Latest / Wildlands Podcast — National Parks, Public Lands & Survival / #012 - Field Skills: Wildlife Distance | Bison, Bears & Keeping the Margin

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#012 - Field Skills: Wildlife Distance | Bison, Bears & Keeping the Margin · Wildlands Podcast — National Parks, Public Lands & Survival

0:11
Ask most people what the most dangerous animal
0:14
in Yellowstone is, and they will say grizzly
0:18
bear almost every time. They are wrong. It is
0:23
the bison. Since 1980, bison have injured more
0:27
visitors in Yellowstone than every other animal
0:29
in the park combined. Not close, not a near thing.
0:35
Bison, by a wide margin, over grizzlies, over
0:39
black bears, over elk, over every other creature
0:42
in that ecosystem. And here is the detail that
0:46
should really land. A peer -reviewed study of
0:49
bison injuries at Yellowstone found that 80 %
0:52
of the people hurt had actively approached the
0:55
animal before it hurt them. Not surprised. not
1:00
caught off guard on a blind trail corner. They
1:03
walk toward a 2 ,000 -pound wild animal on purpose,
1:06
usually for a photograph. That is the story of
1:11
this whole episode. The wildlife in these parks
1:14
is not generally hunting you. It is mostly just
1:17
defending a boundary that people keep walking
1:19
straight through. This is Wildlands. I'm Sean.
1:24
Know the land before you reach it. Field skills.
1:28
wildlife distance, bison, bears, and keeping
1:33
the margin. We are going to cover the real numbers
1:36
on bison risk, how bear spray actually works,
1:39
and why the data on it is better than people
1:42
assume, food and scent storage, and the honest
1:45
psychology of why smart people keep doing the
1:48
exact thing that gets them hurt. None of this
1:51
is complicated. All of it requires more discipline
1:54
than people expect it to. start with the animal
1:59
actually causing the injuries. A mature bison
2:03
bull can weigh close to 2 ,000 pounds and stand
2:06
six feet at the shoulder. They look slow. They
2:11
look like they are grazing peacefully, barely
2:14
moving, practically furniture. That appearance
2:17
is doing a lot of dangerous work on the human
2:19
brain because bison can run around 30 miles an
2:22
hour roughly three times faster than an average
2:24
person can sprint. from a standing start with
2:28
almost no warning. There is no outrunning a bison
2:32
that has decided to close the distance. That
2:35
option simply does not exist once it starts moving.
2:38
The National Park Service is direct about the
2:40
required distance, at least 25 yards from bison,
2:44
elk, deer, moose, bighorn sheep, and coyotes,
2:48
and at least 100 yards from bears and wolves.
2:52
25 yards is about the length of two and a half
2:54
school buses. parked end to end. It sounds like
2:58
a lot until you are standing near a boardwalk
2:59
with a bison 40 feet away and a great photo opportunity
3:03
right there. That is exactly the moment the data
3:07
says people make the wrong call. Look at the
3:11
actual pattern from the research. A study covering
3:14
bison encounters at Yellowstone found the average
3:17
distance people were standing from the animal
3:19
right before they got hurt was about 11 feet.
3:22
11 feet. not 25 yards, 11 feet. 80 % of the injured
3:28
had actively approached the bison beforehand.
3:31
Nearly half were photographing it at the moment
3:34
they were hurt. Most incidents happened in high
3:36
traffic areas, parking lots, boardwalks, campgrounds,
3:40
where people have let their guard down because
3:42
the setting feels developed and safe rather than
3:45
genuinely wild. And recent incidents keep confirming
3:49
the same pattern. An 83 -year -old woman was
3:52
lifted off the ground near Yellowstone Lake after
3:55
a bison came within a few feet of her, defending
3:57
its space, in an area the Park Service described
4:00
as exactly that, an animal that was not hunting
4:04
anyone, just enforcing a boundary that had been
4:07
crossed. A 12 -year -old was injured near Mud
4:10
Volcano in the summer of 2026, in almost identical
4:13
circumstances. This happens most years, multiple
4:17
times, and the pattern almost never changes.
