Where to go for wildlife photography?

[Crowe]

This year we are headed to Norway for two weeks and the trip planning is done except for flights. Now I'm itchy to start next year's planning. One of our main interests when we travel is wildlife photography. We will be flying, so distance is not an issue. We've been to Olympic, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier, Waterton, Banff, Jasper, Badlands, Saguaro, Fundy, Shenandoah, Great Smoky Mountain and Acadia national parks, Custer State Park, most of New England, all over the Canadian Maritimes, Alaska, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Hawaii, St. John (USVI), Denmark and Iceland. All thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Preference is North America (US, Canada). Along with the wildlife photography we like hiking, fishing, canoeing, scenery, puttering around shops, museums, history, and just general exploring. Willing to revisit any of the above places if there are places that are not normally visited. Feel free to think outside the box. Thanks!

[1stgenfarmboy]

We got more good shots in Yellowstone of mammals, but we get pretty excited when we get a good shot of a new bird in the Appalachians, we tend to be drawn to them above 6,000ft during the spring migration, and this year will be no different.

[Crowe]

An African safari is indeed on the list but not for a few years, as is Churchill for the polar bears (or Svalbard Island of Norway). Next year we are trying to do a week in the spring and a week in late summer/early fall, henceforth the N. America request. If I'm going to travel halfway across the world I will definitely take more than a week!

[RPreeb]

Crowe wrote:
This year we are headed to Norway for two weeks and the trip planning is done except for flights. Now I'm itchy to start next year's planning. One of our main interests when we travel is wildlife photography. We will be flying, so distance is not an issue. We've been to Olympic, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier, Waterton, Banff, Jasper, Badlands, Saguaro, Fundy, Shenandoah, Great Smoky Mountain and Acadia national parks, Custer State Park, most of New England, all over the Canadian Maritimes, Alaska, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Hawaii, St. John (USVI), Denmark and Iceland. All thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Preference is North America (US, Canada). Along with the wildlife photography we like hiking, fishing, canoeing, scenery, puttering around shops, museums, history, and just general exploring. Willing to revisit any of the above places if there are places that are not normally visited. Feel free to think outside the box. Thanks!

Well this is outside of the box you specified, but if you truly want wildlife, then Africa is the place. We did a 3 week safari trip in October, 2014, to Botswana (Chobe River and the Okavango delta), Zambia (Kafue River), and Zimbabwe (Hwange Park and Preserve), and it was spectacular. We booked through Overseas Adventure Tours. From the amazing quantity of wildlife, to the spectacular sunsets, to taking a helicopter ride above Victoria Falls, the whole trip was amazing. A few shots (and these are just the smallest sample - I came home with more than 2500 images):

[Braces]

I realize you said No. Amer. but for ultimate wildlife photo hard to believe anyplace could top Kenya or Tanzania. Kenya maybe not too safe right now but I think Tanzania is OK. If not next yr., maybe the next.

[Crowe]

How about Churchill MB and the polar bears.

That's on the bucket list but we're thinking "warm" for next year. Last year we were in Alberta and it was beautiful but chilly. This year is Norway, which will also be chilly. Our hope is an island like Grand Cayman in May and someplace else either late summer or early fall.

[John_S_]

How about Churchill MB and the polar bears.

[TyroneandGladys]

Mardi Gras New Orleans LA :B

[vermilye]

Some Javelina photos at Cottonwood Campground, Big Bend in December, 2016:
More from the campground here.

[monkey44]

Crowe - If you think Big Bend - which is a great place, for sure - the stop at Ft Davis Texas on the way ... that a a great place too - lost of history, and an observatory, and it's a nice campground. Havolina's inhabit the CG too, and have a ball when anyone leaves out any kind of cooler or food.

We watched a small herd of about five or six squabble over reducing a large cooler to bits and eating about three days of dinner for a group of tent campers that left it out.

[lbrjet]

We saw more wildlife in Wyoming spending just three weeks there than in the whole 2 years we spent traveling 35 other states.

[Crowe]

Big Bend National Park, TX

Are you telepathic? I JUST and I mean JUST looked up Big Bend last night! On the suggestion of others I was looking at W. Texas and saw Big Bend. Thanks for the sightings link-that's very helpful.

[huachuca]

Big Bend National Park, TX

Deer, Javelina and numerous birds/reptiles/rodents are common. We've also seen Aoudad and ringtails

Bear and Mountain Lion sightings

You'll need to be a member here to view the photo section but worth it in my opinion Big Bend Chat

[Mortimer_Brewst]

How about Florida? I hear that The Villages can get pretty wild. Until the sun goes down, that is. 😉

[Roy_Lynne]

Check out National Wildlife refuges and they are your best best The best site we have been for variety was a Swamp tour in Louisiana.