When wildlife photographer Lana Koppenhafer set out from her home in Pinedale, Wyoming, with a friend early Friday seeking some shots of grizzly bears, she anticipated a drive all the way to Yellowstone National Park.
They didn’t have to go nearly that far.
Just past Granite Hot Springs on their way to Jackson, they glanced toward the Hoback River and struck wildlife gold.
A young boar (male grizzly) was right out in the middle of the river, gorging himself on a big game carcass.
Koppenhafer pulled over, and from a safe distance of a few hundred yards, was able to take numerous pictures of the young bear enjoying his bounty.
“We laughed about it, ‘Now, there’s something you don’t see every day.’ But we couldn’t believe our good luck,” Koppenhafer, who owns LK Mountain Memories photography, told Cowboy State Daily.
Then when it was done with dinner, the bear surprised them by jumping into the river’s rapids and powering his way through what would’ve been a deadly swim for most people.
He Probably Didn’t Kill It
Judging by chatter and photos across social media, Wyoming’s grizzlies have been plenty active this spring — and ravenous after a long winter.
And elk, deer, moose and other critters that died over the winter are at the top of the grizzly menu — if they can beat the competition, that is.
Koppenhafer is almost certain the animal the bear was eating had been dead for a while, and that he hadn’t killed it.
“It was probably something that had been frozen in the ice over the winter,” she said.
And they weren’t able to identify the species.
“People have their opinions, a lot of people are saying it was probably a moose carcass,” she said.
Luckily for the young bear, he didn’t have to face down any rivals during his meal. The only other critters that showed up were a pair of Canada geese.
Although the geese and bear eyeballed each other, the geese kept a safe distance and there was no tussle between the two species, Koppenhafer said.
“They were certainly looking at each other, but neither the bear or the geese seemed too concerned about the others’ presence,” she said.
Grizzlies will sometimes tussle with each other, wolves or other predators and scavengers to see who gets the choicest parts of carcasses that are released as the snow and ice melts each spring.
One of the first grizzlies spotted awake this spring, a large male bear that emerged in Yellowstone National Park in early March, took over a bison carcass that was originally claimed by a pair of coyotes.
A young male grizzly and a pair of Canada geese eyeball each other in the Hoback River near Pinedale. The critters kept their distance from each other and no fights broke out. (Courtesy of Lana Koppenhafer, LK Mountain Memories) 
A young male grizzly powers against the current in the Hoback River near Pinedale, to get back to shore after feasting on a big game carcass in the middle of the river. (Courtesy of Lana Koppenhafer, LK Mountain Memories) 
A young male grizzly gorges himself on a big game carcass he found in the middle of the Hoback River. Fortunately for him, no other grizzlies showed up to try stealing it. (Courtesy of Lana Koppenhafer, LK Mountain Memories)
Fighting The Rapids
Once the grizzly in the middle of the Hoback River had his fill, he put on an impressive show getting back to shore, Koppenhafer said.
She said the bear, which she estimated to be about 4 years old, gave her a scare when it got caught in some rapids.
“It made my heart jump at first,” she said.
Humans are ill-advised to try fighting against any current, much less one starting to swell from spring snowmelt runoff.
But grizzlies are unbelievably strong, and that one took full advantage of it, Koppenhafer said.
“He just power-housed through the rapids,” she said. “You could see him just pile through the current. That was probably the most impressive thing about the whole encounter.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
