Yes, you can.
It is very rare, but Dragonite does spawn in the wild.
I caught one outside my house in the middle of the night, which was pure luck.
Others
I know have had success at local hot spots when there's been a lot of other people around
(there's a widely held belief - perhaps with proof, I'm not 100% sure),
that rarer Pokemon spawn when there's a lot of players in one area.
So, if you'd like a slightly higher chance of finding a Dragonite in the wild, see if you can find a local park where a lot of players hang out.
There may even be a Facebook group of players in your city that you can connect into.
Finally, I don't believe there are any Dratini nests anymore, but Dratinis do often spawn near water, so it might be worth seeing if you can build up to a Dragonite too - especially considering if you find one in the wild, you'd probably want the candy to power it up.
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/141706/Tim Malone
You can catch a wild Dragonite!
I haven't yet, but I've seen a wild Dragonite on my Nearby radar while on the bus.
So you can catch it, but it's very rare to find one, and you'll need luck on your side.
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/155384/Znaz
Yes, Dragonites are able to be found and captured in the wild.
As for their rarity... if you go to pokesnipers.com, you will see a real-time list of rare pokemon worldwide and their locations as they are discovered.
Someone recently mentioned how Dragonites used to show up on the list fairly regularly, yet now you can watch the list for a long time and not see even one.
I have yet to see one on the list
and I've been checking for a few days.
Not very frequently, mind you, but a month or two ago I would see one every time I looked at the list.
So, it seems that wild Dragonites may have become rarer... or one just hasn't popped up yet, who knows?
My advice on finding a wild Dragonite is to go somewhere
that is fairly popular with a number of pokestops
Put a lure or two on some pokestops, use an incense and walk around for a bit in the vicinity.
Dratini are found by (large?) bodies of water and dragonites are supposed to have a slim chance of appearing where a dratini has been seen/found.
Dragonites are supposed to have been most commonly reported as appearing near or in parks.
Hope this helps.
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/166704/Ron Kyle
Yes you definitely can.
According to rankedboost you can find them in golf courses or near landmarks!
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/162565/Lincoln Cheng
Yes, I caught one at my neighbors house 250 cp.
The IV's were great
so I kept powering it up with dratini, now it's at 2400 cp.
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/169578/Urkl
Yes my daughter caught one today at legoland when she caught a snorelax it was in the queue for legends of gaming
so both times lots of people in the same area playing!
She made me screenshot the journal to prove she caught it!
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/167218/Caz
Check Rarity Chart.
I second his statement that pokemon have their respective spawnpoints AS WELL as that each step of the evolutionary line can spawn.
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/102075/Khaz
I was just wondering if you could catch a wild Dragonite, because I see them in gyms and it is hard to evolve up to him.
Can you catch a wild Dragonite?
gaming.stackexchange.com
<pokemon-go>
gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/285719
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/166603/dylan
Dragonite does spawn in the wild. They can be found and captured in the wild.  Yes you can for sure, it spawns in the wild.
User replies suggest it is possible