Western CO bear season prep

[Trogon]

Any western Colorado folks getting ready for bear season? What are you doing to prepare? Thoughts on how this years likely food sources are shaping up?

I've been putting up a few cameras over the summer, plan to put out a few more this week and check on how the berries and acorns are doing.

Hoping to harvest my first bear. The plan is to sit on the one good spot I know, so far, and see what comes along. Caught this guy out in mid June:

 

[Poser]

I've been out scouting my usual bear hunting areas some and have done some shooting practice across canyons (even though my shots on bears always end up being like 40 yards...).

Big drought year and massive mast failure as a result: super spotty acorn development and 0 berries. I hiked by the location where I killed a bear on opening day last season. When I looked at the pics from last year, the spot was lush green with budding flowers at the beginning of Sept. This year, its all dried out and brown in early August.

My prediction: bears are going to hit what acorns there are asap and move into towns to hit apple trees and raid dumpsters.

 

[Trogon]

Still seems decently green in my area, been dry the past few weeks, but before that we were getting regular rain in the mountains.

 

[benclimbing]

I've been out scouting my usual bear hunting areas some and have done some shooting practice across canyons (even though my shots on bears always end up being like 40 yards...).

Big drought year and massive mast failure as a result: super spotty acorn development and 0 berries. I hiked by the location where I killed a bear on opening day last season. When I looked at the pics from last year, the spot was lush green with budding flowers at the beginning of Sept. This year, its all dried out and brown in early August.

My prediction: bears are going to hit what acorns there are asap and move into towns to hit apple trees and raid dumpsters.

Just returned from scouting three units of varying topography on the Western Slope and my observations were the same throughout. Now I need to find a dumpster on public...

 

[justinspicher]

I’m not too optimistic on harvesting a bear this year. They’ve been pretty nocturnal and there isn’t much around here for them to eat.

 

[Bluumoon]

I've been out scouting my usual bear hunting areas some and have done some shooting practice across canyons (even though my shots on bears always end up being like 40 yards...).

Big drought year and massive mast failure as a result: super spotty acorn development and 0 berries. I hiked by the location where I killed a bear on opening day last season. When I looked at the pics from last year, the spot was lush green with budding flowers at the beginning of Sept. This year, its all dried out and brown in early August.

My prediction: bears are going to hit what acorns there are asap and move into towns to hit apple trees and raid dumpsters.

I haven’t been up high recently. Any green grass higher up? Last year bow hunter friends were seeing lots of bears higher than usual.

 

[Poser]

I haven’t been up high recently. Any green grass higher up? Last year bow hunter friends were seeing lots of bears higher than usual.

The high country is still fairly green, but drying out fast. I hiked up a trail yesterday to check out some mast conditions, which there was a little more on this East face then I've been seeing elsewhere. I got to a cattle gate and keep going to the top of the ridge. The cow pastures on this East face had not really been grazed at all and were still knee high, though there was some cow sign around. Presumably because the creek is dry and there is no water source nearby,

 

[Trogon]

Went out over the weekend to look at a few areas. Saw two bears out in the oak flats in the midday heat. In another area scat that was mostly acorns and a few chokecherries.

 

[Poser]

Went out over the weekend to look at a few areas. Saw two bears out in the oak flats in the midday heat. In another area scat that was mostly acorns and a few chokecherries.

Interesting. I'm surprised acorns are edible already. What part of the state? Northern CO?

 

[Trogon]

Interesting. I'm surprised acorns are edible already. What part of the state? Northern CO?

Roughly north of Cortez