View Full Version : Black Bear video that will make you think the next time you hang your bear bag,lol
Gram Weenie
12-03-2015, 22:25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UucHtYr29cE
YIKES!! thanks for sharing.
Sarcasm the elf
12-03-2015, 23:01
Just one of many reasons that I stopped hanging a bear bag.
This "hanging" was obviously set up to give the bear a fighting chance. Also, store bought food in unopened packaging won't smell as tempting as a beaver carcass. Had the carcass been in an Ursack it would have been safe.
The last, and only time, I have ever hung my food I was backpacking with a friend from Maine. He was well versed in the need to keep his food safe from black bears. This was also before anyone had access to internet "wisdom".
We were camped in the San Juan mountains on Vellecito Creek. I knew there were black bears in the neighborhood having seen one at close range in the Forest Service campground at the trail head where we started our trip. We walked around until Bill spotted two suitable pine trees. The trees were 40-50 feet apart and each had a lowest branch at least 20 feet off the ground. We each flung our parachute cords over the two opposing lowest branches and tied them to our food bags and hoisted the food up a good 20+ feet off the ground. The food was still there the next morning.
No tricks or gimmicks for YouTube. Just good old Down East common sense. Remember common sense? No internet required.
Wayne
BirdBrain
12-04-2015, 11:29
Before this thread turns into a screaming match over who is stupid for doing or not doing this or that (this topic usually does), allow me to distract with another silly thing to laugh at instead. How many people understand the term Down East? It is a sailing term. During the 1700's, Machias (and similar communities) had many lumber mills built on the streams. These lumber mills provided a major export for those communities. In fact the first naval battle in the Revolutionary War was over lumber from Machias. Anyways, the prevailing winds from Boston and Portland were in the direction of Machias. You had to sail upwind to get back to Portland or Boston. Portland is not Down East. Down East does not start until you turn the corner at Pemiquid. Similarly, Down East does not refer to towns inland. But as with all things, the modern usage usurps the origins. As a side note, I have a 7th generation grandfather who was on the Unity when it took the Margaretta. The Margaretta was attempting to take lumber from Machias to build barracks for the British in Boston. They did not succeed. There. That should provide enough distraction. :D
The biggest problem with bears is they do not practice leave no trace.
Traveler
12-04-2015, 12:38
The expansion of Down East to include inland and southern coastal Maine is one of several similar circumstances as you go around the US. Ohio being considered a "midwestern" state is another one, from the days when Ohio was actually formed out of the Connecticut Western Reserve. Since lands west of PA were termed the "west" or western frontier, the State retained its title as midwestern, even though geographically it makes little sense. Funny how these things migrate into modern use from days distant.
Berserker
12-04-2015, 12:52
Hmmm...that bear is pretty agile. I'll still hang using the PCT method when I'm in the mood to hang...haven't seen a bear get something off of a PCT hang...yet.
I put my food in a OPsacks and then in a Ursack. Hang either on a cable or PCT method, I know, overkill. If someone has a dog where I am sleeping, then I just tie it around a tree close by. A barking dog seems to work well except for little critters, but the Ursack should take care of that but not sure. I guess because of the OPsacks, the one time we had critters come in they hit the guy next to me and chewed through his bag of food but apparently either didn't touch mine or the Ursack is tough enough that it didn't show any indication that something had been chewing on it.
Reminds me of American Ninja Warrior. I think the bear would be pretty good on that show if they let him use his teeth.
Old Grouse
12-04-2015, 15:23
And those heading west often travelled on hastily cleared "roads" in which the trees were cut but the stumps were left in place. Sometimes a wagon got hung up on a stump and couldn't move. This is the origin of the term, "I'm stumped."
BirdBrain
12-04-2015, 17:34
I love word origins discussions. There are a pile of common sayings that come from sailing. 3 sheets to the wind, under the weather, as the crow flies, the bitter end, touch and go, taken aback, give a wide berth, take another tack, over a barrel, etc
TexasBob
12-04-2015, 17:46
........ "I'm stumped."
I wonder if that what the bear was thinking
No way that would have happened with a proper PCT hang... I've never had an issue using the PCT method. I have my food in an opsak inside a zPacks blast food bag. Key issue is finding an appropriate tree and branch. If I cannot find a suitable tree, I never ever attempt a hang. I've seen some ridiculous hangs that could obviously be defeated. I once asked a guy on the AT in southern PA who did a really bad hang what he wanted to achieve and he was scared of keeping food in his tent and felt better off even if the bear got the food. He didn't know how to properly hang food and there were appropriate trees available but he wasn't really looking for suggestions.
"Just good old Down East common sense.."
How did I misuse the term?
Wayne
Sent from somewhere around here.
BirdBrain
12-04-2015, 23:52
"Just good old Down East common sense.."
How did I misuse the term?
Wayne
Sent from somewhere around here.
You didn't. I was just trying to distract from a more controversial discussion.
Thanks.
Wayne
Sent from somewhere around here.
Lone Wolf
12-05-2015, 07:00
Just one of many reasons that I stopped hanging a bear bag.
i never started :)
Sarcasm the elf
12-05-2015, 08:13
i never started :)
I joined the Boy Scouts and was taught to bear bag my food. You joined the Marines and were taught to eat the bear. :rolleyes:
MuddyWaters
12-05-2015, 13:19
Pretty much just made me think the guys filming were jackasses
RiverbirchHiker
12-06-2015, 19:17
If you hang a bear bag in the same way as done in that video, you will be breaking one of the basic suggestions in hanging a bear bag: Try to hang from a thin branch that a bear can't climb out on.
If you tie a bear bag to a thick tree trunk like that, it's not surprising that a bear can get to that food source.
Pedaling Fool
12-07-2015, 07:46
If you hang a bear bag in the same way as done in that video, you will be breaking one of the basic suggestions in hanging a bear bag: Try to hang from a thin branch that a bear can't climb out on.
If you tie a bear bag to a thick tree trunk like that, it's not surprising that a bear can get to that food source.But you also have to find a branch that a bear can't break, by pulling down on and there's a chance that even if he can't break it, he can bend it down far enough to get the sack. That's a tough find, especially on many parts of the AT.
A good branch for a PCT hang is one that is too small for a bear (or cub) to walk on yet too large for a bear to easily break. If in doubt I usually opt for a larger branch because I feel like my food has better odds of surviving an attempt by a bear to climb out on the branch and try to break the bear line vs. breaking a branch. The zPacks line I use for bear bagging is probably not all that simple for a bear to break. I won't say that I'm an expert at bear bagging but I have not had food taken yet.