oldelkhunter

No thank God I am not from that state although I have very good friends that call it home. I have spent hard earned money there as well and will probably continue to do so in the future. I do know what a Bear looks like and a Cougar and not from looking at some book like you insinuated.

skb2706

don't hurt your arm pattin yourself on the back..........

121553

Don't stop now guys, I just made some popcorn. Oldelk, its your turn now.

Bobby

bigbulls

I was sitting in campeating lunch several years ago and had a bear skirt the back side of the meadow that we were camped on. I never saw it but from the depth of its roar it certainly wasn't a small bear. It roared for about 20 minutes as it walked the back side of that 200ish acre meadow. It was close enough to the horsesto make me grab my rifle and sit at a vantage point whereI could watch the horses grazing in the meadow.

Twoyears later wehad a very large bear get into our camp prior to the start of Elk season when we were pre packing in camp. Thankfully wewerent there.

The next yearmy father had a small bear walk to about 30 yards behind him while he was sitting under a treewaiting on passingelk. Thankfully it was a small bear and not a large sow with cubs. When he turned to see what was walking behind him it ran off.

The next year we had at least one bear eat my fathers cow that he had hung in a tree while he was down the mountain. It, or they,came in and ate the entire elk.

Lastseasonmy fatherhad a bear climb the tree and take one of the rear quarters and eat it.

Other members of the camp have seen other bears as they were out away from camp hunting and bear scat and sign scattered across the mountain. We have yet to actually see a cat but we have seen sign a few times through out the years.

So, When I am elk hunting in Colorado I am packing something other than my bow. Personally, I worry more about the bears than a safe falling from the sky or getting lost, or breaking a leg, or running out of food, etc... etc...

Ever since Colorado did away with the Spring season bear numbers and encounters have been steadily on the rise.

skb2706

We see "bears" all the time....most often fishing. But since the topic is 'grizzly bears' and the number of confirmed sightings is less than two in 28 years we consider that a non threat. But if you consider that during the course of one year of big game hunting and in excess of 250,000 BG hunters, there are much bigger issues.

oldelkhunter

Prior to 1997 I only carried a bow,rifle or muzzleloader when ELk hunting. I hunted a ranch near Paonia in 1997 Muzzleloader Elk and this happened while I was there.
[ol][*]A bear took a swipe at the Shower Tent tore the side and then went in and tore it to hell.[*]One of the guys came back to his ATV midday and found a bear on it attempting to eat the seat. It was a small one and it was chased away.[*]There were about 50 head of Angus cattle on the ranch. One brisk morning I came upon a dead Cow who had an obvious broken neck and her wounded calf. The Calf had rake marks across its face and an eyeball hanging out.I think I interrupted someones breakfast plans. I am thinking whatever hit them must still have been in the area. I am glad I had a muzzleloader in my hands and not a string gun. [/ol]

My brother in law lives in Southern Oregon and is a serious backpacker. He never used to carry any sort of gun on his trips but now carries a 44 revolver. Seems there is an abundance of kittie kats where he backpacks as well as bears. He has also run into illegal crop fields in the mountains when he worked for the USFS and is always on the lookout for anything of the sort when he goes camping.

AK Jeff

There's nowhere near enough grizzlies in CO to be concerned about. I live in Alaska and they honestly aren't even that much of a going concern up here even though we have something on the order of 97% of the U.S. grizzly population. I'm convinced you could lather yourself in peanut butter, tie a t-bone around your neck and wander around the woods up here for a long time and more than likely you'll be just fine, as long as you wear bug dope. I really think the whole "bearanoia" issue is perpetuated by the people that are trying to sell you the latest and greatest bear detracting device or the new .800 Dirty Harry Supa-Dupa Mag pistol. Shoot, Timothy Treadwell spent years and years playing grab-ass with the grizzlies in Katmai before he got chomped. I'd honestly be more concerned about encountering the Treadwell types that are a little thin in the mental marbles department than running into a bear.

AK Jeff

trouthunter

Soooo true AK Jeff...

The most sleepless night in the woods I ever had was after an encounter with an odd duck while high alpine lake trout fishing. I was taking a break and eating some lunch whe out of nowhere a guy appeared at my camp. He sat and shot the breeze with me for a few explaining he had been "out here" a couple months living off the land. The way he eyeballed my camp just gave me the heebee geebee's. I made an effort to "show" that I had a sidearm (I always carry one when I go into the wilderness). I hardly slept a wink the whole night, and was happy to see other fisherman show up at the lake the next day.

frontier gander

Any you ever see an actual grizzly in colorado? I have lived in places like steamboat springs, hunted craig, maybell, aspen area, burns, kremmling, trinidad. You know how many bears ive seen since i first went hunting with my ol pappy?

Three and two of them shouldnt be counted due to the fact that it was during the summer

I have been attacked by a bobcat many years ago. I now know why you should always have your back to tree while turkey callin

oldelkhunter

Hunted outside Durango a few years back 2nd Rifle season and I saw 4 bear in a weekand I had no bear tag. One was 400 lbs and not a pound less with a good size headthe others sows and smaller bear. There was bear sign everywhere and was fun seeing the bear.