Black Bear Killed In Subdivision North Of Cheyenne; 2nd Bear In Area This Week

A black bear that wandered into a subdivision north of Cheyenne on Friday was shot and killed by a neighbor with a hunting tag. It was the second bear to wander into the area in three days. Earlier in the week, a black bear was captured Tuesday after it was seen on the east side of town and tried to hide in someone’s barn.

The property owner gave a neighbor, who had a valid Wyoming black bear tag, permission to shoot the bear, Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak said. The neighbor got to keep the bear. Wyoming’s spring bear hunting season is currently open, and the Cheyenne area is included in hunt Area 35. It is legal to shoot a bear during an open season with a valid tag, with permission from the property owner if the bear is not on public land. Game and Fish confirmed Friday’s shooting was a “legal take.”

Watching someone walk out and shoot the bear upset some residents, who said it was not a sporting hunt because the bear never had a chance. “I’m all for hunting, but when a bear is holed up in somebody’s yard, that’s not really hunting,” Josh Ligenfelter said. A neighbor who wished not to be identified described the incident as upsetting, saying, “The bear wandered to a neighboring property and my neighbor went in the house, came back out with hunter orange on and a rifle, walked up to where the bear was hiding, and shot it dead. Point-blank range, doubt it was 10 feet.” Other neighbors recalled hearing two shots and then seeing the bear’s carcass being hauled to a pickup.

Laramie County resident Bryan Vining lives a considerable distance from the subdivision but said he is certain the same bear passed through his property early Friday morning. “I’ve never seen a bear out in our neighborhood before,” he said. The bear was walking south and was not posing any threat to his livestock. “He just turned and headed east, and I let him go,” Vining said.

Isaac Suptin, who lives adjacent to the property where the bear was shot, also saw the bear that morning. He reported it to authorities and was told the bear would probably be left alone as long as it was not bothering livestock, pets, or people. Ligenfelter said he watched the bear for a time and it appeared to be lost and trying to find a way out of the subdivision. “It was basically stuck,” he said. “There are fences all over the place.” Another neighbor, JoAnna Dewald, noted that the subdivision is “a stone’s throw from Interstate 25.”