A bear seen in Steamboat Springs from July 9th Commentor
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Don’t believe that the southern rockies are not grizzly bear habitat
In 1997 while on a trip through La Manga Pass in southern Colorado, I spotted a large bear with 2 cubs in tow.
Upon looking with my Nikon Trailblazer binoculars
, the large female (around 250 to 300lbs) had a massive head, large hump and was brown with a definite silver back and belly. You could see very definite long claws.
The cubs were chocolate with silver faces. They were all large for bears in the mountains.
I have hunted both grizzly and black and this was a family of mountain grizzly bears in Colorado.
I reported the sighting to the local warden and got very little interest.
If the grizzly bears continued their hurried pace they would have crossed into New Mexico in a few miles.
Comments for Colorado is Grizzly Bear Habitat: Yes, Grizzly Bears Live in ColoradoAverage Rating |
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Yes, you probably did see a grizzly bear. I have a friend who lives in Colorado up around the 8,000 foot level. I can’t tell you where he lives because he is concerned about the classification of his land should a rare animal be observed upon his property. He has seen a lone grizzly and a lynx, which he has photographed, on his property. He has lived on this property for many years and knows the local animals, thus leading him to believe the grizzly and lynx he saw were probably just passing through. Where they are from or going to is anyone’s guess.
Grizzly bears have just as much right to be in Colorado as humans. We came from Africa, we’re thriving. Frankly, if you are going to kill off bears because they scare you, get rid of some people too.
Bears aren’t the ones walking through buildings with explosives on their chests with intentions to kill just to kill. They attack very rarely, and they do it for survival. They don’t do it to put your head up on their wall, that’s us, selfish humans, destructive and greedy humans.
Some heavily populated areas in China don’t have any animals, period. Just humans. They ate off all the chipmunks, squirrels, and other common animals. That is a direction that America is slowly headed.
It’s not totally anybody’s fault, many humans were raised differently, poorly educated, simply ignorant.
It’s time to start looking at the big picture, when you do, you see things differently. You become enlightened. I hope the rednecks reading this don’t get too offended, but if I have kids, I’d like them to be able to experience the real world, not having to go to the zoo or watch old National Geographic shows to see an animal that I’m able to see today.
Hi Frederick,
I don’t believe anyone here is saying grizzlies shouldn’t live in Colorado–just that they don’t. There is an element of me that doesn’t want them returning to Colorado as that completely changes how me and my family hike.
Still, I would welcome them here, if they eventually did return to this range.
~ Perry
Many thanks for your thoughtful and humane outlook, which I share. Surprise we are not the only species on this planet. What a sorrowful earth without would animals. We should be treasuring them versus killing them.
Unfortunatly , the grizzly bear is an A-1 predator. Colorado being as populated as it is ( and only getting worse), would not be the sanctuary to the big browns as it once was. They were driven from here before because human encroachment , land development and a general fear of them.(over hunting). To re introduce them here today in modern Colorado would be courting disaster for them and for the first few unfortunate fatalities which would occur probably following a lingering drought ( much like the one happening now). Humanity being part of nature ,drove these magnificent creatures out the region many years ago. To try to re intro-force or coax them back into the Colorado wild would seem to be unnatural at best.
Sorry, this is a brown toned Black Bear. The ears are a big give away in this photo. Grizzly Bear ears are much shorter and round. These ears are too pointy and tall to be a Grizzly. The side profile photo would be helpful if it were larger. The silver tiped fur would be a good indication of a Griz, however, older brown bears can have this feature as well. Nice sighting though.
To the grizzly expert who visited the San Juans and did research….read where the picture was taken.
You were in the San Juans, southwestern CO, right next to NM (as Im sure you know since youve “been” there)
The photo was taken near Steamboat Springs…..You are talking a 250-350 mile difference. Grizzly bears are commonly found in WY and even found as close as Medicine Bow National Forest….. a 90 mile DRIVE.
You might know what you’re talking about when it comes to grizzly bears, and possibly even know what you’re talking about when it comes to grizzlies in the San Juans, but you OBVIOUSLY know nothing about Colorado and its mountain ranges.
