Shoshone and Hoback - Giants of the Tetons

After hearing about the legendary moose Shoshone for several years during my visits to Grand Teton National Park and its surroundings, I came upon this large bull near the settlement of Kelly, Wyoming, on a snowy October morning in 2021. Minutes after I arrived and before I was fully ready with my camera, he laid down to chew his cud and rest. Experience told me the respite could last for hours, but I was determined to see the impressive bull upright. After waiting nearly two hours, I was rewarded when he suddenly stood and started walking directly toward me. I gave him space as he cantered across nearby Antelope Flats Road to graze and drink. Only later did I realize the bull was Shoshone.

***Shoshone, who ruled the area around Grand Teton National Park in the 2010s and early 2020s along with his sometimes companion and competitor, Hoback.***

I spent more than two hours with the magnificent bull while he browsed and eventually drank from a small stream (photos below). Only one other photographer was there to share the experience. We wondered if it might be Shoshone, which I was able to confirm that evening by comparing my photographs with those of Mike Jackson (https://goldenstudios.com/shoshone). It was an exceptional experience, nearly without equal, until the day I met Hoback.

I was photographing several bull moose near Gros Ventre Campground as dusk approached on a clear day in late November 2024. One had sustained an injury to its right ear, which was hanging limp. I had been concentrating on another bull until a nearby photographer mentioned that the injured bull was Hoback, who had sustained the injury the past spring in a battle with another bull. In my excitement, I managed to get the following photograph minutes before the sun sank below the horizon.

***Hoback, with his distinctive drop left tyne, during evening golden time in November 2024. (**https://goldenstudios.com/hoback/***)

I continued to photograph Hoback after sunset while dusky afterglow lingered on snow covered hills in the background (left and center photos, below). When that light, too, had faded and most of the assembled photographers had left, I found myself kneeling about 50 yards away from Hoback, preparing to leave. It was then that he decided to move on by walking directly toward me, as Shoshone had done three years earlier. Again I moved off slowly and continued shooting (right photo). A moment came that seemed too exceptional for photographs. I stood stock still and watched while Hoback sauntered past me, his damaged right ear limp but still seemingly secure in his status as an elder warrior deserving of respect. I left feeling immensely fortunate to have been in the company of two giants of the Tetons.

I learned later that Shoshone had not shown up in the fall of 2022, less than a year after our encounter, or anytime thereafter. In March 2025, Hoback was enjoying his retirement from competition with other dominant bulls, some of whom will undoubtedly extend his proud bloodline.