Weekend with the Wapitis, Part 5 - Winter 2025

Isaac Rath and Katie Milesky

Photos by Isaac Rath

The Wapiti Lake pack of Yellowstone National Park made sure I started 2026 on a high note! Late on New Year’s Eve, I got word that the pack had made a kill just off the road near Seven-Mile Bridge, located about (you guessed it!) seven miles down the fourteen-mile-long west entrance road. This was great news for me because I was scheduled on a winter photography tour for the next two days, which just so happens to travel along the Madison River via the west entrance road.

I started the day as I would any other - pre-tripping the coach, gathering lunches, meeting my guests, and giving them a rundown of what the day would likely look like. I did mention that there was a small chance we’d see grey wolves today, as they had been spotted along our route and had a kill, so they’d likely still be in the area.

We headed in the direction of the carcass pretty slowly, making my usual stops along the way. This was on purpose - we didn’t want to arrive too early, when all the coaches from West Yellowstone would be there. It would be crowded and not the experience I wanted for my guests. When we arrived at Madison Junction, I talked to multiple other guides, and they all said that the wolves had left the area and there was no more of the carcass. I was a bit skeptical, seeing as it had only been a day or two; wolves often stay around a carcass for up to a week after they make the kill.

We continued on, and as we approached the area, there were cones blocking off the pullout as well as signs saying no stopping for the next half mile. We could not pull up and park and just wait; we had to drive back and forth instead. In the first pass, we saw no wolves but multiple coyotes. On the next pass, we noticed the coyotes were running away. However, we still didn’t see any wolves. Perhaps the coyotes saw something we didn’t.  

During the third pass, a bald eagle had landed on the carcass, and was feeding on it. As we drove, my guests took photos and before we knew it, a massive black wolf emerged from the trees on the opposite side of the road. Finally finding what we were there looking for, we made several passes back and forth and discovered that there were multiple other wolves on the other side of the river, playing and running around with each other. After a while, they went over the ridge and out of sight. We decided to move on, but in the back of my mind, I was already planning a return trip with my group the next day.

The next morning looked very similar, with fellow guides at Madison Warming Hut telling me that they were gone and the carcass was picked clean. Seeing as they had said the same the morning before, we took our chances and went west toward the carcass anyway. As we got close, we saw some coyotes and tons of ravens feeding on the remnants of the bison. My guests were happy with this, so we made many passes for them to get their photos and observe the scene. There was even a pullout to use for us to stop and get out. The park service had removed the signs and cones. We ate lunch here, but after a while with no new activity, we moved in the direction of a restroom for a quick pit stop before making one last pass, hoping to find what we were really looking for. It turned out to be the right choice, as when we returned, there as a skittish coyote moving in the wrong direction of the carcass and a black wolf was dragging the carcass out of the river and onto the bank. He hung out for a bit before leaving, and then the coyotes returned. One of them decided to serenade us (or another coyote, who knows!), which I’ve attached a video of in this post.

Getting to see a wolf or wolves in Yellowstone is very special, but getting to see them without anyone else around is almost impossible unless you are extremely lucky. As to cause minimal disturbance to the animals, we left promptly. Hoping to see them again soon!

If you want to read about some of our other extended observations of the Wapiti Lake Pack, check out “Weekend with the Wapitis,” “Weekend With The Wapitis Summer 2024”, “Weekend with the Wapitis Part 3 summer 2025”, and Weekend with the Wapitis, Part 4 (+ Bears!) - Fall 2025.

As we said before, where there’s a carcass, the wolves will come….