Fall bear, solo, no bait, no elk to sit on

[ilikefunkymusic]

Did my first bear hunt this fall in a unit that isn't conducive to traditional glassing/spot & stalk tactics.
Was solo, and couldn't link up with any of the archery elk boys to utilize their post harvest sites.
Spent most of my time attempting to still hunt proximal to creek bottoms, schwacking through a sea of gambel oak...

Got into endless fresh sign, but I just couldn't make a connection. I would have LOVED to have taken one of these bears, as they were only eating acorn for weeks. Yum.

Wanted to see what the community thinks about other strategies/tactics for this. Looking for any and all ideas here.
Main thing I kept coming to was the use of trail cams. I have no experience with them, and this is just my 2nd year hunting.
What would be the best way to utilize them?

Is Colorado just printing money with these tags? I'd love to find success on this hunt. Initially I wrote this off, but now with some time away from the experience I want to figure it out. TIA

 

[Buffalo]

I found an area this fall with lots of bear sign and put up a camera on a trail leading to water. Lots of bear pics but mostly at night. I hunted through the area quite a few times and only saw bears twice. So I’m curious about other tactics too. But I would put a camera up. Put it up high or it might get eaten.

 

[7718Sallee]

What time of year are you guys out hunting? No acorns in my area but there are some thick patches of huckleberry. Last year I found bears out midday first week of September. It was hot out and they were on north to northish facing shaded areas, eating berries. I’m still learning to, these areas didn’t have spot and stalk opportunities but just got the wind right and still hunted through. I’m hoping others will contribute some ideas

 

[Felix40]

You just have to put in time and get a little lucky. Sitting water can be good if you can find where they are watering. In my experience it’s usually a little mud puddle rather than a nice creek etc. Bears will walk pretty far as they feed so you really have to read the sign to figure out where they are coming from and cut them off before dark.

The state isn’t selling a false bill of sale. It’s just really hard to consistently find bears without being able to glass

 

[ilikefunkymusic]

Appreciate the insights. Merry Christmas y'all

 

[collinparsons]

Had a very similar experience hunting in Colorado this year. Saw tons of sign and knew I was on bears but never saw them. Tried calling a little but also no luck. Talked to a group that harvested three bears in a week in the same region and they said they just still hunted a small pond. All three bears were shot under 30 yards. What I gather from this and my experience and research is that you need to find a really good setup and also have some luck on your side. Also I don’t think my dreams of a spot and stalk bear hunt where you see 10-15 bears in a week is going to happen in Colorado in the fall on public land. That’s probably going to have to be a spring hunt in Idaho, Wyoming, or Montana

 

[orionthehunter1]

Plenty of bears in Colorado. I've seen 10-15 in a day easy. Will also have 20 different bears on camera over the summer. Find acorns and chokecherries with a pond close by and sit it all day. I kill most of mine between 10 and 3.

 

[ilikefunkymusic]

I was having a hard time knowing where to park it for the day. The creek was flowing, so I assumed they were able to get water anywhere along it.

Now reading back through the posts and it sounds like I need to focus on a nasty little muddy water hole, and I'm recalling one I found that had tracks around and through it. Likely I'll put a camera up high on that leading up to the season this year, and continue to look for more of those. Great breakthrough for me here, thanks guys.

Lastly, what do scratched trees teach about an area? There were numerous aspen where they had done the who can climb the highest contest, and then there was a single massive cottonwood that was like the community post. It was worked over real good, only at bear height. Didnt know what to do with these signs.

Cheers