SW Colorado Forage

[AlleghenyPaddler]

I'm headed to SW Colorado for the first week of September with a rifle tag. I talked to a biologist who said the primary forage this year is going to be choke cherries and gambrel oak acorns (which i believe ripen later). My research shows these species co mingle from 5-9k elevation, does anyone have insight where in that elevation range things will be ripening the first week of September? My plan is to cover ground, and hopefully locate water, food and sign proximal to each other and let glass do the rest of the walking. I recognize this is similar to a post a few down, but i wanted to hopefully focus on patterns of the forage development. Thanks for any insight!

 

[lak2004]

Shouldn't have a problem locating water, we've had a good rainy summer. Might make it harder. Oak is everywhere across the area, super dense. Choke cherries are ripening in the 7500' range. Haven't checked much higher up.
Message me for some more specific info.

 

[Poser]

Super wet year and the berries have been crazy. The acorns aren't ripe yet and are not typically ripe the first week of September. In town right now, bears are hitting apples and like crazy. There's apple skin filled bear poop all over the streets and sidewalks. Based on what I saw last weekend in the backcountry, they've been wearing out the blueberries, strawberries and raspberries -I imagine those will all be eaten by the opener, though.

I'm going to start hunting in the 8-9k elevation profiles for the first week. I'll usually drop down to more in the 6500-7000 range by mid month, but that can change annually.

 

[Hondo0925]

Kind of a poor acorn crop in my area of the southwest. But there is a decent amount of choke cherries.

I usually just hunt water but it’s looking pretty wet for opener.

 

[jcmupar]

Choke cherries are pretty thick right now. Not quite dark red yet, but should be in a week or two.

 

[Bluumoon]

Super wet year and the berries have been crazy. The acorns aren't ripe yet and are not typically ripe the first week of September. In town right now, bears are hitting apples and like crazy. There's apple skin filled bear poop all over the streets and sidewalks. Based on what I saw last weekend in the backcountry, they've been wearing out the blueberries, strawberries and raspberries -I imagine those will all be eaten by the opener, though.

I'm going to start hunting in the 8-9k elevation profiles for the first week. I'll usually drop down to more in the 6500-7000 range by mid month, but that can change annually.

Went cruising yesterday checking out some new canyons (6800-9k ft), had my disabled brother with me, so not able to get far from the truck. Was able to confirm a couple interesting/promising glassing points. Acorns were minimal at all elevations in this area and wasn't seeing berries until we got to around 8200ft, but also wasn't able to get down into the canyons.

Are you generally finding high points and glassing down into canyons where you know there are berries/acorns? Most of my known berry spots can't really be glassed into from afar, acorn hot spots I've tried sitting the closest water. Generally just curious on you tactic for difficult to glass spots, or if you take a high glassing point and hope one pops out.

Hoping to get it done this year, I have a week dedicated in the middle of the month to figure it out.

Almost sealed the deal on a nice cinnamon bear coming over Hesperus pass last week, lucky for him and my car I was paying attention.

 

[Poser]

Went cruising yesterday checking out some new canyons (6800-9k ft), had my disabled brother with me, so not able to get far from the truck. Was able to confirm a couple interesting/promising glassing points. Acorns were minimal at all elevations in this area and wasn't seeing berries until we got to around 8200ft, but also wasn't able to get down into the canyons.

Are you generally finding high points and glassing down into canyons where you know there are berries/acorns? Most of my known berry spots can't really be glassed into from afar, acorn hot spots I've tried sitting the closest water. Generally just curious on you tactic for difficult to glass spots, or if you take a high glassing point and hope one pops out.

Hoping to get it done this year, I have a week dedicated in the middle of the month to figure it out.

Almost sealed the deal on a nice cinnamon bear coming over Hesperus pass last week, lucky for him and my car I was paying attention.

Yeah, the glassing aspect of bear hunting is extremely difficult for the reason you listed: You, for the most part, can't effectively glass concentrations of berries and, with scrub oak, if you are glassing large areas of it, you can't effectively move on a bear in any reasonable amount of time if at all. You look at some of those 35-40 degree scrub oak infested slopes out in Hermosa and you're just not going up that. Its akin to those French hedgerows that would stop Sherman tanks in WWII.

My primary strategy is to glass from high points and ridges. I usually can't actually see (or see much of )the berries themselves, but I can survey the larger area and potentially see bears moving in or out the berries or feeding on scrub oak. In that case, I'm looking for scrub oak with water near, usually a creak in the bottom of the drainage that I also can't see well from that vantage point.

With that strategy, I'm very selective about where I hunt because there just aren't many locations that offer a good glassing perspective. The higher you get, the more you can see ,the longer it takes to move on a bear and they don't tend to stay very still. I like a long ridge in a sea of scrub oak with creeks on both sides: There are berries down at the creek, scrub oak on all S, W and E fasting slopes and a bunch of little nook and cranny subridges you can work your way through. You can't see everything and you have to move a lot, but you can see quite a bit.

