Wyoming
Grizzlies Fight Over Food Right Next To Wyoming Man’s Truck
Getting video of a grizzly mother and cub fighting over food, practically within arm’s reach, seemed cool enough to share on social media for a Cody man, but he didn’t expect it to catch fire.
“It was funny. It was just a typical day at work for me. I had no idea it was going to blow up like that,” Ryan Aune told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday afternoon.
It’s easy to see why it did. From inside the cab of his truck, Aune had his camera running when the sow and cub burst through the underbrush next to the road, each with their jaws clamped tight on some sort of carcass. They were fighting over control of the food even while on the move. Another cub runs alongside them.
Both bears are vocalizing while trying to get the meat from the other, an example that while grizzly mommas take good care of their cubs, they don’t always share. And it’s a lesson for the cub that as an apex predator, it takes what it needs.
The video, which he posted Wednesday, already had more than 1.2 million views on Facebook by Thursday afternoon.
“That’s what it’s like living in Wyoming. What you think is normal is insane to other people,” said Aune, who owns Wyoming Wings & Waters guide service.
Reaction to the video has been mostly positive, although there have been some peanut gallery comments, he said.
“Somebody commented something like, ‘Great filming, said no one, ever.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Sure, you try being right next to grizzlies fighting and not flinch,” Aune said.
He took the video at 5:50 a.m. Wednesday alongside the highway between Cub Creek and Lake Butte in Yellowstone National Park, as he was on his way to meet a fishing client.
It wasn’t his first close encounter with grizzlies. In 2019, Aune shot and killed a grizzly with birdshot from just a few feet away when it charged him near the Clarks Fork River.
Wildlife agents investigated the shooting and cleared it as a case legitimate self-defense, but Aune said the experience still made him sad.
‘I Could Feel Every Little Bit Of It’
Aune frequently drives into Yellowstone through the East Gate early in morning, so he’s used to seeing grizzlies and other wildlife along the way.
When he spotted some grizzlies coming out of the cover right next to the highway, he decided it was worth pulling over and maybe get some video.
“It was like, ‘Oh, there’s bears, it looks like they’re playing. No, wait, they’re fighting over something,’” he said.
By time he his rig pulled over and he rolled down his window to shoot video on his smartphone, the grizzlies had retreated into the trees and brush. But he started recording anyway, just in case.
“All of the sudden, there comes momma grizzly out of the trees, straight at me,” Aune said.
And the cubs were right with her. One cub just seemed to be following along.
The other was tussling violently with its mother over a scrap of food.
Exactly what it was they were fighting over, Aune isn’t sure.
“I think it was a marmot, but I’m not sure. I was more focused on safety at that point,” he said.
The mother grizzly and cub didn’t appear to be trying to hurt each other, but each was tugging mightily at the tasty treat, not wanting the other to get it.
They were growling and huffing ferociously.
The trio of bears was maybe 15 feet away from his open window.
“I could feel the sound in my body. I could feel every bit of it,” Aune said.
The bears were completely caught up in what they were doing and didn’t seem to notice Aune or his truck.
“I’ve got a 2022 F-350, which is very noticeable,” he said.
After a few seconds of mighty struggle, the video ends with the cub claiming the prize and running back into the cover, with its mother and sibling close behind.
After viewing the video, Wyoming Game and Fish Large Carnivore Specialist Dan Thompson said it appeared to be a typical case of grizzlies struggling over who got the last bite.
But whether the cub ultimately prevailed remains unknown, he told Cowboy State Daily.
“It looks to me like they’re having a tussle over the last scrap of food at the table, and junior won … for now,” he said.
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Hunting and fishing guide Ryan Aune of Cody shot and killed this grizzly bear when it charged him near the Clark’s Fork River in 2019. Investigators deemed the shooting justified self-defense, but Aune said killing the bear saddened him. (Courtesy Ryan Aune, Wyoming Wings and Waters Guide Service)
2019 Encounter Ending In Shooting
Aune said that Wednesday’s encounter gave him “flashbacks” to nearly being mauled in 2019.
He and his father were bird hunting along the Clarks Fork River one November day.
“We had just gotten finished burying a great bird dog, and we were just trying to make a bummer of a day into a good day by going hunting in that dog’s honor,” he said.
Aune was in what he described as a “tunnel of trees” near the river when he heard his father yell, “grizzly!”
He heard some thrashing, and a grizzly cub appeared out of the cover in front of him. He shouted at it, and the cub turned to run toward the river.
“I turned to my left, and there was momma grizzly not about 10 feet from me,” he said. “I had nowhere to go, and I just started shooting.”
His semiautomatic Berretta 12-gauge was loaded with No. 6 birdshot. Those are small pellets made to knock upland gamebirds out of the air, not to take down angry grizzlies.
But at near point-blank range, the pattern was so bunched up that each blast hit almost like single projectile.
The bear was standing when Aune opened fire, and the first two shots hit it in the upper chest and neck area.
The bear dropped to all fours and tried to charge, but the third blast “went right through the skull” and instantly killed it, Aune said.
He left the bear’s carcass and the empty shotgun shell hulls right where they fell so game agents could investigate the scene.
It’s illegal to shoot a grizzly in the Lower 48, unless it’s in self-defense. Investigators must be called to the scene as soon as possible.
Though he was cleared of any wrongdoing, and the bear appeared to have already been in poor bodily condition, Aune said killing the grizzly weighed heavily on him.
He was particularly saddened by orphaning the cub.
“It took me a while to get over that,” he said.
He hopes that any future encounters with grizzlies will involve photos and video, not gunfire.
“I don’t wish that feeling on anyone. What you feel like when you have to kill something to save your own life,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
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Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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