Weird for a grizzly to be 75 miles from its KNOWN, CITED HABITAT? Maybe, possible? DEFINITELY
-Local Coloradan
Last fall during 3rd season rifle, near Crawford Co. I watched some hunters from Texas gut shot a cow elk, I felt bad after watching the texans give up after twenty min of tracking. Being the steward and ethical sportsman I am I followed the blood trail for almost 6 hours, Until I noticed there was another in persuit of the wounded cow. At first glance I figured it was just a cinnamon colored black bear, after further observation I realized there was something very interesting about this bear. Almost all the characteristics of a grizzly, I’ve observed a few in Yellowstone and one while backpacking in Glacier. I stayed back and watched through my svoroski spotting scope, and it had the hump and a dishouvled face. I have pictures of the tracks, almost positively grizzly tracks. I’ve hunted black bears my whole life and these weren’t the tracks of a black bear. It wasn’t a huge bear maybe 350 + I believe what I witnessed was a grizzly. I talked to two other hunters from montrose, who had witnessed a similar bear feeding off two seperate gut piles in the same area. Needless to say I’m a little more optimistic about the idea that grizzlies are making their way back into Colorado from Wyoming. The division of wildlife seems to be turning a blind eye to the situation, I believe to not draw attention to the fact that they here. They will have a better chance of repopulating without the publicity of their presence turning the whole thing into a frenzy.
I’m also a 5th generation native to colorado this comes with a level of credibility . I’ve been hunting my entire life. I always called bullshit on these sightings of grizzlies here in colorado. I’m pretty damn sure what I saw was the real thing. The only other story I know of that has any type of credibility is the one near Trinidad, my uncle was one of the DOW officers that showed up to take a look at that bear that couldn’t be identified to be a black or a grizzly bear. It was a mystery bear…..
Just sighted a Brown Bear outside of Walsenburg Co on a hill side. Very pronounced hump, cinnamon color, black around snout and paws. Have pics to prove it. Coincidentally it was on Bear Creek Rd.
“I know for a fact ther are Grizzly’s in Colorado. I saw one last year eating off the remains of an Elk that I shot last Sept. I went back a couple days later to retreive the arrow.” ~ Anonymous
Seriously? You shot an elk and just left it there? WTF is wrong with you? Stay the f*ck out of Colorado.
I dunno for sure but I think hes talking about the gut pile as being the remains.
there are no grizzlies in colorado, the brown or reddish bears you are seeing are black bears. black bears can be a range of colors, from almost blonde all the way to brown and of course deep black.
People also said the same thing about wolves in Oregon. They didn’t want the ranchers causing an uproar. Prior to working with ODFW I called in many wolf sightings. Now they openly admit there are in fact wolves there. Oregon has one of the biggest Wolf packs in that area. The Imnaha wolf pack continues to thrive and reproduce. As far as Grizzlies go, adult males have been known to cover a range of 500 miles. So you mean to tell me that it is 100% impossible for bears from our neighboring (known grizzly states) to not inhabit Colorado or breed, or change territories? As someone who had worked for the fish and game, been a hunting guide and have a very credible education I would love to see the facts you are basing your statement on James.
I live in black forest Colorado springs. I awoke to my three dogs barking ferociously up a tree. I went out and called them in thinking they had a squirrel up a tree. They always come and they wouldn’t today. I walked over to see they had a 300-400 lb bear up a tree. It was light brown like the color of sun bleached dirt. I ran in for my gun. When I came back out they were chasing it across the yard and it hopped the fence and kept going. Guess its time to clean up from the party we had yesterday huh?
Grizzlies don’t climb tea
Lol
I have a picture of one on my old phone from the Wet Mountains.
Unmistakenly a Griz.
Can I see the photo
I decided to google grizzs in Colorado because I have hunted above Masonville and for about the last 7 years ive had suspicions of them being up there. Not a lot but a few, although ive only had two possible sightings from about 600 yards away, this last elk hunt I came across a track that I have compared to grizz tracks and I know for a fact it is not a black bear. I have hunted black bears for 22 years I grew up on a ranch in the Gila in new mexico. I know what a black bear looks like and that they come in many different colors and what not ive seen them in various colors but this track was about the size of my step brothers foot. He wears a size 13 boot. I am actually packing in two weeks from now and am putting up game cams in the spots were ive seen the most sign and the two possible sightings. I hope to get some good pics and prove all the non-believers wrong.
