It can be a bit unnerving hunting something that can & will eat you...
Within these pages we will attempt to explain our bear hunting experiences in hopes of helping anyone with the drive & motivation to give bear hunting a "shot!"
While we began as total novices in the fall of 2011, we have learned many valuable lessons. Most of these were learned the hard way of studying, discussions, and actually doing. We've tried every method here in Colorado except for the guided hunt on private land. We usually hunted the same area since it didn't take any points to draw a tag most years. It was close to home and, with work, we could be "weekend" hunters since the season was a month long.
All of our hunts have been on public land and DiY. While we weren't successful in tagging out, we offer many, many valuable tips for those thinking about a similar hunt in the future!
Our first Colorado Bear Hunt in September 2011. We hunted the Beaver Creek SWA and initially tried the far northern end by walking in and spike camping. We made it in about four miles, hunted, and hiked with the intent of making it to the southern end. We found out the hard way that the trail ended in some rocky no-go terrain. We turned back and drove to the southern end, which proved to be a much better area. We saw, and shot at a couple of massive color-phased bruins but our long-range accuracy was not where it should have been! For this hunt we were using a Tikka .308 and a Savage 30-06. We hiked Table Mountain one 90 degree day and saw plenty of sign but no bear sightings. We gained valuable experience and stuck to this spot for many years.
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
Our second Colorado Bear Hunt in September 2012. We hunted the Beaver Creek SWA with our GOM Hunting Club Honorary Members, Josh and Kate! We set-up our all too familiar outfitter tent in a camp ground about 10 miles from the hunting grounds and drove in for day hunts each day. We even had my boys come down for a visit! Other than being 90+ degrees, it was an "easy" hunt as far as Colorado is concerned. We hunted "our" rockpile which provided great views of a ridge that the bears would come over to access the oak trees and river below. We saw plenty of bears once again and got a few shots. By this time, I had upgraded to a Browning X-Bolt .300 Winchester Magnum with 180 grain rounds. A great time with great friends!
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |
Our third Colorado Bear Hunt happened along with our outfitter elk hunt in October 2014. For details, please check out or elk page. During that hunt, we din't see any bears nor did we see any sign which was very surprising. In September of 2016, we decided to give our "old rockpile" another go. It was very warm...so warm that it prevented the bears from really moving during the day like in years past. We would see plenty of tracks and sign on the way out to the rockpile that we recent from the previous night, though. We sat all day and continuously glassed the ridges and edges of all the clearings but never saw any movement. At dusk, we saw a few deer but nothing else was moving in the 90 degree plus heat of the day. More valuable lessons...
Our third Colorado Bear Hunt happened along with our outfitter elk hunt in October 2014. For details, please check out or elk page. During that hunt, we din't see any bears nor did we see any sign which was very surprising. In September of 2016, we decided to give our "old rockpile" another go. It was very warm...so warm that it prevented the bears from really moving during the day like in years past. We would see plenty of tracks and sign on the way out to the rockpile that we recent from the previous night, though. We sat all day and continuously glassed the ridges and edges of all the clearings but never saw any movement. At dusk, we saw a few deer but nothing else was moving in the 90 degree plus heat of the day. More valuable lessons...
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
Our fourth Colorado Bear Hunt happened during the opening days of the September 2016 season. We set up a base camp at a local campground only a few miles from Beaver Creek SWA - our old hunting grounds. It was still hot in this part of Colorado, although we did enjoy the cool mornings at our site. We hit the same rockpile that we affectionately call the "Alamo." For the first time in years, we did not see any bear movement. As we hiked out to the Alamo, we didn't see any bear sign on the trail, however, when we came down for lunch there was plenty! Even though our tags became "soup" once again, we enjoyed the company once again. A week later, I decided, for the first time, to hit our spot on a solo hunt. I wasn't as worried about bears but was hyper alert for Mountain Lions. My awareness elevated considerably after chatting with the local Conservation Officer during lunch. They had to remove eight Lions from the area due to complaints and over crowding! Once again, more valuable lessons for our kit bags....
Minnesota Bear - Firearm
Our first Minnesota Bear Hunt happened during the opening days of the September 2018 season. After some research we discovered that hunting in Minnesota for bear is significantly different than Colorado. The terrain is mostly flat and densely wooded compared to Colorado's sparse Pinion Pines and ridge hunting technique. Another surprise is the legality of using bait which is a big ole no-no in Colorado. I was lucky enough to pull a tag in a highly desirable management unit that is known for its density and heavyweight bruins - Area 45. With barely any public land, my dear friend has a brother with a large tract of primary bear country and allowed me to hunt. We did a thorough recon of the hunting stands, both ground and tree, along with potential bait sites. Upon advice from some experienced hunters in the area, we decided to go with both the bait barrel and natural ground pile methods - both of which would be my first time! Now...where to get the barrels and bait...barrels were readily available through Facebook Marketplace but I ended up getting them from a buddy at work who would eventually become a great friend and hunting partner. After a trip to get the appropriate chains and drilling numerous holes I was ready to go and get some stinky bait. I also had to construct the legally required bait pile ID signs that are emplaced over each site...I also had to establish an account on the Minnesota DNR website to GPS tag the sites once completed. I found the stinky bait honey-hole in Cambridge, Minnesota, loaded up my boys, and began the long drive on a rainy August day. What we experienced was memories in the making as my boys helped pick out (and carry!) some of the gooey boxes of bulk expired bear nectar! We filled the bed of my truck and were ready for bait pile emplacement operations. After proper game camera set-ups and completion of the bait piles, all there was to do was wait for opening day...my friend's brother was amazing as he checked the cams and provided updates every few days. We stayed in my buddy's RV and hit the woods early on that first day after an hour plus drive. We set up on a rock pile about 150 meters from the bait barrels, which were set-up along a highly used bear trail along a wooded fence line. It was hot during the day; so much so that we later discovered that the bears were hiding in cover including laying in the mature corn fields during the day. The game cams showed zero daytime activities but plenty of night time action. So...again, no filled tags but, more importantly, invaluable gains in experience and knowledge for the next hunt!
