Yes, there are bears in Utah.
This is a pic from Jim's trail camera. Without measuring I would guess that his guy is as tall as me.
If the trend from last year continues into this year, I expect to have alot of bear complaints/sightings. My favorite phone complaints are of the "I saw a bear in the woods" variety. My response "did it chase you? eat your picnic? eat your dog? stick it's tounge out at you? etc.." Which is usually followed by "no, he just ran away" after which I congratulate them for seeing a bear in the woods and surviving.
The bears in this area are pursued/hunted by hounds for two months in the spring, pursued by hounds 2 months in the summer, and hunted on a limited basis in the fall. Whenever they see a person the PTSD kicks in and they usually run away. If your camp is filthy with food and trash everywhere, they will come by for a snack, there is no maybe because of the bear density. They will come by if they smell food. I have heard estimates on the La Sal's of between 150 and 300 bears. On the Blues I would estimate that the numbers are similar.
Some un-official advice:
Keep your camp clean.
Don't leave garbage around your camp.
Don't feed/lure the bears in.
Don't sleep with your food/ put food in bear proof containers (like your car).
Don't play tag with the sleeping bears, they don't like it.
Don't think that your .22 cal. 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 APC pistol is going to stop the bear from eating you. All you are going to do is provide the bear with a full stomach before he dies.
