Spring is one of my favorite times of year to photograph Bison. I look forward to visiting the National Bison Range in Montana to capture them at their best. Most animals in the Springtime can look a bit mangy as they begin to shed their thick winter coats. Buffalo however (in my humble opinion) look amazing as they begin the molting process and big clumps and patches of hair cling to their bodies. A bit of Spring coloring and the beautiful Mission Mountains as a backdrop make for some of the best reference images a wildlife artist can hope for.

The range almost always provides a variety of animals to photograph such as elk, mule deer, whitetail deer,  pronghorn, black bear, coyote and various birds. Below are some of the images I captured in an evening at the Bison Range along with some bighorn sheep I came across the same day just outside Thompson Falls, MT…