Colorado bowhunters, please grab a bear tag too

[davinski]

They went on sale today. Many are "B" tags so it's easy to get two bear tags if you're so inclined. Colorado bears are becoming more problematic, and as a beekeeper I'm especially prejudiced! It's very rare to encounter an archery elk hunter who's never had a bear encounter. And don't be shy about shooting a small one, we won't judge. They're all hard on the deer and elk...and beehives. Thanks and good luck!

 

[RafterH]

Not going in Archery season, but will be there second rifle and will have a bear tag in my pocket.

 

[FYT]

Same. Planning on picking up a "concurrent rifle" tag for when I'm out on my 1st, 2nd, and maybe 4th season rifle hunts. Had I not been a dummy last year and had one, I would have taken one easily.

I will say, I'm not big on the idea of packing a bear out 5 miles, so it will depend on where I am if I do have the opportunity.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Same. Planning on picking up a "concurrent rifle" tag for when I'm out on my 1st, 2nd, and maybe 4th season rifle hunts. Had I not been a dummy last year and had one, I would have taken one easily.

I will say, I'm not big on the idea of packing a bear out 5 miles, so it will depend on where I am if I do have the opportunity.

Yeah but your average bear is a one tripper if you bone it out... so there's that...

 

[HuntTalk Freak]

I’ve been debating on getting one to go with my 2nd season deer tag. Just haven’t been sure if I’d see bears in the same places I’d see mule deer. I’d still like a OTC elk tag. I feel like having too many tags could be a distraction for a nine day season and first time western hunter.

Plus it seems like more of hassle having to have the bear checked and tooth removed. I’m open to any advice.

 

[Tufrthnails]

Not bowhunting, But I will be hunting second season rifle and I have a bear tag.

 

[Nick_CO]

I'm going specifically for bear this September while my buddies are archery Elk hunting. We are packing in with the llamas so it will be interesting to see how they react to packing bear out.

 

[elkhunter340]

Got mine today 2017 saw 6 in one day from app 80lbs up to 200 all looked the same to me

 

[.270]

Picked one up today to go along with my first season elk tag. I will spend more on gas getting there, might as well increase opportunities while I am there.

 

[ZBB]

I’ll be getting one for the elk unit that I hope to hunt maybe next year or the year after, to try and figure some things out. First time going after bears, I’m pretty excited.

 

[Huntsalot]

Bought mine this evening. My last elk trip I didn’t buy one and the biggest bear I had seen while hunting waddled out of a draw. Not this time!

 

[KipCarson]

When I travel out west and I see beekeepers with electric fences around their hives I always think how happy I am to not have to deal with bears at my beehives!

 

[davinski]

And those fences only seem to keep out the smaller or mildly curious bears. Thankfully it's usually the smaller bears that get kicked out of the woods and start sniffing around town. Usually. If it's a larger and/or highly motivated bear the fences just tick them off and then it's a real rodeo.

Thanks for putting bruins on the menu, all. In my experience the CPW is pretty accommodating with getting the bear checked eventually. Just don't forget to prop open the bear's mouth. IMHO they really are hammering the deer around here, too. You don't have to look far for reasons to be concerned about the CO mule deer population.

And, if you need help packing out a critter in Western CO, look me up!

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Plus it seems like more of hassle having to have the bear checked and tooth removed. I’m open to any advice.

You have 5 working days to get it checked, which should give you plenty of time to swing by a office or contact a warden, I've had 4 bears checked in 3 different states and never had an issue getting it done.

If you are planning on taking a bear in addition to another critter once you have a bear down, remove the meat, bone it out, remove the skull from the hide fold it up flesh in, and place both the meat and the hide in a cooler with some dry ice / or block ice. You can expect a decent size bear to fit in a 65 cooler with dry ice or a 85-100 with block ice.

Keep the head out of the cooler in a game back so that the biologist can quickly pull a tooth when checked.

 

[Elk247]

Got one for unit 61 second season. Now I know I won't see any.

 

[HuntTalk Freak]

You have 5 working days to get it checked, which should give you plenty of time to swing by a office or contact a warden, I've had 4 bears checked in 3 different states and never had an issue getting it done.

If you are planning on taking a bear in addition to another critter once you have a bear down, remove the meat, bone it out, remove the skull from the hide fold it up flesh in, and place both the meat and the hide in a cooler with some dry ice / or block ice. You can expect a decent size bear to fit in a 65 cooler with dry ice or a 85-100 with block ice.

Keep the head out of the cooler in a game back so that the biologist can quickly pull a tooth when checked.

Thanks for the tips. For $100 I’ll most likely get a tag. Not sure why I was thinking I had to drop what I was doing and get it checked right then.
I’m either bringing a 100qt and two 65’s or one of my chest freezers and two 65’s. I have enough jugs to fill all of them with block ice.
Bears seem to be a problem since tag prices dropped and I’ve seen multiple post on multiple forums of guys talking about bear numbers and issues. I’d like to help.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

question,,,i drew a unit 57-58 1st season elk tag and also a unit 444 2nd seson deer tag,,it appears to me that if i got a bear tag,i would have to pick 1 area?would pick up a non res bear tag for $100 if i could hunt bear on both hunts but it doesnt appear to look like 1 tag will do both?anybody out there have any answers?ive read the regs several times and i think im right?by the way,,if i did go for a bear tag between the 2 hunts ,,what would you guys pick?open to any ideas.

 

[ZBB]

question,,,i drew a unit 57-58 1st season elk tag and also a unit 444 2nd seson deer tag,,it appears to me that if i got a bear tag,i would have to pick 1 area?would pick up a non res bear tag for $100 if i could hunt bear on both hunts but it doesnt appear to look like 1 tag will do both?anybody out there have any answers?ive read the regs several times and i think im right?by the way,,if i did go for a bear tag between the 2 hunts ,,what would you guys pick?open to any ideas.

https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/O...ium=Feature1&utm_campaign=OTCwithCapsList2019
Here’s a link to the otc with caps list. Looks like you’ll need two different tags. They’re both b tags though so if you have an extra 200 bones to burn, you could get both.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

what unit do ya think would be a better chance of bumping into a bear??444 2nd season or 57-58 1st season?

 

[Deleted member 28227]

question,,,i drew a unit 57-58 1st season elk tag and also a unit 444 2nd seson deer tag,,it appears to me that if i got a bear tag,i would have to pick 1 area?would pick up a non res bear tag for $100 if i could hunt bear on both hunts but it doesnt appear to look like 1 tag will do both?anybody out there have any answers?ive read the regs several times and i think im right?by the way,,if i did go for a bear tag between the 2 hunts ,,what would you guys pick?open to any ideas.

what unit do ya think would be a better chance of bumping into a bear??444 2nd season or 57-58 1st season?

Hands down 444, that entire unit is prime bear country.