Once I burn though that strategy, I'm out in the scrub oak walking up creeks and checking ponds if applicable. Visibility is obviously limited so I'm listening and looking for erratic movement in the scrub oak. Its not my favorite, but it can certainly work.

While bears won't be "far" from water, that doesn't means that they'll be right next to it either. Covering 400,500,600 vertical feet to access water is not a big deal for a bear. While I wouldn't go out of my way to hunt a dry drainage for bear, finding one 2/3rds of the way up a SW facing slope, 400 feet above the creek, is entirely unsurprising. In fact, that's the bear I'm looking for in my primary strategy since I have the greatest likelihood of glassing him up.

I don't claim to be good at it, but I'm definitely getting better at it.

 

[lak2004]

Yeah, the glassing aspect of bear hunting is extremely difficult for the reason you listed: You, for the most part, can't effectively glass concentrations of berries and, with scrub oak, if you are glassing large areas of it, you can't effectively move on a bear in any reasonable amount of time if at all. You look at some of those 35-40 degree scrub oak infested slopes out in Hermosa and you're just not going up that. Its akin to those French hedgerows that would stop Sherman tanks in WWII.

My primary strategy is to glass from high points and ridges. I usually can't actually see (or see much of )the berries themselves, but I can survey the larger area and potentially see bears moving in or out the berries or feeding on scrub oak. In that case, I'm looking for scrub oak with water near, usually a creak in the bottom of the drainage that I also can't see well from that vantage point.

With that strategy, I'm very selective about where I hunt because there just aren't many locations that offer a good glassing perspective. The higher you get, the more you can see ,the longer it takes to move on a bear and they don't tend to stay very still. I like a long ridge in a sea of scrub oak with creeks on both sides: There are berries down at the creek, scrub oak on all S, W and E fasting slopes and a bunch of little nook and cranny subridges you can work your way through. You can't see everything and you have to move a lot, but you can see quite a bit.

Once I burn though that strategy, I'm out in the scrub oak walking up creeks and checking ponds if applicable. Visibility is obviously limited so I'm listening and looking for erratic movement in the scrub oak. Its not my favorite, but it can certainly work.

While bears won't be "far" from water, that doesn't means that they'll be right next to it either. Covering 400,500,600 vertical feet to access water is not a big deal for a bear. While I wouldn't go out of my way to hunt a dry drainage for bear, finding one 2/3rds of the way up a SW facing slope, 400 feet above the creek, is entirely unsurprising. In fact, that's the bear I'm looking for in my primary strategy since I have the greatest likelihood of glassing him up.

I don't claim to be good at it, but I'm definitely getting better at it.

Helpful and appreciated!

 

[Bluumoon]

Yeah, the glassing aspect of bear hunting is extremely difficult for the reason you listed: You, for the most part, can't effectively glass concentrations of berries and, with scrub oak, if you are glassing large areas of it, you can't effectively move on a bear in any reasonable amount of time if at all. You look at some of those 35-40 degree scrub oak infested slopes out in Hermosa and you're just not going up that. Its akin to those French hedgerows that would stop Sherman tanks in WWII.

My primary strategy is to glass from high points and ridges. I usually can't actually see (or see much of )the berries themselves, but I can survey the larger area and potentially see bears moving in or out the berries or feeding on scrub oak. In that case, I'm looking for scrub oak with water near, usually a creak in the bottom of the drainage that I also can't see well from that vantage point.

With that strategy, I'm very selective about where I hunt because there just aren't many locations that offer a good glassing perspective. The higher you get, the more you can see ,the longer it takes to move on a bear and they don't tend to stay very still. I like a long ridge in a sea of scrub oak with creeks on both sides: There are berries down at the creek, scrub oak on all S, W and E fasting slopes and a bunch of little nook and cranny subridges you can work your way through. You can't see everything and you have to move a lot, but you can see quite a bit.

Once I burn though that strategy, I'm out in the scrub oak walking up creeks and checking ponds if applicable. Visibility is obviously limited so I'm listening and looking for erratic movement in the scrub oak. Its not my favorite, but it can certainly work.

While bears won't be "far" from water, that doesn't means that they'll be right next to it either. Covering 400,500,600 vertical feet to access water is not a big deal for a bear. While I wouldn't go out of my way to hunt a dry drainage for bear, finding one 2/3rds of the way up a SW facing slope, 400 feet above the creek, is entirely unsurprising. In fact, that's the bear I'm looking for in my primary strategy since I have the greatest likelihood of glassing him up.

I don't claim to be good at it, but I'm definitely getting better at it.

Fantastic, thanks. Your description is very close to the terrain I was looking at/targeting yesterday, albeit I was more looking at north facing slopes from the south/southwest facing slopes.

 

[Poser]

Went to a spot I hunt every sept to look at the mast, but, having hunted out there 35-40 days for bears over the last few years, I’ve yet to see a bear there before sept 10-11. Lo and behold, there was a bear out there munching on green acorns. His poop had a strong red tint to it, presumably had been eating rose hips.

I’m gonna kill this bear Monday morning.

