Yellowstone Bison Rut August 13-14, 2018

The real reason I wanted to get back to Yellowstone in August was to see part of the bison rut. From my research I knew the first part of the rut was the males fighting to establish dominance. While they were still feisty while I was there, I think the winners were already established.

I headed to Hayden Valley the night I arrived and saw a lone pair walking down to the Yellowstone River. I hung out for about an hour watching them and continued to stop by the next two day.

The male bison clearly wanted the female all to himself. When other visitors joined me on a hill quite a ways away he clearly placed himself between the female and the humans. He was glued to her side and at one point it seemed like she plopped down on the ground out of irritation. He nosed her, pushed her, but she wasn’t having any of it and wouldn’t get up. He was also sniffing her rear to see if she’d gone into estrus.

From what I read the dominant male with select a female that is about ready to go into estrus and stay very close to her until she is ready to mate. They stay away from herd. Once mating is accomplished he moves on to find another female and she returns to the herd.

Male blocking view of female from humans.

Male giving humans a decidedly dirty look.

Female on the ground and not getting up no matter how much she was prodded.

Male standing guard.

I returned to check on them the next day around mid day on the way to Elephant Back. He’s not as close while they’re resting but still watching the humans.

The evening of the 14th – still nothing happening, just staying close. I wouldn’t have thought male bison would be so patient…

The bison look so much better than they did in late June since they’ve lost all of there winter coats. They were a little scruffy in June.