Bear spray in Colorado?

Bar

Banned
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Feb 8, 2014
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Colorado
I've argued 2 seconds is reasonable....but that's like superhuman in some eyes (those that have never encountered a shot timer)


Yeah, in 3 min the bear would have eaten you and be off having berries for desert.
 
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
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1,324
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Tulsa Ok
I just don't get how anyone can hunt southern CO and not see a single 🐻 I have had days were I've seen none and days I've seen 5+. I guess if your only there a day or two maybe but in a weeks time it's weird to not see bear 50% of the time.

We've seen lots of sign, no bears....Probably 40 days on the ground. Wierd I know. We are in elk all the time, and have had plenty of opportunities, so it suprises me too. Maybe just unlucky I guess.

Now watch them be all over us this year.....lol.
 

Nomad

Lil-Rokslider
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May 19, 2016
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West Texas
I've never lived in bear country and I've had very limited "experience" with bears. I had 2 stumble upon me while ambush hunting over a water hole surrounded by dark timber during archery season near De Beque, CO, a few years back. I ranged them at 55 yards (first encounter ever with a bear under 500+ yards) and I was scared shitless.

Once the wind changed, they looked my direction for a moment and quickly hauled ass up the mountain... like a pair of race horses. That experience proved to me that you cannot out run a bear, at least not uphill in a straightish line.

In 2015, I spotted a sow and 2 cubs on my first solo hunt in SW Colorado. They came out of dark timber ~500+ yards below me. I had seen a legal bull in the area the day before so I was raking saplings, banging brush and trying to make something happen. I didn't notice that the wind had shifted and was barely drifting down the mountain... until I saw the sow closing the distance 100 yards at a time, until she got to 60 and stood up, and then to about 35, with the 2 knotheads tagging along. Pucker factor was at 11. I kinda made a growling noise at her which seemed kinda stupid even to me at the time... but that's just what came out. She wasn't too impressed, but she growled back and then retreated. I carry bear spray with me all the time now. To hell with the haters.
 

Nomad

Lil-Rokslider
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West Texas
Yeah, the locals we spent some time with (on the front and back ends of that first trip) that my hunting buddies knew thought it was hilarious. I've had a bunch of close encounters with rattlesnakes on many solo trips and sometimes in remote areas only accessible by foot on public land. I had a dude pull a gun on me and poke my belly with it in Mexico. The "bear scare pucker factor" still beats those deals. I keep a clean clamp, hang all my food and "smellables" but I still pay attention. I'd like to say that I'm not scared of bears, but it's been a while since we've been up close and personal.
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
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Feb 27, 2012
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Colorado Springs
We've seen lots of sign, no bears....Probably 40 days on the ground. Wierd I know. We are in elk all the time, and have had plenty of opportunities, so it suprises me too. Maybe just unlucky I guess.

In 35+ years of hunting in CO, I can count on one hand the number of bears I've seen in that time, and three of those were all at the same time. So you're not alone. Last year I had a bear tag and even got into an area that was absolutely loaded with piles of bear scat and berry bushes, but never could find the bear. I guess if I didn't have the tag then I would have seen 5 of them, but who knows.
 

cnelk

WKR
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Mar 1, 2012
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Colorado
A few years ago my kids and I were up checking trail cams and we bumped a sow with cubs.
Both the cubs and sow went up the same tree.

Pretty cool to see, and prob kinda lucky too (in more ways than one)
Mama bear wasn't happy. She was huffing at us pretty good






 

TR909

FNG
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Jan 3, 2016
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Crested Butte, Colorado
I never carried bear spray and often laughed at the idea of doing so in Colorado until the past few years. As our state's human population grows, I'm seeing MUCH more habituation and lack of fear. Especially near high-use rec areas (14er,13er TH's, alpine lakes, etc). I got in a shouting match with a bear last summer while camping on the southeast side of Indy Pass (I keep a VERY clean camp too). He/she bluff charged, then stood his/her ground and refused to vacate. I don't take it on day hikes, but have conceded to bring it on some overnites and backpacks. When car camping, it's always in my tent, mostly for my 11:00pm and 3:00am old man pee's.
 
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neil.hansford

Lil-Rokslider
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Jan 12, 2014
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Montana
Hunted once in Colorado and never saw a bear. But, first time I hunted Montana I needed it...for a black bear. Bumped into her and a cub in close quarters in dark timber. Cub went up a tree and she came at me. Could have just as easily happened in Colorado. Bear spray costs $40 and weighs very little. If you need it, you'd pay $1 million for it. If you don't, you've wasted $40. Why not?

That's my opinion and it's worth every penny you paid me for it.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

njdoxie

WKR
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Apr 1, 2014
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623
I keep a small can of bear spray in camp laying next to my tent, so if I bear is rummaging around camp in the dark, I can spray him quick. It would be a real pain if I had to leave camp and replenish supplies that were lost to a bear, would cost me probably a day and a half at least. I'm not too careful around camp either, I cook and eat in camp, but I do keep my food in a bear proof container and/or hanging in a tree and I never bring food in my 3 person tent. I've never seen a bear around camp, but I'll empty the cannister on one if he shows up looking for food.
 
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hobbes

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Jun 6, 2012
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The best way to guarantee that you won't see a bear, at least in daylight hours, is to buy a bear tag. At least that was my experience in Colorado.
 

jmez

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Jun 12, 2012
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Piedmont, SD
I don't carry it when I hunt Co. Not really concerned with black bears. I carry it when I hunt in Grizzly areas.
 
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