Ripe acorns - Colorado

MountainMan83

Lil-Rokslider
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I am considering switching up my bear hunting spot to an area known for gambel oak. Just curious what dates in September are prime for ripe acorns? I understand there is variation year to year, but wanting to see what everyone thinks.
 
I don’t personally think they have to be ripe they just have to be existent. Like last year in my area there were none except in a very few areas. Bears seem to start hammering them late August through September, come October all the acorns are gone.
This is just one simple man’s perspective. Good luck amigo!!
 
Going to vary quite a bit depending on what part of the state (further North will presumably ripen earlier than further south), summer rain, temps and elevation.

On bumper years, bears will be more selective with the ripeness. When acorns are scare, they’ll hit an area a bit earlier. It varies quite a bit year to year. Most seasons in the Southwest, bears aren’t really hitting acorns much when the season opens -that Fall pattern will hit more around 10 days into Sept. however, bears were going nuts on acorns the last week of august last year.
 
the spot I tried this past season basically didnt produce acorns it seemed - or they were gone by September 2... so were the bears... chokecherries were empty too - I failed to research how the spring blossom season played out... seems important if targeting those mask crops.

I am actually contemplating a more alpine transition zone to look for them this year - unless I know acorns or chokecherries are in...
 
the spot I tried this past season basically didnt produce acorns it seemed - or they were gone by September 2... so were the bears... chokecherries were empty too - I failed to research how the spring blossom season played out... seems important if targeting those mask crops.

I am actually contemplating a more alpine transition zone to look for them this year - unless I know acorns or chokecherries are in...
I was reading a late frost can ruin an acorn crop. By going into alpine zone, are you thinking they will switch to grasses?
 
Not Colorado specific but we’ve taken multiple bears out of oak trees that were actively feeding on acorns that hadn’t dropped yet. Pretty similar to when they get in a fruit tree. Keep an eye up if you’re seeing acorn poop but no bears and if you hear rustling in the tree check it out. Acorn poop also turns dark really quick (a couple hours in the sun) so it may seem old but it might not be. Late frosts or hard rain when pollen is out will put a damper on acorn crops but if you can find a small patch that is producing you’ll be in the money.
 
the spot I tried this past season basically didnt produce acorns it seemed - or they were gone by September 2... so were the bears... chokecherries were empty too - I failed to research how the spring blossom season played out... seems important if targeting those mask crops.

I am actually contemplating a more alpine transition zone to look for them this year - unless I know acorns or chokecherries are in...

My experience has lead me to the philosophy of "look lower, not higher" for bears. Some (or even many) bears will return to higher elevations after the Fall food sources are wiped out to den up and I do occasionally encounter bears dens at ~11,000 feet when out spring skiing. And, of course, there are some bears that are busy mopping up elk carcasses at higher elevations in Sept and Oct, BUT, the majority of bears are working their way down through Sept to the tune of 30,40,even 50 miles of travel. Its a wave of bear feeding and it often moves very fast. You might have a day bear hunting where you see 3, 4, 5+ bears out at, say 9600 feet (talked to a guy who claimed to see 40 bears in one day) and the next day? nothing. Those same bears are ~8 miles away and ~2,000 feet lower.

In Sept, I'd wager there is far more success at 6,000 feet than there is at 10,000.
 
IMG_2238.jpeg
Because of not many acorns last year the bears were hammering this at 9k ft + in the creek bottoms. I believe it comes from some sort of Ash tree.
 
yeah a late frost or snow can screw up the acorns or berries and I failed to look into that last year.

First off I am no expert at all! I have only gotten 2 bears and both were more luck than smarts on where to look. I dont doubt most bears are heading lower as the season moves on - trick is many times my zones dont have much lower that isnt into private. But for the last few years I and others have been seeing them at or above treeline eating a combo of moths or other grubs under rocks they are flipping, berries and maybe grasses... plus I think it would be cool to hunt them up there with a rifle... but they arent likely concentrated to seing many in a day like you would in a producing patch of oaks or berries lower - I just havent been lucky finding those patches that are producing and concentrating them...
 
yeah a late frost or snow can screw up the acorns or berries and I failed to look into that last year.

First off I am no expert at all! I have only gotten 2 bears and both were more luck than smarts on where to look. I dont doubt most bears are heading lower as the season moves on - trick is many times my zones dont have much lower that isnt into private. But for the last few years I and others have been seeing them at or above treeline eating a combo of moths or other grubs under rocks they are flipping, berries and maybe grasses... plus I think it would be cool to hunt them up there with a rifle... but they arent likely concentrated to seing many in a day like you would in a producing patch of oaks or berries lower - I just havent been lucky finding those patches that are producing and concentrating them...

There is certainly a factor in this that is highly localized. In my area, we are a literal ocean of scrub oak. Other parts of the state may/will have less scrub oak so its less as emphasized. I would love nothing better than to be out hunting bears in the alpine during Sept. I've even beat my head against the wall attempting to make it work, but learned that, around here at least, the uglier/less aesthetic the setting, the better the Sept bear habitat. If you're seeing them out at that elevation consistently, then there is definitely something to that. If you're hunting pretty far North, the seasonality may very well be 2-3 weeks ahead of the schedule in the Southwest as well.
 
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