Elk hunting with a bear tag in Colorado

Grayson Everett · Jan 28, 2021

I'm headed out to Colorado like thousands of other non-residents for archery elk. I'll be there in early September. I came out in 2013 from Tennessee for second season rifle. My cousin and I drove 16 hours. We both tagged out in 4 hours on our first day in Unit 371. I realize that is not normal. I really do not expect the same experience and I hope it's not. We spent a lot of time in the truck and very little in the woods.

My question here is not as much about elk, but about bears. I plan to add on a bear tag for that "just in case" scenario. My buddy and I have been looking north, near the Wyo border. I'd like to hear from some folks who elk hunt Colorado regularly and could maybe point me in the right direction. I'm not picky and I can't eat antlers. I'll have an either sex elk tag, but where would be a good unit to see bears and elk? Last time I bumped into a cow and calf moose like 5 minutes from the parking lot, which was really cool. Not relevant, but still cool. Thanks in advance!

Bluehair · Jan 28, 2021

Not relevant, but still cool. That describes pretty much my whole life. LOL

BRETTPSU · Feb 6, 2021

If the oak brush has a good crop of acorns this is where I would focus......plus the elk will be feeding on them too. A good crop really puts a lot of bear in the same elevation zone and makes it a little easier to find them.

atrietch · Feb 8, 2021

When I don't pick up a bear tag in CO I see bears everyday. When I pick up a bear tag I see nothing...

jdmaxwell · Feb 8, 2021

Kill an elk. Then check carcass

Founder · Feb 9, 2021

atrietch said:
When I don't pick up a bear tag in CO I see bears everyday. When I pick up a bear tag I see nothing...

That’s how it is with bull tags too! Ha ha

BuckedUp · Mar 10, 2021

I always think about getting that bear tag too, but when I’m focusing on archery elk (calling, covering ground, making noise), to me it’s not worth the $$$ for a very low chance at seeing a bear. Now where I usually hunt I’m chasing bulls at 11,000’, and the majority of the bears are eating acorns at 8500’, so we’re miles apart. In sum, it may be difficult in those units north of steamboat to find a high concentration of bears overlapping with high concentration of elk - but if you fill ur elk tag up high, then you can get more time in the woods looking for a bear down low. Good luck!

littlebull209338 · Mar 10, 2021

Check out area south of Norwood CO. Area northwest of Paonia,

Elkhunter96 · Mar 16, 2021

I generally find the elk in a higher elevation than bears in CO. Not always though, the bears will usually be lower in the acorns...

steinernm · Mar 23, 2021

I grew up in Tennessee and moved out here 21 years ago! Several words of advice. I would always throw in a bear tag as an ad on. You never know what you might stumble upon. If you don’t get a bear tag and come upon a bear you will be pissed that you didn’t get a tag. Scrub oak and water. They love to hit ponds and wet their whistle or take a little swim. We’ve had good luck checking ponds and sitting ponds but this is in scrub oak country. I always start by looking at harvest statistics and looking at the bear DAU maps on the CPW website. A lot but not all of the bear DAU documents have maps with kill sites so you can get an idea where some bear might be.

Sherlock · Mar 24, 2021

Last time we elk hunted in CO, we sat down for 20-30 minutes to take a rest. Stood up to stretch and a bear walked up on us at 20 feet. No tag, so had to shoo it away. Scared it pretty good. That unit was OTC for bear.

Similar thing happened in AZ this past November late elk hunt. Nice big bear got our attention. No tag, again, for OTC bear.

Definitely gonna get those tags in the future...then I’m sure we’ll stop seeing bears.

Elkhunter96 · Mar 26, 2021

I’ve never killed a bear on an elk hunt, but twice let little ones go with my bow in hand that were good shots, just a bit young.
I killed this bear last year in CO on a bear hunt, so I would always get a bear tag. Never know, it’s my first b&c scoring animal.