I Was a Yellowstone Snowcoach Driver for a Winter... This is What I Saw

this is a snow coach and this is a snow coach driver that's actually me yeah that's I was a snow coach driver in Winter 85% of the roads in Yellowstone close to private travel the only way to get in and out of the park is to ride over the feet of snow that cover the roadways on a snow coach tour or a guided snowmobile trip because of this the vast majority of the park is mostly inaccessible to visitors all winter long you might do a few tours get to see it for a few days but you can't really have an extended winter experience but there are select few of us a lucky few who get the chance to see Yellowstone every single day even in winter when you drive a snow coach for a living you get to observe the park in a way that very few people ever will and this video is going to tell the story of what I got to see as a snow coach driver this winter and everything I photographed as a passionate wildlife photographer trying to turn my passion into a career in a howling bitter snowstorm the wapity lake wolf pack had killed a bison they were about 200 yd away from us feeding on it as snow poured down and there was just barely enough Clarity to make them out in the distance about half a mile to the South the rest of the Bison herd huddled together they had just lost one of their own to the wolves and when the pack got hungry again nobody wanted to be next a bald eagle set to the north of the Wolves waiting for his turn on the kill given the blizzard conditions I set up on a tripod and focused manually I tried for some more minimalist photos here with a total white out frame and black dots of wolves in the distance this was the result [Music] eventually the snow died down a bit there were a few other coaches on scene but for the most part we had the encounter all to [Music] ourselves unfortunately the Wolves remained at a distance and didn't seem like they were going to come any closer so we walked back to the snow coach and moved on a little bit further into the park we encountered the eagle again and it appeared he had successfully stolen a chunk of meat from the kill which he was enjoying from the safety of a [Music] tree as we continued on we found more bison you'll see that they are a common theme throughout this video the primary route that I took guest on into the park went right through the fire Hole River geyser basins here in these basins heat still exists despite the brutal Yellowstone winter geysers hot springs and other thermal features dot the landscape superheating the soil and spitting out boiling hot water and steam the warmer soils don't hold snow as well and so in these thermal areas inches rather than feet of snow cover the ground regardless of how cold it gets when you are a bison and your only food source is a tiny TFT of dead grass buried under the snow digging through inches rather than feet makes a huge difference because of this in Winter we see bison congregating in the thermal areas of Yellowstone life isn't easy for them but The Thermals make it just a little bit easier what a great day in yellow Stone it had been seeing wolves feeding was something everyone was ecstatic to see including myself little did I know I was going to get to see that same thing happen again soon but this time a lot closer up a few weeks later I took in another group of wildlife photographers these groups are my favorite to take in because much like me they want to stop and spend time with the wildlife instead of being on a set schedule that only allows for Short Stops we got to make our own schedule and spend as much time as we wanted with the animals that call this park home the day started with a nice coyote encounter he was cruising the banks of the Gibbon River hunting for small rodents that if he could pinpoint pounce on and catch he would eat he was unsuccessful while we watched him but he looked good and healthy I'm sure he's had success at other times next we found a group of trumpeter swans out in the Open [Music] Water we began our journey back North in the afternoon driving through thermal areas beautiful snow covered Meadows and Conifer Forest as we went we saw more coyotes and of course bison including one who was close to the road in heavy falling snow and in a perfect position for photos so we found this huge bull bison here and he's digging through the snow digging up some dead grass that he's munching on um some light snowfall around us um he's all covered in snow it's a perfect opportunity for photos and uh he's really comfortable with our presence being really Cooperative raising his head for us every now and then and I'm definitely allowing for some awesome photos [Music] I shot some nice scenes of him foraging as the snow poured down around us eventually I moved a little closer to him hoping to get a different kind of shot than the wider full body shot I typically go for for the most part here I'm trying to shoot this scene pretty tight um nice head and shoulders profile every time you raises his head and I'm trying to use some of this snow this little snow bank in front of us here between us and him um to create a a