4:21
So what are you actually watching for? Bison
4:24
give warning signs before they charge, and they
4:27
are worth knowing. A raised tail is one of the
4:30
clearest signals when a bison's tail goes up
4:32
and out. That is a sign of agitation, and it
4:35
often precedes a charge closely. Bluff charging,
4:38
head bobbing while staring directly at you, pawing
4:41
at the ground, and bellowing are all escalating
4:44
signs that you have already gotten too close
4:47
and the animal wants you to leave. If you see
4:50
any of that, you do not wait to see what happens
4:53
next. You move away immediately, calmly, without
4:56
turning your back and running if you can avoid
4:58
it. Putting distance, and ideally an obstacle,
5:01
a vehicle, a solid structure between yourself
5:04
and the animal. If it follows and continues to
5:07
close the distance, that is exactly the situation
5:10
bear spray is designed for. And yes, bear spray
5:13
works on bison too. It is not just for bears.
5:18
The rule that actually prevents this is almost
5:20
insultingly simple. If you want a closer look,
5:23
use a zoom lens, binoculars, or a spotting scope.
5:26
Not your feet. The National Park Service says
5:29
this outright. The safest way to view wildlife
5:32
in Yellowstone is through glass, not through
5:35
proximity. Every single bison injury in the data
5:38
we have starts with a person deciding their photo
5:41
mattered more than the 25 -yard rule. That is
5:45
genuinely the whole lesson. It is not complicated,
5:49
it is just a discipline problem, and the animal
5:52
does not care how good your camera is. Now bears
5:57
because, even though they injure fewer people
5:59
than bison, they are the animal that generates
6:02
the most anxiety, and some of that anxiety is
6:04
worth having, and some of it is genuinely overblown.
6:08
Start with the basic distinction. Grizzly bears
6:11
and black bears behave differently, and knowing
6:14
which one you are near changes your response.
6:17
Grizzlies are generally larger, have a distinctive
6:19
shoulder hump, and tend to be more willing to
6:21
stand their ground or respond aggressively to
6:24
a surprise encounter, particularly a mother with
6:26
cubs. Black bears are typically smaller, more
6:29
likely to retreat from a human encounter, and
6:32
attacks from black bears while they do happen
6:34
are statistically rarer and usually different
6:36
in character, often related to a bear that has
6:39
become food conditioned rather than one defending
6:42
territory or cubs. Yellowstone has both species.
6:46
so do several of the other parks in this series.
6:49
Ask a ranger at the visitor center which one
6:52
is more common in the specific area you are hiking,
6:55
because the correct response in an actual encounter
6:59
differs by species, and guessing wrong matters.
7:05
Let's talk about bear spray, because the science
7:07
here is better and more encouraging than most
7:10
people assume. The most cited research on this
7:14
from wildlife biologists Stephen Herrero and
7:17
Tom Smith analyzed real bear spray incidents
7:20
in Alaska and found that spray stopped aggressive
7:23
or undesirable bear behavior in 92 % of cases
7:26
involving brown and grizzly bears and 90 % of
7:31
cases involving black bears. In a separate analysis
7:36
of 69 incidents, 98 % of people carrying bear
7:41
spray during a close encounter came away uninjured.