My mother, my two boys and I saw a lone Grizzly Bear near Walsenburg Colorado. I didn’t think Grizzlies existed in Southern Colorado, but I was really surprised when it walked right out in front of my truck. I would guess the bear weighed around 600 pounds. I am used to seeing black bears but that one really caught us by surprise.
I here to tell you as a Colorado native hunter ,avid hiker and fisherman my wife and I came across a 1000 plus male griz in the cimmarons on our drive to my mothers house. I honestly mistook him for a neighbors bull and said”oh he’s out again ” that was until he stood on his hind legs and challenged the Chevy suburban we were driving ! It was early fall and knowing the difference I stopped to see if he has a hump between his shoulders ! Sure enough . I put the truck in reverse and he bolted across the road in one or two leaps . We waited for a while and drove up to where he had crossed the road. I had a 44 with me it turned ou the claws in a dry dirt road measured almost four inches and had a hook I’m them. Look I have tracked many black bear and this was a big grizzly boar. I know ! Plus later about 10 minutes one of the local ranch hands stopped to warn us . He remembered me fr a previous elk hunt we both concluded or had to have been a grizzly male … That’s my account .
My buddy Dale and I were hunting near Shelf Rd between Canon City and Cripple Creek. We pulled of because Dale had to pee. I was glassing the treeline (350 yards at most) when I see this HUGE bear lock eyes on Dale. Its took a few sly steps forward and I yelled for Dale to get in the truck. About the time Dale was in the truck and could see the beast for himself the bear was standing up. This was the biggest bear I had seen since Alaska. I am a hunting guide so no only am I plenty familiar with wildlife but educated as well. This bear has a huge round head, it was brown in color, rounded ears, pushing 600lbs stood 7 ft tall easy. We began to drive towards the bear to get a better look and he turned and bolted into the trees, at which point you could see a very distinct hump on his back. There was no doubt in my mind what we had just witnessed.
We just had a young grizzly walk through our yard in Indian Mountain. He seemed to be very content and unaware of us watching him. We believe he will be back due to the things on his path.
I have been a big game hunting guide for just just over 20 years and have hunted bears in several states. I have treeing walker hunting hounds and we tree lions and bears every year. I have seen some huge color phase black bears over the years so I know what big black bears look like. Recently I just returned from a trip to the San Juan Mountains in Colorado above Pagosa Springs. Within one hour of each other I sighted two differient bears. One was as large as a range bull, dark brown with lighter tips, huge head and large hump on the shoulders. This bear had to weigh around 800lbs This is the first Grizzly I’ve seen in the lower 48. It went like a freight train up through the trees when it winded me. It stopped once then ran again shaking its head from side to side. One hour later and 7 miles away I met with a friend on top the mountain and were driving out. As we drove around the bend in the road it was just getting dark, another huge bear was grazing at the edge of a marsh. My friend had a fit. He had never seen any bear in the wild let alone a large brown bear. As the bear heard the diesel truck, it stood up on its hind legs then turned and bounded, bouncing a couple of times while looking over its shoulder. I have never seen a black bear with such animated actions. I estimated this bear to be around 600lbs. easily as large as most of the cattle grazing a couple of miles down the road. The size, shoulder hump and unique mannerism I witnessed with these bears has left no doubt that they were grizzlies. I only wish I had been able to get over my shock and retreive my video camera quickly enough to get some decent footage. I am convinced that with some trail cams or spending time with a video camera watching the avalance chutes in the area, someone could get some great footage of these bears.
June 28, 2015 spotted a very large grizzly bear
50 yards off the highway on the pass before coming into Cimmaron, Colorado. We stopped and watched
him from the highway for about 15 minutes, climb up
the hillside. He was 2 tone in color, cinnamon on the
backside and darker (not black) on the front. He had
a humpback. He was so close we could smell him. Very
distinct smell. Amazing creature!
Byron what year was that. I found what looked very much like a rear grizz foot inla vetapass back in the late 60s that had been somehow separated from its owner it was large had dark blondishbrown rough fur and verylong awesome claws as well as large pads ,much larger than a black bears I’ve seen up to 600lb blackies who had substanstially smaller foot. I always wondered and wish I had been able to keep it! But it’s an incredible find for the area ,a very wild one due to inaccessability of the high back country