little bit of foreground blur um around his Hooves and around his feet and just mainly focus on that head and shoulders and blow out that foreground and background totally blurred out um and I think it's working out just how I'm hoping it [Music] would yeah these are exactly what I was looking for winter is such a fantastic time to photograph bison they're fighting harder than possibly any other species out here to survive and it makes for some very dramatic photographic scenes and you're probably wondering as you watch this why doesn't he just go to the thermal areas where life would be a little easier like the other bison and that's a great question that to be honest I don't have the answer to regardless of his reasoning finding him in this deep snow definitely allowed for the Epic photos my guests and I were hoping for finally we left the big guy to his dead grass and proceeded to the mammoth area which is where I picked up and dropped off guests every day we ended the day with a big bull elk right at dark we don't get to see that many bull elk this time of year as they are typically in the denser parts of the forest trying to cling on until the grass greens up in the spring so this was a nice treat now you might remember remember earlier I said most of Yellowstone is inaccessible to private vehicles in winter but that's most not all the parks Northern Road between Mammoth and cook City remains plow and open year round and so on my days off I would drive this stretch of road to try and find Wildlife to photograph and that is exactly what I was doing on my next weekend I left home in the dark hoping to make it to Lamar Valley on the Eastern side of the park by Sunrise powdery fresh snow covered both the road and the trees around me creating beautiful conditions for photos I just had to find some Wildlife that was out in those conditions so I found some moose out here looks like about five Bulls out in the Willows here um most of them all except one have dropped their antlers but there's one guy out there with still one antler on which is pretty cool to see um at a little bit of a distance right now um but still you know getting some okay footage of them and U might move a little further down get a different angle and and hopefully get more footage but either way great to see some moose out here here and uh it's an absolutely beautiful morning here in Yellowstone steam billowed up off of the creek as the Moose moved about foraging it wasn't really a scene I liked for photos but it definitely made for some great atmospheric footage here's the best look I got at the poll with one antler left he was behind a few Willows but you can still clearly see his one antler Clinging On for the moment but destined to fall soon I moved further down to try and find a different angle but I couldn't find one that was any closer or better than the one I just shot from and with the Moose only going deeper into the Willows I decided to move [Music] on I'm actually just going to get something to go can I just get a cinnamon roll please this is no joke the best cinnamon roll I've ever had if she's open while you're here you got to go check it out these things are delicious after eating I drove back into Yellowstone and began looking for more Wildlife as I rounded the corner right where I had just seen the Moose I found a few cars stopped and people out looking I grabbed out my camera and scanned the hillside where within a few seconds I pinpointed a couple of wolves moving through the snow these wolves were members of the shrimp Lake pack which is a newer pack that occupies the northeastern corner of the park when they reached the top of the hill they bet it down and I shot a bit of footage and some photos of them from about 300 yard out they didn't seem to have any plans of moving much so after capturing what I wanted from the scene I drove back out into the Lamar Valley unfortunately I didn't get too far before the traffic got pretty darn heavy these bison are using the roadway as a path to travel on they do this quite a lot in Winter simply because it makes life easier travel is a lot less exhausting and Troublesome when you walk on a plowed roadway instead of a rugged landscape covered in deep powdery snow eventually as cars piled up behind us the Bison moved off to the side of the road and I continued into Lamar here I got a quick encounter with a coyote in the tall grass and a look at what might be my second favorite bird in Yellowstone behind great gray owls and don't worry we'll get to see great Grays later in this Vlog but for now here is the tiny unique American Dipper this little bird is North America's only aquatic song bird these animals make their living in High Mountain Streams where they will perch on the ice or rocks on the side of the river looking for aquatic insects and then dive in after them they have specially adapted feet that allow them to cling to the rocks on the river bottoms where they will walk around underwater and Hunt eventually they reemerge onto the surface and usually have something to eat with them and as you can see here the cold really doesn't bother them much where there is open Swift