Dash Cam Captures Bison Ramming Truck in the Dead of Night

A driver traveling through Yellowstone National Park in the dead of night had a close encounter with a bison when the animal charged his pickup truck and struck it.

Dashcam footage captured the incident near Mud Volcano in the early morning hours of October 8.

Kyle Weber, a seasonal mechanic who had spent the summer working for Yellowstone Park Service Stations, was driving his Ford Ranger from Canyon Village toward Fishing Bridge at around 2:45 A.M. when he spotted the bison standing in the road.

“I was going through the trees, coming around the corner, and I saw a bison on the road,” he tells Cowboy State Daily. “I slammed on my brakes and stopped and was just sitting there watching and waiting for him to continue walking.”

Weber says the animal initially appeared to ignore the vehicle. However, rather than continuing across the road, the bison approached the truck and suddenly charged, striking its front-left side before running off into the darkness.

“I definitely got jolted in that thing,” he says. “I knew they hit hard, but that was pretty rough. It pushed my truck back at least a foot and a half.”

The collision damaged the truck’s bumper and hood and broke a side marker light. Weber says the damage was limited, although his wheel now scrapes against the bumper when he makes sharp turns. The headlights and other components continue to function.

After the collision, Weber continued along the road and encountered the same bison farther ahead. He followed at a distance until the animal moved off the road and onto a pullout, allowing him to pass.

“Unfortunately, he went the same direction I was going,” he tells Cowboy State Daily. “I wanted to make sure I followed directly behind him as far back as I could, where I could still see him with my headlights.”

Weber says he had considered whether backing away might have prevented the collision, but he was unsure whether moving the truck would have further agitated the animal. Given its behavior when he first approached, he believed remaining stationary was the safest option.

Stephen Borgmier, Weber’s co-worker and a manager at the Fishing Bridge service station, shared video of the encounter on Facebook. He says drivers regularly encounter bison on Yellowstone’s roads, particularly at night, when the animals can be difficult to see.

Bison can be difficult to spot at nighttime because their dark coats blend into the surroundings, particularly on roads bordered by trees and around bends. Unlike deer and elk, their eyes also lack the reflective layer that makes those animals’ eyes more visible in headlights.

The National Park Service advises visitors to keep at least 25 yards away from bison, give the animals the right of way, and remain inside their vehicles when encountering them on roads. Despite their size and sometimes calm appearance, bison can move quickly and become dangerous when approached or disturbed. They can run at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour, jump six feet vertically, and weigh as much as 2,000 pounds.

Another bison-related incident occurred in Yellowstone in July, when a 65-year-old grandfather, Carl Isom-McDaniel, was charged and thrown into the air by a bull moments after he had stopped to take a photo with his grandchild. He sustained multiple broken bones and was hospitalized. The child was not injured.

Meanwhile, a photographer in Yellowstone who pulled over to change lenses wound up in a fight with a 70-pound mountain lion after the big cat pinned him to the ground.

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Image creditsVia Stephen Borgmier