7:45
Compare that to firearms. The same body of research
7:48
found guns stopped an aggressive bear somewhere
7:51
around 76 % of the time, and firearms carry the
7:54
added risk of wounding rather than deterring
7:57
an animal, which tends to make the situation
7:59
considerably worse, along with the practical
8:02
reality that hitting a charging bear with a handgun
8:05
under stress is a much harder shot than people
8:07
assume. Every major wildlife agency and bear
8:11
biologist organization recommends spray over
8:14
a firearm for exactly these reasons. But the
8:18
spray only works if you can actually reach it
8:20
in time, and this is where people consistently
8:22
get it wrong. Carry it on your hip or your chest
8:26
strap in a holster, accessible with one hand,
8:29
without needing to remove your pack or dig through
8:32
a zipper. Bears can close ground at up to 30
8:35
or 40 miles an hour. and a close encounter typically
8:38
gives you a few seconds of warning at most. If
8:42
your spray is buried in your pack, you effectively
8:44
do not have bear spray. Deploy it when a bear
8:47
is charging and closes to within about 30 to
8:50
40 feet, not earlier, since the spray cloud needs
8:54
the bear to be within its effective range, and
8:56
not later, since you need enough distance for
8:59
the cloud to do its work before contact. Aim
9:02
slightly downward into the bear's face and sweep
9:04
in a short arc. The spray comes out at over 70
9:07
miles an hour, so wind is less of a problem than
9:10
people expect, though you do want to be aware
9:13
of which way it is blowing before you need to
9:15
use it under pressure. And never, ever spray
9:19
your tent, your pack, or your gear preemptively
9:22
as a repellent. It does nothing to deter a bear
9:26
in advance, and there is real evidence it can
9:28
actually attract them, drawn by a scent that,
9:31
to a bear, smells vaguely like something worth
9:33
investigating. If a bear actually makes contact,
9:38
and this is rare, but you should know it, the
9:40
correct response depends on the species and the
9:42
situation. With a grizzly in a defensive encounter,
9:46
typically a surprise or a mother protecting cubs,
9:49
the standard guidance is to play dead. Drop to
9:53
the ground, lie flat on your stomach, clasp your
9:56
hands behind your neck, and keep your pack on
9:59
for added protection to your back. The idea is
10:03
that a defensive grizzly is trying to neutralize
10:06
a perceived threat, not hunt you as prey, and
10:09
once you stop presenting as a threat, the attack
10:11
typically stops. Black bears, and any bear behaving
10:15
predatorily rather than defensively, which is
10:18
rare, but does happen, call for the opposite
10:20
response. Fight back, target the face and eyes,
10:25
and do not go passive. These are different situations
10:29
requiring different responses. which is exactly
10:32
why knowing which species you are in country
10:35
with and understanding the difference between
10:37
a defensive and a predatory encounter actually
10:41
matters in a way that is not just trivia. One
10:45
more statistic worth knowing, because it should
10:47
genuinely change your hiking behavior in bear
10:50
country. No recorded grizzly attack has ever
10:54
occurred against a group of four or more people.
10:57
Group size matters enormously. Hiking solo in
11:02
serious bear country is measurably riskier than
11:04
hiking in a group. And making noise talking,
11:07
calling out at blind corners, especially near
11:10
loud rivers or dense brush where a bear might
11:13
not hear or smell you coming reduces the odds
11:16
of a surprise encounter dramatically. Surprise
11:20
is the dangerous variable in almost every serious
11:22
bear encounter. A bear that hears you coming
11:25
from 200 yards away and has time to move off
11:28
is not the bear that attacks. The bear that attacks
11:31
is the one you rounded a blind corner and found
11:33
six feet away, with no time for either of you
11:36
to process the situation calmly. Food and scent
11:40
storage is the boring part of this conversation,
11:43
and also one of the most important parts, because
11:46
a fed bear becomes a dangerous bear, and once
11:48
that happens, it is usually the bear that pays
11:51
for it, not the person. A bear that successfully
11:55
gets human food even once learns something it
11:58
will not forget. that people and campsites mean
12:02
an easy meal. That bear then keeps testing that
12:07
theory, gets bolder, gets closer to people, and
12:11
eventually becomes what wildlife managers call
12:13
food conditioned, a genuine safety problem that
12:17
very often ends with the bear being relocated
12:20
or killed. Because a bear that has lost its fear
12:22
of humans in pursuit of food is a bear that is
12:25
now dangerous in a completely different... and
12:28
more persistent way. The saying among rangers
12:32
is blunt and accurate. A fed bear is a dead bear.
12:36
Every time you store food properly, you are not
12:39
just protecting yourself. You are protecting
12:41
the bear from a fate that starts with your leftover
12:44
sandwich. The practical rules are not complicated.
