D.
Seeing these two packs together brings up plenty for our imaginations to ponder. Will the two join ranks to form a super pack? Is this an attempt at mating (it’s early in the wolf breeding season) outside the immediate family for genetic diversity? Can the Junction wolves recognize the Rescue Creek group as being responsible for the loss of the Junction’s matriarch, 907F, the oldest known wolf in Yellowstone at the time of her death? Could they possibly be sharing a reconciliatory breakfast with their cousins from the other side of the Plateau?
We ponder, discuss, and hypothesize these questions as we spend the rest of the week checking on our carcass from our incredible vantage point. For three days we are unobtrusive observers and eager students as the wolves (and coyotes and birds and other scavengers) feast on the bison carcass until our very last day together when all that remains are protruding bones, some remnant fur, and the notable bison skull with two massive horns still attached.
Field presentations from members of the Yellowstone Wolf Project, allow participants the opportunity to learn about radio telemetry.
Our week includes incredible opportunities to enjoy all manner of wildlife on the hunt. From wolves, one of the park’s largest predators, to pygmy owls (aka “murder muffins” or “murder floofs” as we jokingly and lovingly refer to them) one of the smallest, we witnessed predators of all shapes and sizes. About the size of your fist or an orange, and hunting during the day for songbirds, voles, and mice, pygmy owls are FIERCE! They are ferocious hunters who can take prey up to 10 times their size, including cottontail rabbits! Like Shrikes, they sometimes impale their prey on thorns or sharp branches for easy butchering and eating. The false eyes on the backs of their heads, tiny bodies, and piercing yellow eyes make for a truly special wildlife sighting!
Pygmy owl preparing to capture a snack. Photo courtesy of YW Lead Naturalist Laura L.
The complete list of wildlife encounters during our week together is too extensive to list here, but we were lucky enough to encounter dozens of different species in their natural habitat, somehow finding a way to survive despite the seemingly insurmountable challenges of winter. From bison to birds to moose to foxes and coyotes to wolves and bighorn sheep, our experience in Yellowstone will never be forgotten.
And on the last day there was one more epic adventure to be had. On Friday—traveling back to Bozeman to fly home day— a massive blizzard hit the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, dropping over a foot of snow in less than 18 hours. Heading north to Bozeman in revised fashion to include an additional driver/vehicle assisting, several guests got to experience their first blizzard! And it was a doozy. The normally one-and-a-half-hour drive to Bozeman turned into three and a half and included just sneaking onto the interstate going west as the barricades were coming down behind us as the interstate closed in both directions. Whew!
Screen grab from Montana NBC News traffic update outlining closures over Bozeman pass.
Despite the last minute weather delays and whiteout conditions, we’re thrilled to report that everyone made it to the airport on time for their respective flights with time to spare. And there is no doubt that every single one of us had heads and hearts full of new adventures, new friendships, and new memories up until the very end!
To learn more about our winter packages, visit our “Winter” page.
Trip Report by Yellowstone Wild Lead Naturalist Guide Laura L. Photos courtesy of Laura L. unless otherwise noted.
Discover more about Laura and the rest of the Yellowstone Wild team, at our “About Us” page
