Yellowstone Grizzly

I managed a few shots of this Grizzly up on Dunraven Pass, In Yellowstone during our recent trip.

I was told that the big guy was involved in a "dust up" with a sow grizzly a couple of weeks previous. The sow was protecting her cub.

You can see the results of the fight on the male here.

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Nice captures, but they show just how rough life in the wild really is.

Nice shots! When we went to Yellowstone 6 years ago, we actually saw one of those "dust ups" in progress. A male came upon a female with cub near the side of the road and they had a little tussle in front of the bear jam. The rangers were telling everyone to get back in their cars & everything. They were pretty far from the road (even with zoom my pics were marginal but the video wasn't bad) but it was still amazing to see. How close did you get to this guy?

I'm so jealous!!! I spent the first week of June in the park and while we saw lots of bears, did not see a single one in the "Grizzly Habitat" area near Dunraven. None of my shots were near the quality of yours either. Very nice shots, TFS!

Thanks for the kind comments.

We found the Grizzly early in the morning, just as the sun made it over the mountain, so there were not many folks out yet. This eliminated the dreaded "Bear Jam."

There were four (4) of us photographing the bear, a couple of the gentlemen were "regulars" and knew the bear well.

At one point the bear was within 30 yards of us, but down hill. We didn't move, he did! He gradually worked across the hill to pick flowers in the open area. All I know is that I suddenly realized that the Griz was more than full frame in my 500mm lens!

Great shots, man.

Unless you were shooting with the 500 and a 2x, that is way way too close for me. Great shots.

Great shot ! Too close for me also ! They can run up to 40 mph !!

that shows the true wrath of a pissed off woman

Great photos bhowdy!!!

Nice job!

looks like the fella they call "scar face". one of the rangers told me about this guy when we visited over the 4th. I rented a 100-400 and was able to get some shots of a 3 yr old griz on the same pass. good shots, mine aren't quite that close lol. did you crop?

Amazing shots, it illustrated the point that even if your a grizzly yourself, you don't come between a mother grizzly and her cub. I hope you had a lot of distance for these wonderful shots and captured them with a powerful long range lens for your own safety. Grizzlies are one of the last animals on land that you ever want to feel the true power of.

Are they really that dangerous... he looks so cute

Based on what I have been told of this bear, it is a good news bad news proposition on how close you can be. I was told the reason he has two ear tags and the collar is because he has charged/bluff charged humans before. That said, the two days I saw him on Dunraven near the 4th, he seemed fairly docile, although I did not know until after he left that he weighs around 600lbs. On the 2nd, he was kind enough to come fairly close to me, close enough that I had to take the 1.4x off of the 600, and he provided a full face for the frame. I will try and post a picture of him tomorrow, the one I have on my blog doesn't really do him justice.

Just remember, they move fast and they are dangerous. In Yellowstone, YOU cannot approach within 100yds of a bear or wolf, but they may approach you. After my encounter with him being about 15yds away, I realized that had he wanted to come after me, I would not have been able to pull the bear spray, but I was at the front of my vehicle and may have had a chance to get in had he charged, but again, the key was he approached the people watching him, almost no one approached him.