It’s the summer season in Yellowstone National Park, which means it’s open season for brazen bunglers to try their luck with bison.
Les Vandever of Sand Springs, Oklahoma, was in Yellowstone last month when he stopped near Floating Island Lake in northern Yellowstone to see if he could spot any bears. As he sat watching, a herd of bison ambled over and started crossing the road.
That’s when Vandever saw an incident of “unbelievable stupidity.”
“A kid got out of the back passenger side of a vehicle and took off running towards the bison,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “I don’t know if he was trying to spook them off or if he was just doing something stupid.”
When the individual charged towards the bison, the herd picked up its pace and finished crossing the road. After that, the man got back into the vehicle, and it drove off.
Not before Vandever got clear photographs of the individual’s face and the vehicle’s license plate, which he’s since shared with a Yellowstone ranger.
“We were sitting in our car, just dumbfounded,” he said.
It’s Stupid Season
Whenever anyone enters Yellowstone, they receive a map and a flyer reminding them to keep at least 25 yards between themselves and the park’s bison, elk, and other animals. That’s never stopped people from trying their luck, at their peril.
A video circulating on social media appears to show a woman in the Upper Geyser Basin, near Old Faithful, trying to pet an enormous bull bison on the head. Even after the incredibly patient bison tries to brush the woman off, she continues to press her luck and pet the massive animal.
Another video shows a woman in a flowing, ankle-length dress running across the road after getting much too close to a bothered bison. As she flees, she trips and faceplants into the asphalt.
Vandever said the individual he witnessed was lucky. Approaching one adult bison can be fatal, let alone a herd of them.
“They weren’t even blocking or standing in the road,” he said. “Even if they do, you ease up towards them in your car, go slow and steady, and they will move. That's what the rangers want people to do.”
It’s possible that the individual was trying to demonstrate his abilities as a wide receiver, if the Ohio State Buckeyes shirt he was wearing is any indication.
Regardless, Vandever was keen to get whatever information he could to the Yellowstone rangers.
“I believe there were four people in that vehicle,” he said. “I don’t know if there were any more than him being that stupid.”
Real Danger
So far, there haven’t been any reported bison gorings in Yellowstone this year. That’s a bit unusual, as there’s usually at least one before June.
The first bison goring of 2025 occurred in early May. A 47-year-old man from Cape Coral, Florida, was gored by a bison near Lake Village after approaching it too closely.
A month later, a 30-year-old New Jersey man was gored by a bison near Old Faithful, the busiest area in Yellowstone. Park officials said the man was in a group of visitors that got too close to the bison when it suddenly charged at them.
Meanwhile, a 70-year-old woman from Canada was killed by a bison in South Dakota’s Custer State Park last month. It was the park’s first bison fatality in over 20 years.
According to Custer County Sheriff Marty Mechaley, the woman was following a group of bull bison when one of them charged and threw her 6 feet into the air. When her husband tried to approach and save her, the bison charged again and tossed her 20 feet into the air.
There hasn’t been a bison-related fatality in Yellowstone since 1983, but not for lack of trying. Between 1995 and 2012, there was an average of zero to human-bison incidents resulting in serious injury every year, according to Lee Whittlesey’s book “Death in Yellowstone.”
Many people either aren’t aware that a bison’s strength and temperament are enough to kill them, or they simply don’t care. Regardless, they’re putting themselves at serious risk when they get too close.
“We see about two or three (bison attack victims) a year,” Cody Regional Health’s Dr. Kirk Bollinger told Cowboy State Daily in May 2025. “The big thing is the internal bleeding or massive bruising on the lungs when they stomp on you.”
Banned And Fined
Vandever gave his photos and an eyewitness account to a Yellowstone ranger as soon as he had the opportunity. It wasn’t as easy to accomplish in early May.
“It took several days before I could actually find a ranger,” he said. “At that time of the year, there aren’t many rangers active in the park.”
The ranger told Vandever that they had the vehicle’s tag number and would “reach out and deal with it.”
To Vandever, that sounded educational rather than punitive.
“She talked like they would just educate the kid on why you don't do that, which I don't think is nearly enough,” he said. “My opinion is that the kid needs to be banned from national parks and fined.”
There aren’t many prosecutions for people found too close to Yellowstone’s wildlife, and the few that exist are for particularly egregious incidents.
On May 20, 2023, Clifford Walters of Hawaii attempted to rescue a bison calf in Lamar Valley by pulling it out of a river and onto the roadway. The National Park Service euthanized the calf later that day after its herd abandoned it.
Walters pleaded guilty to one count of feeding, touching, teasing, frightening, or intentionally disturbing wildlife. He was sentenced to pay a $500 fine, a $500 Community Service payment to Yellowstone Forever Wildlife Protection Fund, a $30 special assessment, and a $10 processing fee.
If fines and death aren’t enough to deter people from approaching bison, Vandever isn’t sure what else can be done. The May 3 incident was unlike anything he’d ever seen during his annual visits to Yellowstone.
“That kid was lacking in any intelligence whatsoever,” he said.
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
