Griz?

by **BobSmith** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 11:16 pm

So...what's the deal? Are there any griz in Colorado? I read that the last known griz there was around 1980 in the Wenimuche Wilderness. Anyone here on Summitpost ever see a wild griz in Colorado?

by **Bill Reed** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:18 am

Never seen one Bob, but then I've never seen a black bear in Colorado either. You're right about the last known one being killed around 1980, actually September of 1979. That one was a female but unfortunately it was never determined if she ever had cubs.

Eventually they might make make it down here due to Wyoming's growing population as the wolf has, but it appears that it's gonna take a while. Most southern sighting (and killing) I've heard of was in the southern Wind Rivers, near Big Sandy, about 5 years ago.

by **Tonka** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:31 am

Once the bears find out about the 14er trails it will be a feeding frenzy :lol:

The following user would like to thank Tonka for this post
lcarreau

by **MarkDidier** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 2:08 am

Bill Reed wrote:Never seen one Bob, but then I've never seen a black bear in Colorado either.

Bob, ditto for me as well...

My guess is you have a better chance of seeing a black bear in your neck of the woods than in Colorado. I know I've never even seen a black bear in NC or Tennessee either. Actually that isn't completely true. One time when we were leaving GSMNP, we were about 1/4 mile from Gatlinburg and I saw the ass end of a black bear as he was digging into a garbage can. My only southern Appalachian bear sighting. :lol:

In all seriousness, in the whopping 5 nights I've spent in the Colorado backcountry, we've just kept a clean camp, no food in our tents and we hung our food bags. I've never carried pepper spray. Would be curious to hear what other's have to say on the matter. (September will be here for you before you know it Bob!)

by **CSUMarmot** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 4:11 am

I see a bear on average once a year. Only twice on a trail, within an hour of each other, on the Ouzel Lake trail in RMNP. Both ran off immediately after noticing us.

Theres always a story now and again of a bear wandering into town and knocking around trash cans and such, but it seems Northern Colorado doesnt have a recurring bear problem.

by **CSUMarmot** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 4:12 am

And no, there are no grizzly bears in Colorado.

by **Gareth** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 4:13 am

I've seen one wild black bear in Colorado, and it was actually from a highway. They are around, but I've never had any issues with them in camp. It would be a good idea to properly store food and things with odd smells (sunscreen, for instance). However, bears aren't much of a worry to me in Colorado.

If I remember correctly, about five years ago or so, a couple of hunters thought they they might have seen a grizzly in (I think) the general area of Independence pass (which is between Aspen and Leadville). I remember that the state wildlife people sounded like they took the report fairly seriously, which to me indicated that they probably felt that the hunters knew their animals well enough that they might have had a fair chance of actually identifying a grizzly as opposed to a black bear. However, as for as I know, nothing more ever came of the report.

Some people would tell you that you would have a better chance of seeing a bigfoot in Colorado as opposed to a grizzly. :lol:

by **lcarreau** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:32 am

Tonka wrote:Once the bears find out about the 14er trails it will be a feeding frenzy

by **MtnHermit** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 4:26 pm

MarkDidier wrote:
Bill Reed wrote:Never seen one Bob, but then I've never seen a black bear in Colorado either.
Bob, ditto for me as well...

That's surprising. I tend toward the one black bear a year club. But never on a 14er trail, usually on a remote backpack. Once on my deck at 3AM, the grill.

by **BobSmith** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:07 pm

MarkDidier wrote:My guess is you have a better chance of seeing a black bear in your neck of the woods than in Colorado. I know I've never even seen a black bear in NC or Tennessee either. Actually that isn't completely true. One time when we were leaving GSMNP, we were about 1/4 mile from Gatlinburg and I saw the ass end of a black bear as he was digging into a garbage can. My only southern Appalachian bear sighting.

In all seriousness, in the whopping 5 nights I've spent in the Colorado backcountry, we've just kept a clean camp, no food in our tents and we hung our food bags. I've never carried pepper spray. Would be curious to hear what other's have to say on the matter. (September will be here for you before you know it Bob!)

When I was a kid backpacking the Appalachians, I never saw very many bears, except inside the GSMNP. Most I saw in a single day was five, at Peck's Corner Shelter along the AT--big, battle-scarred male, a mother bear with three cubs. The big male and mother bear managed to scare one another away, the mother shooing the very young cubs ahead of her.

The bear population outside the Smokies used to be much smaller than now. These days it's not unusual for me to see bears when I'm hiking or backpacking. I see them often--the Black Mountains has a bunch, as do most of our local wilderness areas. I'll be backpacking on the Mackey Mountain roadless area this weekend--supposed to have a very dense bear population, but it's one place I haven't encountered them. But being so close to the Black Mountains, I wouldn't be surprised if we see one or two.

I've only ever carried bear spray in one place: Yellowstone.

And the reason I asked about the griz in CO is that it just seems strange to me that there are none in Colorado. Seems that they'd have filtered back in with so much habitat. Isn't it pretty much established that they've returned to Washington?

by **COTrekker02** » Sun May 20, 2012 4:01 am

There are indeed around 40 grizzlies in the north cascades of Washington, but nowhere else in the state that I'm aware of. The north cascades are just over the Canada border, and are much more remote than just about any range you can name in CO other than maybe the San Juans.

I think it will be very hard for the griz to re-establish itself in Colorado. The wilderness areas are simply too small to hold them without constant bear/human contact, which is not the case in the Winds, Yellowstone, Bob Marshall and Glacier where the population has remained stable. There are too many barriers preventing bears from moving from one ideal habitat to another in the state - roads, population areas, etc.

by **Steven Cross** » Sun May 20, 2012 7:58 am

I did not directly see the bear, but a black bear came into our camp in the San Juans. We accidently left our cooler out before going to bed. The bear stole our pepper Jack cheese before running off when it heard the zipper from our tent.

by **Bob Sihler** » Sun May 20, 2012 2:00 pm

If a griz were to migrate south into another state, I think it would more likely end up in the Uintas than in Colorado. Griz have been reported in the Wyoming Range, and there is mountainous terrain from there almost all the way to Kemmerer. From there, there is semi-desert terrain, but not that terribly much, to the northern foothills of the Uintas in Wyoming.

To get from the Winds to the Wyoming Medicine Bows and then into Colorado, a griz would have to cross more than 100 miles of desert through the Great Divide Basin. There's almost no water there and not much food that constitutes a griz's normal diet.

Reestablishing the griz in Colorado would probably require actual reintroduction, which probably would be politically impossible.

by **BobSmith** » Sun May 20, 2012 6:00 pm

Bob Sihler wrote:
Reestablishing the griz in Colorado would probably require actual reintroduction, which probably would be politically impossible.

Especially that part.

by **ktimm** » Mon May 21, 2012 8:23 pm

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.

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