American Bison Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: Sadly there's not a huge number of locations where you can now see free-roaming American Bison, but two absolutely spectacular places to see them are represented in the photos below, from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, and the absolutely magnificent Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. When you're around them, you're in their world, and they care very little about your presence or what you're doing (as long as you don't get too close!). As a result, photo opportunities in either location are abundant, and you can watch their natural behavior for hours on end if you wish to. It's hard to pick one favorite photo, so I'll choose two here, particularly since one of the photos only shows one small part of the Bison itself!

The first favorite is a pretty chill scene of a bull American Bison hanging out in a Prairie Dog town. There's no question when you're in a place like Custer State Park that the bison seem to be attracted to the colonies of Black-tailed Prairie Dogs. Research shows that due to the foraging activity of the prairie dogs, that the remaining herbaceous vegetation in and around prairie dog towns is more nutritious. They also like the bare dirt areas for sunning themselves or taking a dust bath. In this photo from Custer State Park in June of 2020, a bull American Bison is hanging out with a Brown-headed Cowbird friend.

One of my favorite all-time photos is photo #19 below, when I visited Yellowstone National Park for a few days in January of 2017. It was -20° F the morning that photo was taken, and nothing was in the mood to move around too much. I came across three Bison bulls at one point, all breathing massive clouds of steam in the frigid morning air. As I was watching them from close range (from the safety of my pickup!), I was surprised by a Black-billed Magpie that flew in, and landed right on top of one of the Bison! The magpie ended up staying there for a little while, perhaps enjoying the one warm spot in the general vicinity!

American Bison - Bison bisoin American Bison (Bison bison) and Black-billed Magpie


American Bison 1	American Bison 2	American Bison 3	American Bison 4
August 25th, 2004	August 25th, 2004	August 26th, 2004	August 2nd, 2007
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Lone bull bison in a grassy meadow on a sunny afternoon	Bull Bison grazing in grassy meadow	Bull grazing in a forest clearing near Norris Geyser Basin	Bison pair in sagebrush near Yellowstone Lake

American Bison 5	American Bison 6	American Bison 7	American Bison 8
August 2nd, 2007	August 4th, 2007	August 4th, 2007	August 4th, 2007
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Lone bull moving through sagebrush near "Indian Pond" in Yellowstone	Lone grazing bull Bison and habitat in the wonderful Lamar Valley	Closeup of head and upper body of grazing bison in sage / grass habitat	Bull Bison moving through sagebrush ecosystem in the Lamar Valley

American Bison 9	American Bison 10	American Bison 11	American Bison 12
May 24th, 2008	May 24th, 2008	May 24th, 2008	August 26th, 2004
Custer State Park, South Dakota	Custer State Park, South Dakota	Custer State Park, South Dakota	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
American Bison calf curious about the cameraman	American Bison calf scratching that itch in a grassy meadow	Closeup of head and upper body of bison calf	Bull bison grazing on herbaceous vegetation at edge of the forest

American Bison 13	American Bison 14	American Bison 15	American Bison 16
May 24th, 2008	August 28th, 2004	August 8th, 2012	June 25th, 2020
Custer State Park, South Dakota	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Custer State Park, South Dakota
Portrait of head of female Bison	Bull Bison outline with steamy geothermal features in the background	American Bison bull standing in sagebrush in the afternoon sun	American Bison bull resting with his Brown-headed Cowbird friend

American Bison 17	American Bison 18	American Bison 18a	American Bison 19
September 2nd, 2018	September 2nd, 2018	January 27th, 2017	January 27th, 2017
Custer State Park, South Dakota	Custer State Park, South Dakota	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Extreme closeup of Bison showing eye and detail in the fur	Female bison with her young of the year	Bison breathing in -20° F temps, with a Black-billed Magpie friend	Head-on view of bull bison on a wintry day

American Bison 20
January 27th, 2017
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Bull bison pushing through snow to feed