moving water they can survive so that was pretty sweet um got some wolves and then the coyote up above us here and now this Dipper um it's been a great morning in the park I've had an had an awesome morning here no really great photos but I've gotten cool footage and and had some some good Wildlife sighting so it's been a fun morning but I don't know about you guys but um I'm ready to get back into the interior of the park let's get back in there and see what we can find another day another group of photographers going into the interior to look for wildlife I drove us South where before long the skies became overcast and snow began to fall it didn't take us long to find a herd of bison who much like our friends in Lamar yesterday were using the roadway for easier travel with heavy snow falling around them the photo opportunities looked fantastic so we got out and began to shoot I didn't quite get as many photos as I would have liked from this encounter but I did come away with this one which is probably my favorite Panorama I've ever taken after moving on from the Bison we got a brief encounter with a coyote and then finally at the very end of the day found an animal I've wanted to see and photograph for years years and man did it give us some incredible photo ops a pine Martin as he peaked out from within a tree at us I grabbed out my camera and joined my clients who were already shooting he was dashing around in the snow up the trees towards us away from us he was putting on quite a show and everyone was able to get photos that they liked [Music] we drove back to Mammoth just before dark unfortunately we got no wolf photos this day but just because you don't see them doesn't mean they're not there okay we we did see them that was for dramatic effect you can actually see some in this clip they were too far out for any good photos but we counted 16 howling around us which regardless of any photos or not was so cool to experience by now the winter snow coach season was partially over and I had had some incredible Wildlife encounters I am so excited for another winter in the park in the 2024 and 2025 winter season but this time I want some of you guys to join me in January of 2025 I am leading a 9-day wildlife photography Workshop in the incredible Winter Wonderland that Yellowstone becomes we will spend time in the northern range via wheeled vehicle and we'll have our own privately chartered snow coach to go into the interior on photo opportunities like the ones you've seen in this video will be plentiful this will be a small group workshop and a few spots are already taken so if you're interested in joining me check out the link at the top of the video description for more details and book soon to be a part of this adventure I'm very hopeful that some of you guys will come along it would be absolutely amazing to get to show you my favorite place on Earth in person but if you can't join us that's what these videos are for so let's go find some more Wildlife another photography group needed a ride into the park and so I took them South on a bitter cold sunny day we started the day off with a frosty bull bison who was standing out in a meadow with his breath billowing around him as we continued deeper into the park we found ourselves in a frost encrusted landscape so we stopped to shoot a few wide shots of the frosty environment eventually we made it as far south as Yellowstone Lake which was frozen solid and covered in a blanket of thick snow it was here along the banks of the lake that we happened upon my favorite bird species in the park the great gray owl the owl was perched in a lodge pole Pine in a densely forested area it gave us a few glances but for the most part just sat there resting typically by this time of year great gr owls have migrated out of Yellowstone down to lower elevations where snow isn't as deep making for easier hunting but this year was a record low in terms of snowfall and so despite it being February owls were still hanging out in the park as we began our Trek back towards Mammoth we got a look at the lower Falls of the Yellowstone which was partially frozen over and a couple of winter Keepers cleaning snow off the roof of one of the buildings at Canyon Village [Music] the next day I was off work so I spent some time photographing wildlife near home [Music] this included a few Pronghorn and quite a few big horn [Music] sheep I missed photographing the Sheep rut this year which takes place at the start of winter but I still got a nice look at and some great photos of a couple of enormous Burly Rams another early morning and another day at work I was taking in a photo group today and to be honest I expected today to go like any other day at work we go in we shoot some Wildlife get some nice photos and we go home little did I know I was just a few hours away from experiencing the most incredible Wildlife Encounter of my entire life when we pulled up on the scene all we saw was a crowd and a bison the Bison was standing on the banks of the fire Hole River and upon closer inspection you could see that he was injured and that there was blood on the ground around him and then emerging