What I saw outside of Banff....

[RTG_Gerry]

I apologize for the pics not being in proper order. I uploaded them accordingly, and of course photobucket mixed them up like a deck of cards...


These were shot through 420mm of lens, by the way. They would not let me get closer without fleeing.

http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e234/GerryVee/Wolves/?albumview=slideshow

 

[mareshow]

thats absolutely AWESOME!!! i havent seen live wolves in forever nice shots!

 

[bcarlos]

Incredible shots, Gerry. We don't have wolves this far South in Ontario-- you have to go quite a ways up North to ever get a chance of seeing one. Thanks for sharing!

 

[RTG_Gerry]

Thanks, guys. Many more pics to come and next time, they will be sorted so that you can see what I saw from start to end.

 

[homebrewed]

That's incredible.
Must have been quite a trip seeing that first hand

Thanks for sharing those

 

[RTG_Gerry]

Thanks, Tim.

It was a rush. I sat there for 3 hours while they first gutted the deer and then slowly pulled it back into the brush while consuming it. You could tell they were somewhat annoyed with me sitting there but I think the kill being right out in the open was a bigger issue for them. I left for a couple of hours and came back and sat for another hour. Towards the end of the shoot, you'll see pics where all you really see is the head, the spine and a roll of skin/hide. They are awesome predators!

 

[Boydo]

Amazing pictures! I spend a lot of time in the foothills and Rockies, and I have only ever seen 2 Black Wolves. Gerry, are a very lucky man to have this opportunity to have not only seen but to capture this on camera. I'm so jealous!!!!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[homebrewed]

That's incredible.
Must have been quite a trip seeing that first hand

Thanks for sharing those

 

[RTG_Gerry]

Added 20 more pics to slideshow and more pics to come.

 

[DaiDee]

That is amazing Gerry, thank you so much for sharing! I love it!

 

[CanadaPleco]

Incredible shots, Gerry. We don't have wolves this far South in Ontario-- you have to go quite a ways up North to ever get a chance of seeing one. Thanks for sharing!

Not that far north, I've seen them several times not more then 5 km from my house.

Great shots! You rarely see them out in the day and in numbers like that. But I guess that nice deer meal brings them

 

[Juice604]

wow !! super cool shots ..

love the one when the black one is looking right at ya !!

did it make you nervous ..lol

 

[RTG_Gerry]

Thanks, guys.

Juice, I was nervous when I walked up to the fence, but otherwise I was concentrating on focusing. It was crazy difficult looking through a 300mm lens and trying to focus on the wolves behind the trees and branches and logs while trying to keep the camera absolutely still...All that while two highways of traffic zoomed by me at 110+km/h.

It was still a big rush watching them, though.

Some pretty good pics to come yet.

 

[RTG_Gerry]

20 new pics added to slideshow.

 

[homebrewed]

Thats just unreal man

Great slideshow, Gerry

 

[RTG_Gerry]

Thanks, Tim. Notice how at least one is radio-collared? I'm trying to find the org who is monitoring this pack.

I did some research and found out that Canadian Geographic Magazine did a story on this pack last year, so I'm going to see if they're interested in any pics.

 

[Juice604]

wow new pics are simply awesome !! love the way they picked up the carcus !!

so by my count there were 4 of them ? a small pack , but super cool to find none the less !! i simply cant get over the stare , when the alpha male is focused directly on you !!

very cool gerry ...

justin .

Thanks, guys.

Juice, I was nervous when I walked up to the fence, but otherwise I was concentrating on focusing. It was crazy difficult looking through a 300mm lens and trying to focus on the wolves behind the trees and branches and logs while trying to keep the camera absolutely still...All that while two highways of traffic zoomed by me at 110+km/h.

It was still a big rush watching them, though.

Some pretty good pics to come yet.

 

[RDFISHGUY]

Lucky find. I have never seen a black one in person. Seen a few gray ones before but never a black and none of them stuck around long enough to get a shot at. Not that I would've shot one anyway but by the time my scope was up to my eye they were gone. To get them on a kill that close to the highway is extremely lucky. Nice shots! Thanks for sharing. Any elk?

 

[RTG_Gerry]

Ryan, I only saw elk at dusk or dawn and never in a place that was easy for me to stop and take pics.

I did find one group about 30 feet from the fence so I pulled over about a hundred yards down the highway and stalked them. Just as I was about to start discreetly shooting, some asshole spotted them, pulled up right in front and jumped out of his van with his point n' shoot camera. Well guess what the elk did? Friggin dumbass, lol.

Justin, By me reckoning, there were 9 animals in the pack. I counted 7 different adults and 2 much younger black ones. Not quite pups, but not adults either. And there were two adults off on the side getting jiggy with it, lol. In a lot of pics you see the wolves looking to the right, well thats what they were looking at, I think. I have two pics that I'll eventually post that I managed to get of the alpha pair.

Interestingly enough, the Bow Valley pack consisted of one female called Belinda back in 2007. She has since been killed on the highway. She was featured on the cover of Canadian Geographic in 2008/9. I found the guy who shoots the pack on a fairly regular basis, but he isn't returning my emails.

I want to find out who is tracking the pack, since at least 2 are collared. I'm thinking they might be interested in the pics and info.