12:49
Use the bear boxes and food storage lockers provided
12:51
at developed campgrounds every time, without
12:54
exception, even for something that seems minor
12:57
like toothpaste or a granola bar wrapper. In
13:00
the backcountry, use a bear canister or hang
13:03
food properly using the counterbalance method,
13:05
well away from your sleeping area. Scented items
13:09
count as food in a bear's nose, toiletries, sunscreen,
13:12
lip balm, deodorant. All of it goes in the same
13:15
storage as your actual meals. Cook and eat away
13:19
from where you sleep, ideally 100 yards or more,
13:23
so the smell of your dinner is not lingering
13:25
directly over your tent. Change out of the clothes
13:28
you cooked in before you go to bed if you can,
13:30
since food odor clings to fabric. None of this
13:33
is difficult. It just requires doing it every
13:35
single time, including the nights you are tired
13:38
and just want to leave the cooler in the tent.
13:42
I want to come back to something we touched on
13:44
with the bison numbers. because it deserves its
13:47
own moment. A federal research review looking
13:51
at Yellowstone injury patterns over the years
13:53
specifically called out modern smartphone photography
13:56
and social media as a contributing factor in
13:59
the rise of close approach. Incidents. Think
14:03
about what a phone camera actually does to your
14:06
judgment in that moment. The zoom is limited,
14:09
so the only way to get the shot that looks impressive
14:11
is to physically close the distance. And the
14:14
entire purpose of the photo, in a lot of cases,
14:18
is to show other people how close you got, which
14:20
means the risk itself is baked into the value
14:23
of the picture. The more dangerous the encounter
14:25
looks, the better the photo performs. That is
14:29
a genuinely bad incentive structure. And it is
14:33
worth being honest with yourself about it before
14:35
you are standing 40 feet from a bull elk during
14:38
the rut with your phone raised. The animal does
14:41
not know or care that you have 11 ,000 followers.
14:44
It knows that something has entered a range it
14:46
considers a threat, and it will respond accordingly.
14:50
The fix is not complicated, but it does require
14:54
a small piece of humility. The safest wildlife
14:58
photo is the one taken through a zoom lens or
15:01
binoculars from a legal distance, and it is very
15:04
often just as good, sometimes better, than the
15:07
close one. Bring the equipment that lets you
15:10
get the shot without closing the gap. and treat
15:13
the 25 and 100 yard rules as genuinely non -negotiable,
15:17
not as a suggestion for other people. If a ranger
15:20
or another visitor tells you that you are too
15:23
close, you are too close. That is not a debate.
15:28
Let me pull this together into the handful of
15:31
rules that actually matter. 25 yards from bison,
15:34
elk, deer, moose, and bighorn sheep. 100 yards
15:39
from bears and wolves. If you want to be closer,
15:43
use glass, not your feet. Carry bear spray, where
15:47
you can actually reach it in under two seconds.
15:50
Know how to deploy it, and understand that the
15:52
research strongly favors it over a firearm. Know
15:55
whether you are in grizzly or black bear country,
15:58
and know that the correct response to actual
16:00
contact differs by species and by whether the
16:03
encounter is defensive or predatory. Store food
16:08
and anything scented properly. Every time, because
16:10
a fed bear almost always ends up a dead bear,
16:13
and that is on the person who left the cooler
16:15
out, not the bear. Hike in groups where you can,
16:18
make noise on blind corners, and remember that
16:21
surprise is the dangerous variable in almost
16:24
every serious encounter this episode covers.
16:27
And underneath all of it, the same principle.
16:30
The animals in these parks are not generally
16:33
hunting people. They are defending space or reacting
16:37
to surprise. or responding to a threat that a
16:40
camera or a curious step created. Every rule
16:44
in this episode exists to keep that margin of
16:46
space intact, because the margin is what keeps
16:49
an encounter a memory instead of an emergency
16:52
room visit. The wildlife is the whole reason
16:55
to come. Keeping the distance is what lets you
16:58
keep coming back. Next episode, we head to The
17:01
Grand Canyon Part 2, The Visit. The real difference
17:05
between the South Rim and the North Rim, Why
17:09
hiking down into the canyon is a fundamentally
17:11
different proposition than hiking up out of it
17:14
and the current water and heat realities every
17:17
visitor needs to understand. Everything for this
17:20
episode, current wildlife safety bulletins, bear
17:24
spray guidance, and food storage regulations
17:26
by PARC is at wildlandsnews .com. I'm Sean Spanauer.
17:33
This has been Wildlands. Know the land before
17:36
you reach it. See you Thursday.