Unit 62 Colorado

[Lucas22]

If you are hunting in scrub oak country, longer shots can be very difficult to come by. There are, of course, exceptions and they will usually/almost always involve steep shot angles. I hunt black bear with a 25-06 myself. They aren't very tough animals, but, obviously, a larger caliber will give you more margin of error. I wouldn't overthink either of these 2 caliber options. Take the one you enjoy shooting the most.

When it comes to September bear, you are looking for fresh sign and elevation profile. 2-3 day old sign is too old to be relevant so keep moving if that is what you are seeing. If you are seeing slightly older sign at an elevation, drop elevation by 1,000 feet or more. Don't let the appearance of "good looking" terrain fool you into staying in a spot unless you have cleared the higher elevation profile are waiting for bears to show up at your lower elevation. They move fast through these profiles when they are feeding on oak and an area can be vacuumed up in 24-36 hours and then its over.

You're looking for very fresh sign and always be willing to adjust elevation dramatically, as in packing up and driving 45 minutes down the road adjustment.

Awesome thanks!

 

[Alpinedrifter]

I hunted hard during my September rifle bear hunt and only saw two bears with zero shot opportunities. Plenty of natural foods available too.

With September behind, I’m going to pick up another bear tag for 1st rifle, which I’ve never done. I imagine the acorns, rosehips, etc will be gone by then though, so I’m adamant to hunt the 6-9k elevations again. But I don’t know.. should I stay in that range and focus on the creeks and deep canyons?

Alternatively, I’m considering hunting the 10-12,000 foot elevation range and hunting drainages. The recent light snow dustings in my local alpine wilderness have long burned off, and I’m assuming the bears will not be holed up for the winter yet… at least for another 2-3 weeks.

As for spot and stalk mid-October bear in CO.. would you hedge your bets on the 6-9k elevations, or the 9-12k? Are they basically spread out everywhere across the 6k-12k elevation range?

 

[EJFS]

For future reference. No reason to tag unit numbers on these types of threads. Just describe the terrain and ask your question. We certainly don't need more hunters in this area in September!