Griz in Colorado

[Captain Hobo]

My son is an MP at Ft. Carson Colorado. He told me that if any mountain lions or bears come on the property, they have to take care of it. Just curious, are there any grizzlies in Colorado? I figure that they got black bears a plenty, but what about others?

[Captain Hobo]

Well, I guess I'll try and answer my own question. I went on a website for hunting in Colorado and black bears were the only ones listed for hunting. But I can't help to think that at one time there were grizzlies in Colorado. Maybe 150 years ago? Are there any left? Maybe a few rare ones up in the hills?  Still waiting to hear from anyone who lives or hunts there.

My son is in the military police at Fort Carson and when he calls home, we talk about hunting and the animals out there. Here in the midwest, we have only hunted small game. He did say the racoons on the base are huge, and prarie dogs are everywhere. One of the other military policeman saw a mountain lion (off the base) and a small bear.

[gwindrider1]

I know this post is an old one, but I have some info to add on this topic.  Here are some tales for you to think on!

I have a place in the Wet Mountains in southern Colorado, and have been spending some time there over the last few years.  I have hunted for Elk and Deer in the Sangre de Cristo range across the valley from me.  In doing so, I found a pile of scat one morning, just below treeline, that made the hair on my neck stand up.  I have lived with black bear for some time, and have seen enough of their scat piles to know what I'm looking at, but have never seen anything of this proportion before.  Five times the volume, and still soft.  There was also a boulder that had to weigh more than a large blackie that was turned over with claw scratches over it's surface.  The drainage I was in was getting very confining, which made me nervous, so I climbed the hell out of there.  Even though I had a .338 in my hands, I didn't want to meet whatever made that pile.

Another story from that area just last year, was that an Elk outfitter had one of his mules killed in camp by what he claimed was a grizzly.  Supposedly the local warden looked the scene over and agreed with him, but told him to keep it quite.

One other tale is from an old rancher who hunts that area who claimed to have seen a blonde colored bear standing at a distance with all the distinguishing features of a griz.

It is a fact that back in '81, a bow hunter was attacked/mauled in that area by a sow grizzly.  He apparently managed to pull an arrow from his quiver and repeatedly stab the sow which was on top of him, until she died.  He made it out, and after a couple of years of reconstructive surgery lived to be prosecuted by the DOW.  They didn't believe his story apparently.  The DOW commisioned an extensive survey, to look for evidence of Grizzlies in the area, but after two years of effort, came up empty.

Except for my own account of the huge scat pile, I relate these stories second/third hand, so you will have to draw your own conclusions, however, I don't go into those hills anymore with less than a .338.

[Longcruise]

It is a fact that back in '81, a bow hunter was attacked/mauled in that area by a sow grizzly. He apparently managed to pull an arrow from his quiver and repeatedly stab the sow which was on top of him, until she died.

And, the autopsy of that sow showed that it had borne at least one cub during it's lifetime :shock:   They estimated it's age at 23 yrs old.

The bow hunter who was attacked was a guide/outfitter.  Think his name was Ed Wise.  Whatever the name, he was never convicted of anything.  He didn't have a bear tag but one of his clients did.  They were not hunting within sight of each other and many believed that he arrowed the bear for his client.  Since he was not in sight of anyone at the time, there was only his word and circumstantial evidence.  If he had been hunting solo, the story would have ended with a mix of human and bear bones bleaching in the sun :eek:

[gwindrider1]

Thanks for adding that clarification Longcruise.  My memory of the incident is getting a bit faint with the years.

Be carefull out there! :wink:

[avonarcher]

THE LAST VERIFIED ( BY THE STATE) KNOWN GRIZZLY SIGHTING OR ENCOUNTER OCCOURED IN 1979, WHERE A HUNTER WAS mauled BY A GRIZZLY IN THE SOUTHWESTERN MOUNTIANS, THERE HAVE BEEN NO STATE VERIFIED SIGHTINGS since ( AND UNTILL SOMEONE BRING S OUT PHOTOGRAPHIC PROOF OR A DEAD BEAR..YOU WONT HEAR OF THEM..ITS ANTI TOURISTA FOR THEIR TO BE  MAN EATING GRIZZLIES IN THE STATE OF COLORADO according the state wild life guys...)... This particular attack
was all over the internet for a number of years.. and I think the COLORADO
TOURIST BOARD PUT PRESSURE ON THE STATE TO GET IT REMOVED WHEREVER POSSIBLE.  THERE ARE SEVERAL WELL DONE AND INFORMATIVE WEBSITES ON COLORADO GHOST GRIZZLIES...  AS WELL AS MISC SUSPECTED SIGHTINGS..  one has to understand... those mountians are som e of the most dangerous, isolated, unfriendly, rugged mountians in the entire northern continent... and are not all that well penetrated by man... it is entirely possible that deeper into them...the grizzly lives in good numbers..

Ghost Grizzlies
by Petersen, David, and Peacock, Doug (Foreword by)

About this title: Throughout the 1970s, residents of Colorado thought that the grizzly bear was extinct in their state. In 1979, however, a hunter was mauled by a grizzly. The author explores the behavior of the grizzly and its relationship to humans.

 oh..the gent that has a son at ft. carson... he will tell you its more dangerous to go DOWN RANGE there...than to wonder the bear woods...