Flyfishermen spot wolf near Silver Star while fishing on Jefferson River
Fly fishing with friends on the Jefferson River on Sunday, David Thompson of Bozeman captured these pictures of a gray wolf.
Thompson, fishing with friends Bill Kemph and Robert Parton, came across this wolf around midday while fishing a series of channels near Silver Star.
“We stopped the boat above a few channels, and not long before we started fishing, some pelicans spooked upriver,” Thompson said. “I saw what I thought was a large black dog running up the opposite bank. Then a young deer came racing up that same bank.
“I said ‘hey some dog is chasing pelicans and deer.’ Then it came out in a clearer area briefly, and as it loped along about 200 yards away. We all saw it and pretty quickly said to each other, ‘that’s a freakin wolf.’”
Thompson said the wolf disappeared upriver chasing a deer shortly after the group initially saw it. As Kemph fished, Thompson grabbed his camera, thinking the wolf might come back by.
“About 10 minutes later … I glimpsed a line of black hair moving just above the brush. That wolf had come back and was trying to sneak low past us back along that same bank.”
Thompson said the group made some sounds like elk that piqued the wolf’s interest. He said the wolf kept looking back after the deer it had been chasing and appeared tired from the presumably unsuccessful chase.
Thompson said the wolf got within 250 yards before it continued on upstream toward Silver Star.
“Though it was a beautiful day, pretty good fishing for that stretch of water, other good wildlife like moose twins up close – seeing this guy was definitely the highlight,” Thompson said.
Approximate location of wolf sighting on Sunday
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