Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Flat Tops Bears and Lions

Going into the Flat tops area of Colorado in october on my first elk hunt. We will be backpacking in and camping 4 to 6 miles from the truck. I was wandering how many bears and lions are in the area? Should we hang our food at night? Do I need to carry a sidearm?

Very few. I have never had a bear problem in 30 years and have only seen 1 bear. You should always take precautions, but a side arm is just extra weight.

I am not disagreeing with Saddlesore, but my experiences have been different. I hunt the north slope of the Flat Tops each fall and have done so for the last 15 years. The ranch that I hunt is approximately 8,300 acres of private land. I think that there was only one year that I did not see a bear while hunting, and it has not been unusual to encounter two or three in the course of a five-day hunt. Perhaps they are already down lower during the first rifle season, packing on the pounds before going into their dens, but they are surely there.

Never seen a lion, but have occasionally seen tracks around a water source. They are obviously not as abundant there as they are down here...

I lived in Colorado for six years, my wife more than that, and have visited many times when I wasn't living in the state.

Neither of us have ever seen a lion, and I'm not sure I personally know anyone who has. I've only seen bears in town. My wife has seen bears while hiking alone, the bears were always running away.

I have hung my food while backpacking but have never felt the need to carry a handgun while in Colorado wilderness. There are some places, in the southern part of the state, where I have thought I might have been more comfortable carrying a handgun but that's when I was backpacking (not hunting) and I wasn't worried about four-legged critters.

In areas where lions are possible (ambush locations) I definitely maintain a sense of awareness.

Thanks for the responses guys. I really did not think that I needed a handgun but I thought that I would ask for your opinions.

Hang your food. The group the next basin over from us in the Flattops in 2004 had their entire camp wrecked by a black bear. Plenty of cats up there as well, but, they are pursued, so, they will do their best to avoid you. I had a lion spot me at 250yds across a little park (they see color: blaze orange!) and freeze. It stayed there for 30 minutes and waited for me to leave.

Have hunted the Flattops 3x and have seen a large bear on the first hunt. 3x is not statistically significant though. I wouldn't carry a handgun since you are backpacking in--too much extra weight. Since you are carrying a rifle in keep it with you.

No, I wouldn't pack a sidearm--too much wieght for a backpack trip. You already have a rifle.

Nor would I worry much about bears, the odds of running afoul of a bear are very, very small. The odds are downright microscopic with a cougar.

Having said that, I backpack archery hunt a section of drainage that often has bear tracks in the trails, and about every other year I'll spot a bear flipping rocks in the avalanche chutes. When I camp alone I usually pack a revolver. I leave the gun in camp during the day, because if a guy does get crosswise with a bear, it's seems like the vast majority of time it's at night in camp.


Casey

If you are disciplined enough to keep your rifle within reach (two steps maybe) there isn't anywhere in North America where you need a handgun for protection from animals.

If you're gonna leave it lashed to a four wheeler or something, take a handgun.

never seen a bear up there but I had a close encounter with a cat once. really quick & close, no warning. I had my rifle in my hands, if i had a sidearm at the moment i wouldn't have had time to draw it. I had time to click the safety off the rifle & point it basically from the hip.

Damn, Dave! I hope you had spare underwear!
I am glad my Drill SGT (many years ago) pounded the point into our heads to never step away from your rifle. I find that I won't even take a crap while hunting with the rifle out of reach...never know when a big bull may show.
To the original point: don't ever backpack a sidearm hunting unless you REALLY want to take game with it. There is nothing a pistol can do that a rifle can't do better, except hide, and you don't need to carry concealed in the woods!