Bears- experiences and stratgeies

[Chaco Taco]

Obviously this year will have a higher than normal incident rate with bear at shelters and campsite. Probably need somewhere for everyone to complain about bear's and hanging or not hanging. It was brought up in the Straight Forward forum and folks, including myself missed the memo on posting in the SF forum. So lets bring the discussion here. Keep it nice

[PapaGarrettP]

Just curious. Why obviously?

[ChinMusic]

I avoid shelter areas in general and sleep with my food. I follow any hard rules that apply to an area.

[coach lou]

I've seen many Grizz out in Montana. NO blacks on the AT.....ever. I want to get to NJ very soon to catch them out and about early....maybe wear a pork-chop around my neck!

[max patch]

I disagree with the premise that there will obviously be more bear incidents this year. Bears take hikers food every year. Thats the reason for the camping closures of the past few years and the bear vault option of the last two.

The only difference is that this year it happened to a WB member who posted about it.

[RED-DOG]

I have had bears come in the shelter while i was asleep, or sniffing around my camp, i even had a bear in NJ give me a Death charge thats were they run up to you and sniff you up and down just stand your ground and don't look them in the eyes and they will leave you alone, people can't forget that the WOODS is their home and they are only trying to survive.

[HikerMom58]

Thanks Chaco Taco... I feel like I fully understand bear/human interactions so much better after many discussions on WB. It's all about food & food related odors. We must be very vigilant in making sure that the bear never get our food. They learn very quickly so they will keep hanging around for more.

The problem is we can't control how others take care (or NOT) of their food while in the woods. I think a fool proof way of making sure that the bear don't ever get our food, is going to be a mandatory thing for everyone real soon. .... starting with the problem areas that exist right now. I don't know what that will look like, exactly.

I do believe that if everyone had always slept with their food, the fear of humans would have keep them away so they would never learned, they could get our food. I don't believe this is possible, anymore, if you run into a bear that has been successful, many times, in getting food from humans in the woods.

That's really all I have to say on the subject.... I really appreciate all the ones that share their stories with us about their bear encounters so that we know how the bear are behaving these days.

[RED-DOG]

Max Patch you just nailed right on the head, With a BASEBALL BAT.

[rocketsocks]

I've always felt it is us that move through the bears area, we are their guests. This was brought home when a trip to Yellowstone a bear dismantled a cooler for a loaf of bread that was left in it, I watched to whole show from about 10 feet away, my father calmed us saying "He only wants the food" I guess my attitude is towards food stowage..."When in Rome"

[treesloth]

This is a thought on a prevention measure which may help to keep bears away from your campsite, thus keeping the bear safer in the long run.

Sometime last year it had dawned on me that even though I'm taking great care to keep my food in a OPSak and keep the smells contained within, I'm taking snacks and energy bars and whatever else out of it in the morning, and putting it in my more accessible pack pockets for easy grabbing during the day. Those spent wrappers go back in the same pockets, often. I'll put that trash back in my OPSak when making camp, but the food smell is still lingering in the pockets. I've been able to smell it with my own olfactories, so I'd imagine that, even though subtle, it could be easily smelled by a bear in the vicinity. Unless you're hanging your pack, you still have this item that has food smells on it close to you... usually under the vestibule or next to you in a shelter.

On my last hike, I made some custom food-storage 'wallets' from the seal-a-meal bags (which do a very good job to contain smell as well) that I used as odor-proof snack holders. I used two slightly differing sizes that held a whole hiking day of food.

This strategy would work better with a disbursed/stealth campsite for obvious reasons. Hopefully it doesn't seem like bear-paranoid overkill, it would just simply serve as yet another measure to keep you from being disturbed in the middle of the night. I also make a 'pee perimeter' around my campsite (again, with stealth camps)... but hey, that's just me. I'm not afraid of bears, I just don't want to have any come visit me when I'm not ready for it. Now maybe THAT is overkill. ;-)

[Slo-go'en]

There's always the portable electric fence option for the truely paranoid But then, those don't always work either. When it comes to keeping bears out of the bee keeper's bee hives, the lore of honey can out weigh the pain of a little electric shock.

[Chaco Taco]

I disagree with the premise that there will obviously be more bear incidents this year. Bears take hikers food every year. Thats the reason for the camping closures of the past few years and the bear vault option of the last two.

The only difference is that this year it happened to a WB member who posted about it.

You are correct and thanks for calling me out on it.

[Deadeye]

I use a canister all the time, there are lots of advantages that make up for the weight penalty - for me. It's like having a burglar alarm on your house; the burglars go for the easy targets. I keep my food in a canister, the bear goes to the easier targets... your food.

[Lone Wolf]

i will never have a bear incident cuz i sleep with my food

[The Ace]

We are way,way overdue for someone to post about bear bells.

[danil411]

Very funny, Coach Lou. I think they are easier to find later when the yearlings leave their mothers and search for their own territory. That is when we see the news reports of bears in urban areas....no grocery shopping needed.

[coach lou]

Very funny, Coach Lou. I think they are easier to find later when the yearlings leave their mothers and search for their own territory. That is when we see the news reports of bears in urban areas....no grocery shopping needed.

Aside from some scraps of cheesecake, I don't leave a dirty camp, and use the bear boxes when they are available. I was a little disappointed last summer, for the 3 days I walked in NJ. I saw deer and skunk and rabbits and lots of birds, but no bear. I'm sure they saw me. I will return this spring.

[leaftye]

This trail needs more cow bell.

[Wise Old Owl]

My approach to bears is "Don't Ask and Don't Tell" As I may have run into a few.... yo don't need to know...

[ChinMusic]

Give them your license and registration and be polite.