Latest Updates on Hunt The West Subscribe

Updates

Home > Updates > Spring Bear Hunting in Colorado?

Spring Bear Hunting in Colorado?

April 19, 2011.

A Colorado state legislator has introduced a bill that would repeal the 19-year ban on black bear hunting in the spring.

House Bill 1294, sponsored by Rep. J. Paul Brown, R-Ignacio, would repeal one part of Measure 10, a 1992 statewide ballot measure that banned spring bear hunting. About 70 percent of voters favored the measure.

Brown said an increase in the bear population and stories of dangerous encounters between bears and people made him want to give the Colorado Division of Wildlife more flexibility in controlling the bear population.

In 1992, the Colorado black bear population was estimated at 8,000 to 12,000. The Colorado Division of Wildlife believes the population now is likely on the high end of that range.

Hunters and Division of Wildlife officers killed more than 1,000 bears in 2010, up from 300 in 1992, the DOW reported.

If HB 1294 passes, the state Wildlife Commission would have to decide whether to reinstate the spring hunt.