This is THE skull! Exactly 619 days and 19 hours before this shot was taken, I and my “Wolves of Yellowstone Class” got to see this bison taken down by the Mollie’s wolf pack on one snowy February afternoon in 2012. On a recent hike with photographer friend Brad Orsted, we came upon this area of Lamar Valley where that exact hunt took place – AND it is the same one that I filmed and placed on YouTube (linked below)! As we walked into the area of the hunt, that day was the farthest thing from my mind, but when I looked around, my memory snapped to the fore. The dramatic scene that took place over a year and eight months ago, happened RIGHT HERE!

“Brad,” I said, “I think that bison’s bones from the wolf hunt should be right ahead of us somewhere here.” Lo and behold, there was the skull – mere yards from the final resting spot of that bison when those 19 wolves seized her.

When watching the film footage you will see the bison fleeing from the wolves and going up a trail on the background hills. Look closely and you will see, etched in the sod, those very same trails. In the film, I was watching from across the Valley at a distance of ~2 miles. One always come across bones and carcasses in Yellowstone and I always wonder “what was the story behind this one?” In this particular case, we know the exact cause of death, where, when, everything…