 

[Bluumoon]

Went to a spot I hunt every sept to look at the mast, but, having hunted out there 35-40 days for bears over the last few years, I’ve yet to see a bear there before sept 10-11. Lo and behold, there was a bear out there munching on green acorns. His poop had a strong red tint to it, presumably had been eating rose hips.

I’m gonna kill this bear Monday morning.

That looks like a stud.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Went to a spot I hunt every sept to look at the mast, but, having hunted out there 35-40 days for bears over the last few years, I’ve yet to see a bear there before sept 10-11. Lo and behold, there was a bear out there munching on green acorns. His poop had a strong red tint to it, presumably had been eating rose hips.

I’m gonna kill this bear Monday morning.

Good luck that looks like a solid bear! Since you're calling your shot I hope we get an update from you by Tuesday at the latest?

 

[Bluumoon]

A friend has been watching one this weekend at 11k, so narrow it down to between 6500ft and 11.1k or so.

 

[Poser]

Rolled up in the dark and sat on a rock. As I got a little light, I realized there were 2 bears not 25 yards from me including the one I saw Saturday. I waited until shooting light and took the first broadside shot I had which was the cinnamon bear. While skinning and packing out, I saw the darker bear again 3 different times inside of 30 yards. -had to run him off twice.

 

[Bluumoon]

Rolled up in the dark and sat on a rock. As I got a little light, I realized there were 2 bears not 25 yards from me including the one I saw Saturday. I waited until shooting light and took the first broadside shot I had which was the cinnamon bear. While skinning and packing out, I saw the darker bear again 3 different times inside of 30 yards. -had to run him off twice.

Heck yeah! Nice!!

 

[Ridgerunner338]

Nice Bear!!!

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Rolled up in the dark and sat on a rock. As I got a little light, I realized there were 2 bears not 25 yards from me including the one I saw Saturday. I waited until shooting light and took the first broadside shot I had which was the cinnamon bear. While skinning and packing out, I saw the darker bear again 3 different times inside of 30 yards. -had to run him off twice.

Congrats! Sounds like you were in a great spot. Did you have to go up higher due to the low acorn crop this year and do you know what these bears were primarily eating?

 

[Poser]

Congrats! Sounds like you were in a great spot. Did you have to go up higher due to the low acorn crop this year and do you know what these bears were primarily eating?

No, we have a good (average to slightly above average) mast crop in this area. The bears I saw were focused on scrub oak mast and had been since at least Saturday before the opener on Monday. This bear was at 8300 feet.
My original plan was to start the season at max scrub oak elevation about 9,000 feet, but the bears I saw on Saturday were at ~ 8600 and had already worked down about 300 feet of elevation by Monday. This is about 10 days ahead of the schedule I've observed over the last 4 years of being intently focused on Sept bear hunting. I've never had any success turning up bears in mast the first ~week of Sept in this area.

 

[swede8200]

Nice bear! Is it worth packing a spotting scope along? It sounds like the oaks are too thick to really justify the extra weight. I'm stepping in to unkown territory both with bears and the southwest part of the state.

 

[Poser]

Nice bear! Is it worth packing a spotting scope along? It sounds like the oaks are too thick to really justify the extra weight. I'm stepping in to unkown territory both with bears and the southwest part of the state.

Yes, no, it depends....

I have some spots where a spotting scope is useful as I'm glassing a long ways out and the scrub oak is thick. I've also spent hard days hauling a tripod and spotting scope around never being able to see more than 80 yards. When you kill a bear in September and the high for the day is 83 degrees, there isn't shade anywhere around, flies and bees are coming on strong, you have 80-100 lbs of meat and 60-80 lbs of hide and skull to deal with, you're going to hate that spotting scope and tripod. Of course, you may also need them. I'd default to not bringing them unless you know that you'll be looking out beyond 600-800 yards. There are areas where that kind of visibility is possible in scrub oak, but they are the exception. Of course there are burnt stumps, shady holes and bedded down black cattle that can sometimes fool you, but bears don't stay still and those objects do.

Pro tip 1: Citric Acid powder and a small spray bottle. This is really effective, works great and will start to form a crust on the meat fairly quickly, changing the PH balance to deter bacterial growth. Will also deter flies and bees. Also, spray it on both sides of the hide.

Pro Tip 2: Tarp for shade. Scrub oak grows in the sun and there is often no available shade.

Pro tip 3: Get a massive game bag for the hide. I used one large enough to accommodate the rolled up hide and skull (2500-3000 CI should accommodate) but I realized that one of these 11,000 CI games bags would be more helpful since you can mostly lay the hide out to cool and have it in a game bag. a rolled up hide will hold a lot of heat. I put a rolled up hide in my freezer, which was -22 degrees, overnight and only the head was frozen the next morning. I was able to unroll the hide and go check it in. You need to get air circulation on that hide asap, but the flies are going to be blowing larvae on it any chance they get.

If you kill one mid to late morning, the situation can get very urgent. Obviously, you can deal with similar circumstances while archery elk hunting, but elk generally aren't out in South and West facing slopes with no trees when its 80+ degrees out.