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I am thinking about taking a three day trip to Yellowstone over Thanksgiving. Is this too early for the Bighorn rut? It would be the principle reason for me to go. Also, where are some of the better places to find the rams? The slope (bench?) that runs up from Gardiner, east of Gardiner canyon? In the canyon itself? Or will some still be around the Yellowstone River bridge?

I did a google on "bighorn sheep rut Yellowstone" (without the quotes) and got this entry on the first page:
http://kellydangerfield.blogspot.com/2008/11/yellowstone-bighorn-sheep-rut.html

Monday, November 17, 2008
Yellowstone Bighorn Sheep Rut
Yesterday I was able to get out of the studio and spend a little time in Yellowstone. My main intention for this trip was to observe/photograph the rutting behavior of bighorn sheep. It’s still a little early in the year for the rut but the pleasant weather forecast was taunting me to get outdoors.

Here is that park's own page:
http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/bighorn.htm
They say November/December and give locations.

I saw a post for the 10th of December saying it was under way then.

I'd say definitely check out the flats along the Rescue Creek Trail and the bench you mention, just inside the North entrance. Rams congregate there in colder months, so that's a good bet. They also show up in the eastern Lamar, near the Confluence.

Max

Thanks for the tips! Hopefully I'll have something to report back for those going in December.

While rut has not started, the big boys are back in town. I saw a big group, maybe 10, big rams up on the flats by Rescue Creek yesterday. They were all just laying around. Once rut starts, you can almost guarantee seeing them in and around Gardner Canyon.

Thanksgiving should be dead on this year. I will be in Whiskey Basin outside Dubois, WY for the rut.

Thanks, Aggie, for the update.

samparks23 wrote:Thanksgiving should be dead on this year. I will be in Whiskey Basin outside Dubois, WY for the rut.

Sam, I thought about going to Wyoming instead of YS (heard it's great), but this time of the year it would be too long of a drive and I can't afford getting stuck in Wyoming if the weather turns bad.

For what it's worth I called the Center in Dubois on Monday 11/16 to check on the latest news,
The lady told me it has been so warm that few rams have come down to the lower elevations.
They are hoping that with some cold weather and snow that they will start down soon.
I was thinking about making a run up there after thanksgiving but will keep checking in with them.
Last year at this time we only saw one decent ram up the canyon with a few ewes.

Maybe this is the year to take the long trip up to the north entrance. I've always wanted to see them butting heads.

Mid October 2006




Mid October 2007

In Colorado they seem to start the head butting the first two weeks of November, usually around sunset.
I seldom see the head butting in late November or early December here, but I keep looking.

Curious to hear how your trip goes, and looking forward to pictures.
I did put some of mine from this past weekend into the 'non-Yellowstone" section.

Nice pictures Leo. I like the blue sky and ram combination.

From my experience, late November is usually the peak of the rut.

jleom wrote:For what it's worth I called the Center in Dubois on Monday 11/16 to check on the latest news,
The lady told me it has been so warm that few rams have come down to the lower elevations.
They are hoping that with some cold weather and snow that they will start down soon.
I was thinking about making a run up there after thanksgiving but will keep checking in with them.
Last year at this time we only saw one decent ram up the canyon with a few ewes.

Maybe this is the year to take the long trip up to the north entrance. I've always wanted to see them butting heads.

Jleom,

That is the information I got. I am hoping this weekend's snow will send them down lower before my trip over Thanksgiving. After a big storm, they will be down the mountain in a matter of hours. I have seen some HUGE rams there.

http://robyninyellowstone.blogspot.com/
The Nov 16th post mentions another seeing a group of 10 rams butting heads on the 15th.

On my way back into the Park I saw Larry in a pullout so I swung in to say hi to him. He invited me to accompany him on a hike to go find some big horn sheep. He had photographed about 10 of then the day before butting heads and since I still have to see a ram in that area I decided to tag along.

I'm not entirely sure that I will be going now. Thanks to a tip from Kelly, I've been photographing a herd nearby Missoula. Lots of banging and crashing each afternoon. So, I can either go there each afternoon on my three days off or go to Yellowstone where I'm not sure the rut is going on, but I'd have better backdrops and better light.