I've seen one bear (black) in all the years I've spent out off the beaten track by the CO/WYO border, though I have seen far more evidence of them over the years than the single sighting would suggest. Lots of bear crap and prints. I've heard one person swear they saw a griz up by Chamber's but I don't really buy it, sounded like a big black bear with some of their less common coloring. The biggest thing is that everybody assumes the coloration means the difference... but it doesn't. Black bears come in all variety of colors.

ktimm wrote:I know a couple of different people, that know animals pretty well, that have stated they have seen the grizz in co, and ironically in the same general area (within 5 miles of each other). I have not seen them. I see black bears pretty often, and have been in the area they say they saw one a few times without seeing anything.

There are definitely some look-alikes that fool even pretty savvy observers. You can go straight to the "test" link on this page and see how you do (I like to think I can always tell blacks and griz apart, but I got a couple wrong): http://fwpiis.mt.gov/bearid/test.htm