Bear necessities?

verisharp

verisharp

Joined
Jan 15, 2011
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Ok what do you guys do to avoid bears while camping/ hiking. I know your supposed to cook away from your campsite and tie your food up in trees so that bears and other animals can't get it. What else should you do to avoid bear encounters?
 
For hiking, make noise. It is irritatingly easy to sneak up on one on accident when hiking, Or I have really bad luck. They generally don't like being surprised i've noticed. Usually they run off, for the few who don't I usually carry a Raging Judge Magnum in Casull and happily send the dumb furball to the afterlife.
 
Keep a good healthy fire going at your camp site. Try not to have food scraps lying around. Pay attention when hiking for both two and four legged creatures. Some bite and some can do other nasty things. Don't try for that photo opportunity at 20 feet. Keep your distance.

The level of effort would increase depending on the bear species that are prevalent in the area and populations.
 
I keep anything smelly in odor proof ziplock bags. I think they came from REI.
 
Most of my backpacking is done in areas where bear canisters are required. They are actually quite handy, easier to use than hanging food, and they make a good stool to boot. I make sure that anything with odors - food, toiletries, bug spray, sunscreen, etc - are put away in the canister. I have regular bear encounters, and once they discover that the canister is closed they go away.
 
I use the OP (odor proof) sacks from Aloksak and then hang high AND away from camp, camp is kept clean and free of food

if traveling in grizzly country I always carry bear spray (even when armed) as sometime you simply can't avoid an encounter
 
JCavSD said:
I keep anything smelly in odor proof ziplock bags. I think they came from REI.
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I have experienced dogs and bears chewing into un-opened cans to get at the food inside. I doubt that there is anything like an "odor proof" anything when it comes to such critters.
 
I avoid bears by doing the majority of my camping in the Winter.... lol.

Do what you can.... hang food, cook away from camp, etc... Bears are not stupid, respect them and they will respect you.
 
A bears nose is to good to hide from. I think the big thing is to make sure your friends don't bring food with them inside their tent or forget it in their gear or clothing. Knowing your food is going to be inaccessible overnight doesn't sit well with anyone. And sometimes, they're just curious and actually hope to have a bear encounter. People will often bait them for fun but in a way that allows them to deny their intention. Such as leaving food out after dinner and hoping a bear will come by.
 
I pretty much did all of the above at one time or another. I mainly just yelled out ''hey bear'', ''hey bear'' loudly when tromping through fresh bush. Just remember to bring a fat in law along to push down when you take off. :p
 
Additionally to the above, don't go to sleep in the same clothes you wore while cooking. The odors transfer way too easily, especially when wearing synthetics or cotton. Wool does seem to resist odors a bit better.

Also, be sure you can run faster than your camp companions. :D
 
Some people criticise this approach. My skills mentor is halfblood First Nations and has lived the bush life since birth. He views and repects bears as equals. I will paraphrase...

"How would you like it if someone walked into your house, set a tent up in your hallway, ate pizza, wrote their name on your walls and pretended that you didn't exist?"

We made a spring camp that was right next to a bear trail. About 200yards down the trail we made the cook camp. Our food was hung like we normally would but instead of burning scraps or burrying fishguts we set them along side the trail. We also took time to clean the trail of any hanging debris and ground obstructions. Our campsite was off to the side and quite tidy. The latrine was in ONE location and we didn't pee anywhere else while in camp. We left the cook camp by Sunset and nobody ate after that. If we had anything, it was wild tea from local plants. At night you could see/hear bears passing on the opposite side of the campfire. In the morning, there was not a single track that led into our camp, the scraps were gone with no sign of the bears trying to get at the food we hung. We gave them a clean, silent corridor to pass and didn't dangle food in their faces. We respected them and and paid our dues. Bears are not dumb animals. They have a sense of "pride" for lack of a better term. Give them respect and they will respect you.
 
Sure ... Bears Exist ...

The Internet MYTH of bears does not.

