Where to go to photograph wolves

Hello, Looking for a place to photograph wolves in their habitat.

problem is that I live In Alabama. Is there any place in my part of the

country? If not where is the best place to go ?

 

Thanks

Jeff

Jim Brandenburg likes the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northeastern MN, or you could try Alaska--just a personla wish..

I think I heard a statistic once about 90% of all wolf images are captive. A truly wild wolf shot is so precious, you better have a heck of a lot of dupes made of that one!

I understand that wolves have been recently reintroduced in small numbers into New Mexico and Southern Colorado, with limited success.

I know this is a tad too far...but I'd suggest Yellowstone...actually West Yellowstone (a town just outside the west entrance). There is a wild life refuge there and they have a few wolves. The chances of photographing wolves in the wild is pretty remote (I'm not an authority but this is what I understand from what I've read). So the closest you can get and maintain a little of the natural setting is to go to the wild life refuge.

I saw wolves in Yellowstone but I had to view them with a high power spotting scope...not even my binoculors (approx a 600mm lens) could pick them out.

Denali National Park, Alaska. Lots of other stuff as well.

I saw this <A HREF="http://www.poky.srv.net/~jjmrm/">site</A> referred to in another thread. It has up to date info on the Yellowstone packs.

While not exactly in your immediate neighborhood, Isle Royale National Park off the coast of the UP of Michigan has a wolf and moose study program. For more information try, http://www.nps.gov/isro/

They are reintroducing the Red Wolf back in North Carolina and Tennessee, although they may have given up on them in TN. They had some at Cades Cove in the Smokies, but I think they may have removed them. The program has an office and phone, call the Smokies at 423-436-1200 and they can give it to you. The Knoxville zoo has a real nice place to photograph them that looks natural. Depending on what part of AL you are from, this should be close.

I recently saw something in Outdoor Photographer about a place in northern NJ. If I recall correctly it was called something like the Lakota Wolf Preserve and they charge about $500 to photograph for a day.

Despite living in NJ I still haven't been to the Lakota Wolf Preserve. They do have a web page (don't remember the URL, but most search engines will find it). The $500 (or similar large amount) is for a special photo session. I think the cost of a regular visit is $15/adult. I don't know what photo ops you get for your $15 though!

Try looking at http://www.gorp.com.

It's one of the web sites I use when I want to investigate an area I plan to visit. It gives a run down on history, wildlife, permits needed, etc.

It sometimes gives names of places to contact for additional info. I didn't look for what your looking for but I am heading to BWCA in late July and it has given me most of the info I need for the trip.

I just returned from Isle Royale yesterday. Lot's of Moose, but no wolf sightings (thus concluding a whirlwind tour of both the Olympic Peninsula & Isle Royale). The rangers claim that there are about 25 adult wolves on the island. Your best bet for wolf photography is probably in Minnesota, Alaska, or Canada. I live in MN and am out & about very regularly (during all seasons) and have yet to see a wolf. The current estimate for our north woods exceeds 2500 wolves. If you want to photograph wolves here, I'd suggest the following... winter camp around the Gunflint trail during January. Obtain appropriate permits, befriend a DNR official, and bait them in with road kill deer. This is extreme, but a common (accepted?) technique for local wildlife photographers. Also, be prepared to invest at least a week on location! My wife and I (as well as a good friend who has connections with the Dept. of Interior) are looking into the logistics of this for the upcoming year.

 

Wild wolf photography is almost as difficult as photographing cougars!

 

regards and good luck,

bruce

There is a private facility, about 20 miles west of St. Louis, Mo., I believe called the Wolf Sanctuary, that in years past has allowed photography. You'll have to shoot through a fence and pre arrange the shoot, but this is about as good as it gets unless you happen upon a wolf in the wild. I've been to Denali 4 times and while I did see a lot of wildlife, I've never been close enough to a wolf to get a shot.

Good Luck!

Assuming you would be interested in photographing captive wolves, we have a wonderful resource here in mid-north Indiana: Battle Ground Wolf Park. This facility has two packs of wolves as well as a large herd of bison in a several-hundred acre prairie/woods preserve. It is a non-profit facility used by Purdue University and others for behavioral and ecological research. There are several annual photo shoots including a photographically-challenging snow outing. Don't dress up; you're right out on the prairie with the pack. For further information, call (765) 567-2265, or check out:

http://www.wolfpark.org

The red wolves have all been removed from Great Smoky Mnts. NP. They were relocated to Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on the coast of North Carolina near the Outer Banks where another reintroduced pack has been doing well. Your chance of seeing one in the wild though would be slim.

Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada. It is located approximately 3 hours north of Toronto and with the low Canadian Dollar, it shouldn't be too expensive. I believe there are Timber Wolves and Grey wolves in the park. Even if you don't get any pictures, hearing 100's of wolves howling at night is pretty awesome...

http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/

Jeff its been a long time since you asked this question, but if your still interested check out thelon.com. They have photo expeditions to photograph wolves in the wild and they also have other wildlife. Tundra Tom offers these tours and their located in the Northwest Territories in Canada. Some well known photographers have gone there and tell about their experience. A couple of years ago they were offering a tour in B.C.for wolves but cancelled do to logging in that area. And it was a lot cheaper then the Northwest tour.

Also you have the lakota wolf preserve in Columbia N.J. that has Timberwolves and Artic wolves in wooded enclosures that you can photograph. I wish I knew about this 3 years ago when the wolves had pups, but their only suppose to have so many wolves and they fixed the males because they reached the max. they were allowed to have. The best time to photograph would be fall and winter because all the foilage would be gone from the trees allowing the light to photograph.

I hear Yellowstone is also good in the Lamar Valley area during denning. I hear the wolves cross the road to hunt when they have pups.

Jeff I hope this info is of some help to you. David Weir

It's been a while - but in case any one else is looking up the subject - having worked in SE Alaska over the summer, I saw a number of wolves on a few of the larger islands. They were just off of the roads, so they do have a presence and any adquate hunting guide could help anyone with this.

Check out northernlightswildlife.com in Golden, BC Canada<div></div>