from the Shadows we saw it and my jaw Hit the Floor a black wolf it took nothing more to piece the scene together we were about to watch a pack of wolves hunt a bison and was going to happen right across the river from us the Bison laid down two black wolves quickly moved in and began nipping at his butt forcing him to stand back up on top of the hill the rest of the pack slept they were using a ruthless but effective hunting tactic the Bison was cornered on the banks standing the Wolves were resting as things currently stood he would Tire long before they did especially given that he was already injured and had no nearby food source with enough standing and enough starvation he would be easy to kill it wouldn't even be a fight and most importantly for the pack they were less likely to get injured by him while making the kill it was just a waiting game now as the day went on quite a crowd formed to photograph and watch things play out over and over again the Bison would try to lay down and every time he did so the Wolves would come back in and force him to stand up the pups in this pack which you are seeing in this clip are now almost fully grown and they were the most eager to test him even when he was standing up they would move in and bother him which allowed for some incredible photo opportunities of them moving along the banks and interacting with the Bison [Music] my clients and I spent the entire day sitting in the snow documenting the scene as it unfolded as the day grew long more and more of the pack came down from the hill and surrounded the Bison he laid down again his head hung to the side he was exhausted he wanted to rest but the pack wasn't going to let that last long they moved in on him cautiously sniffing the bloody snow they got close enough to bite him and a simple nudge was all it took to make him stand back up this happened again and again and again with more of the pack joining in on the hunt and tearing away at his injury each time the final time the Bison struggled to even stand up as incredible as it was to watch nature play out in this way it was also very heartbreaking this bison was going to lose his life and it was going to happen soon over the course of the 7 hours that we sat there we watched and photographed as the Bison grew weaker and the pack grew hungrier and by Sunset the bison's energy was gone nearly the entire pack surrounded him pushing and testing him to see if they could make a kill move finally as Darkness fell across the landscape the Bison waited out into the fire Hole [Music] River this was his only chance at escape the pack stood on the shore waiting to see what he did and sniffing the blood where he had been standing all day this was the last thing we saw before it got too dark to shoot and we had to leave to get back to Mammoth [Music] Flesh and Bones that was all that remained in the morning a gry wolf cautiously moved in and began to feed [Music] [Music] [Music] eventually a couple of black wolves waited out into the river and joined her I continued to shoot as they did so and I got what are definitely my favorite carcass feeding photos I've ever taken [Music] the Wolves would periodically leave the carcass and rotate out letting a different Wolf come in to feed when they did this they would cross the road which allowed for even more photo opportunities in a different set than the river once again my clients and I spent pretty much all day shooting this scene and it was another one of those days that you'll just never forget [Music] about the Wolves fed a few more times over the coming days but I wasn't working so I missed it finally they left the remains for the Ravens and other scavengers and with that The Saga of Yellowstone's most iconic animals wolves and bison coming face to face in a battle to the death ended and shortly thereafter my winter season as a snow coach driver did as well man what a season it had been if you'd like to come photograph epic wildlife and winter scenes like you saw in this video don't forget to check out the winter and Yellowstone Wildlife photography Workshop I am leading in January 2025 this is linked at the top of the description and if you reserve your spot now you'll ensure that you get to come along long but like I said earlier if you can't join me next winter that's what these videos are for so on that note I'm going to get to work on another video and you guys get out there and shoot some photos for me while I'm stuck in the office editing thanks for watching everyone and I'll see you all in the next one [Music]

Channel: Watts Wildlife

Views: 63,960

Keywords: yellowstone in winter, living in yellowstone in winter, life as a yellowstone tour guide, I was a yellowstone tour guide, i was a snowcoach driver, snowcoach in yellowstone, snowcoach tour in yellowstone, yellowstone snowcoach, yellowstone snowcoach driver, yellowstone wildlife photography, winter wildlife photography in yellowstone, wildlife photography in yellowstone, wolves vs bison, wolf pack vs bison, wolves hunt bison, wolves hunting, wolf pack hunts bison, wolf vs bison

Id: ybYAQspJAUo

Length: 28min 21sec (1701 seconds)

Published: Fri May 31 2024