During dusk and dawn when wildlife are usually more active, I spend most of my time in the car since it serves as a natural blind that animals are less likely to react to. Obviously, this involves a lot of sitting so after several hours I need to stretch my legs. With some of the best scenery around, it is not hard to find somewhere to hike and take photographs. On this particular day I loaded my gear into my backpack, made sure I had my bear spray and headed out with camera in hand. As I came around a clump of spruce trees I spotted some movement in the thickets about 200 feet away. I immediately retraced my steps back into the shadows of the trees to not be as visible and from there I was able to get a good enough look to figure out that it was a large grizzly coming in my general direction. It wasn’t until I had my bear spray in hand that I called out and stepped into the open to alert it to my presence. Only then did I notice an adult wolf was only a few feet behind the bear! Before I had time to take any photos, the wolf disappeared back into the thicket, while the bear stopped and went up on its hind legs to get a better look at me. Facing the bear, I slowly backed away. The bear went back down on all fours, turned to its right and ambled off while I retraced my steps back the way I came. I’m sure the wolf was watching everything from a distance making sure that both the bear and I continued out of the area.
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An amazing encounter!
Wish I had a similar experience….
Yes it was…I just wish I had waited a few more seconds to get a photograph of the wolf and grizzly together. Maybe next time!
Look at the CLAWS on that bear!!!!
You should have seen the size of its teeth! 😉
That must have been quite an experience!
It was! The most ironic part of it was that I had friends visiting who asked to see a grizzly. It was literally only a few minutes later that I stumbled upon this bear!
That’s awesome – some people wait a lot longer.
No doubt. I brought some friends along on another wildlife photography day and within an hour we saw a cougar! My first one ever after searching for years!
Great photos and stories on your site!
OK now you’re making me jealous! I haven’t even allowed myself the luxury to think I was looking for a cougar. You must be a good luck charm.
Glad you you like my photos and ramblings.
I think in that case it was my friends that were the good luck charms. Not to mention the coyote that was barking at the cougar in the forest to alert us to it!