Good grief, it's just a bear. As long as you don't do something stupid, like sneak up on them or leave your food laying around, then you won't have any problems. All the attention bears get on the net makes me sick - it reminds me of the city dwellers who get nervous about coyotes. (:rolleyes:) As long as you refrain from creeping around the forest slathered in honey, with a T-Bone around your neck your going to be OK.
 
mr.trooper said:
As long as you refrain from creeping around the forest slathered in honey, with a T-Bone around your neck your going to be OK.
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And I thought that no one saw me ! :D Yes I read somewhere that a fellow thought that a Coyote was stalking him. Well, I suppose that's a possibility if it was manged up or dosed up with Rabies or whatever. More likely Wile E. had his snout in the ground chasing a field mouse upwind of bud. Low odds though. I have been around Coyotes for decades, even ran one of the poor buggers over once by accident at night. I have never felt threatened by one, even once. I did have one that was getting used to me that would give me a lingering look when I arrived, which is really unusual, as 99% of the time they take off like a bat out of hell. I wasn't sure if this one was getting acclimated to people or diseased up, I was cautious around that one. Only saw it maybe three times fairly close, like 100 yards away and standing, watching me. Besides, take their hides off and there isn't a whole lot to them, like a medium sized dog. I don't like to admit it, but I do fear bears. Not enough to stop me from being in their country, but yes, I take precautions and it is a back ground worry\concern for me in some locations, particularly in the spring.
 
It is probably more dangerous making dinner in your own house than camping in bear country. Probably..... don't hold me to that bit of data.
 
I have been on 3 Brown bear hunts and 5 Black bear hunts in Alaska..(all with the same guide) The first hunt, the first night, I asked the guide shouldn't we hang our food and cook away from camp? We always kept it clean, and when we broke camp you would never have known we were there..

I will never forget his response " we aren't that lucky to have a bear come into camp" I remember we camped on the side of a river for a couple days.. I woke up and went to take care of business in the morning.. There were fresh Brown Bear paw prints 30 yards from our tent.

On a moose hunt in Alaska, we had to climb up to 4,000 ft. we started the hike late that day and made camp at about 2,500. We camped just off the game trail, and I was instructed to piss 30 yds down from camp and he did the same thing up from camp. No bears showed up. Having skinned 3 brown bears in my life.. I can tell you their muscle structure is unbelievable.. One swipe from those paws and your done..

Bears have incredible noses, and I am quite sure that scentfree bags don't help much. They know your there.. If you run into the wrong bear ( just like people) there is sure to be trouble for one or both of you.. Once we were on the hunt, we took extreme care with wind direction and our scent.

For bear defense I would carry a 454 or bigger.. loaded with cast core bullets.. I know my guide was once out jogging in the mountains, and came over a small nob in the terrain.. A bear top another nob 100 yds downwind. He said that bear charged him immediately. He shot the Bear 3 times with his .44 and finally turned him on the 4th shot. Since that event he upgraded to a Tauras 454.

I have an tremendous respect for the bear.. and know would never underestimate them. 99% of bears want nothing to do with humans.. It is that 1% that scare the heck out of me..
 
Rick Marchand said:
It is probably more dangerous making dinner in your own house than camping in bear country. Probably..... don't hold me to that bit of data.
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I know that you are real world correct, the odds of being nibbled by Yogi are extremely small to non existent. I can't help being concerned and take precautions though. It has and does happen right here in this province. But again, rarely. I look at it this way. My odds are likely zero to be hit by lightning but it makes sense to me not to stand under a huge lone tree on a hill in a thunder storm. I suppose it is also the reason why I have always had a moderate interest in survival skills\precautions. I like to plan ahead, take the most rational course, and come home at night. I know that the odds of my being attacked are minuscule and I try to keep it that way. I respect your skills\abilities\experience Rick but I will always take precautions. :) ......My father told me that if ever want to knock down a bear quickly. Go to a remote dump and boil a pot of Molasses. Brings them in for miles.

I remember this one, we didn't live all that far from it

http://www.northernlightswildlife.com/news_conservation.html#FATAL
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Saskatchewan_man_escapes_black_bear_attack
This is only the list of fatalities, not all the attacks themselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America
 
A different breed of bears are the ones raised around bigger campsites that have been trained to see humans as a source of food(our handouts) & close contact is too common. Black bears at campsites in the Smokeys and out in Yosemite do not act like wild bears, thanks to us.

Bill
 
Always take precautions, UpNorth...

Those links actually made me feel better... I thought the statistics were worse than that.
 
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