
We could see the white out heading our way from the west, the increasing wind told us a change was fast approaching. Hayden Valley, Yellowstone Nat’l Park is no place to be in winter during a white out because even gravity won’t help you find your way. And amidst this coming weather chaos three Bison bulls plod along looking for last falls grass they can browse on buried under the three feet of snow. There are about six thousand Bison in the park today but finding them can be a challenge in winter so the three bulls we’re focused on are a treat. I stand out in the minus temps, the wind that’s starting to howl not dampening my imagining what the scene would have been when in the 1700s with thirty million Bison roaming the west. After being blown away by the sight, I probably would have moaned it was impossible to get just one lone animal in the frame. Now I moan about just finding the one animal to fill the frame. As I shoot, I think about this paradox as the one Bison I see appears and disappears in the blowing snow. It’s about then the bulls in the distance completely disappear as the snow increases, Mother Natures signaling its time to get out of Dodge. As we roll to the north to get out Hayden, my mind comes back to that thought, thirty million?!