Patience Pays

I took a quick trip in late January to Yellowstone to explore winter in the park, with a hopeful goal (like most) of capturing a wolf. With only 3 days to explore however, I did my best to keep my hopes high but expectations low for actually photographing a wolf at a reasonable distance. Winter is Yellowstone is spectacular, and within the first couple of hours the opportunity to capture a gorgeous coyote mousing in the snow provided proof.

Over the 3 days spent dawn to dusk searching and exploring, fantastic moments with sheep, bison, moose, elk and even an occasional dipper near the stream side reminded me why I love this area. Still, in the back of my mind I had the yearning to see wolves on this trip. We found tracks and heard howls (which was thrilling by itself), but none had shown themselves. I was far from disappointed, but had still resigned myself that this was not going to be the trip for a wolf.

Finally, on the last morning I couldn’t resist one last look before facing a long 10 hr drive home. A small group of pronghorns showed themselves, so I decided to stop and spend that last hour in the park photographing them. A young buck was close, but busy feeding and refusing to lift his head for me, so I waited patiently. Suddenly the pronhorns ears perked up and they scattered across the hillside. What happened? Had I spooked them somehow by moving too quickly?

Then it became clear what spooked them. Out of what seemed like nowhere a lone collared wolf appeared, which through a little research later I learned was likely a 2 yr old (in April) female, wolf 1228F from the Junction Butte pack. This pack had a number of pups born in 2019 near a trail that encounters humans often, raising concern over their habituation. Park officials have worked to dehabituate them, yet two of the pups have been killed by traffic. It was clear from this encounter that 1228F does not have much fear of roads either.

I was able to grab a number of shots during this fleeting moment as she ran by, but then decided to just watch before she disappeared. Then, seconds before vanishing into the deeper woodland, she stopped and posed for me, in a beautiful scene with the morning light just catching her eye. One of those experiences you simply don’t forget, and it would not have happened if I had not decided to wait a few minutes longer for the pronghorn to lift his head…. My experiences in wildlife photography have taught me time and time again that patience pays off. Sometime just 5 more minutes is all it takes for nature to reward you.