View Full Version : Hiding Food from Bears- always ??
I am a dayhiker - turning into a backpacker....
Do you always need to hide food from the bears at night ?
From other posts, it sounds like you hang it in a tree, not in the tent....but is this everywhere you hike along the AT ?? Or just certain areas ??
Thanks
Lone Wolf
07-02-2007, 17:41
i never hide it. it's always in my tent where i can see it
I am a dayhiker - turning into a backpacker....
Do you always need to hide food from the bears at night ?
From other posts, it sounds like you hang it in a tree, not in the tent....but is this everywhere you hike along the AT ?? Or just certain areas ??
Thanks
No I don't hang my food bag in my tent. I usually hang it in the shelter if there are several people there. I'll hang it from a tree if I'm camping alone. If the shelter has bear cables, I'll hang it from there. I don't usually keep food in my tent if I can help it. More so the mice don't chew their way in rather than because of bears.
I am a dayhiker - turning into a backpacker....
Do you always need to hide food from the bears at night ?
From other posts, it sounds like you hang it in a tree, not in the tent....but is this everywhere you hike along the AT ?? Or just certain areas ??
Thanks
You cannot "Hide" food from a bear. They have a very good sense of smell and will find anything you try to hide that they consider to be food. This can include things like toothpaste, deodorant, cooking utensils etc. You hang your food to keep it out of the bears reach, not to hide it.
There are some bears who have become wise to hikers and have figured out ways to get food even if it is hung. I also recall a story of a young bear in NJ who would follow hikers closely until they would panic and either drop their pack or food bag as they ran away. The bear only has to succeed once to learn a very bad habit. I think I recall this bear being destroyed as a result.
Depends on the area for us--I read the shelter journal before deciding, to see if the area is commonly visited by bears. If there are lots of people, I hang in the shelter or even keep in my tent. If bear poles are provided, I'll hang them there (figure they are there for a reason).
serenityrich
07-02-2007, 22:24
All my experiences with black bears are in the Serria Nevada's. Years ago thinking understood the nature of the bear, I properly hung my food at least twenty feet off the ground and five feet plus feet off the tree. The bear was part flying sqirrel she climbed above my pack and snatched it coming back down. Only a couple of days of food so it was worth the show.
i never hide it. it's always in my tent where i can see it
De Wolf lies of his bear manliness. Tonite at the Baja he squealed and jumped in my lap at the sight of a stray cat.
Tennessee Viking
07-03-2007, 14:21
For bears, it really depends where you at. For the TN/NC sections, the Smokies, the Bald Mtns, and Unaka Mtn are big black bear areas. There was an incident at the Walnut Mtn shelter with a bear trying to knock down the food packs, and a hiker in a bamock.
But you really want to hang your pack for mice/rats/racoons/skunks.
buckowens
07-03-2007, 19:46
Had our food bag raided a few weeks ago while camping at Justus Creek. It was a good 20 feet off the ground and the little bugger (unknown variety) climbed onto the underside of the bag and tunneled in. He got half a Marathon bar, and chewed into two packs of Ramen... I took a lid from one of my titanium cups and fashioned a barrier that would appear to work as I had no trouble in the following 9-10 days...
Now if you want to talk about mice you should have heard them in the Mountain Crossings Hostel :D I kept my eyes closed as I had hung my food bag there as well!!! One of our bunk mates could not stand it and went to the couch!!
Lone Wolf
07-03-2007, 19:49
Had our food bag raided a few weeks ago while camping at Justus Creek. It was a good 20 feet off the ground and the little bugger (unknown variety) climbed onto the underside of the bag and tunneled in.
good reason to keep it in your tent
buckowens
07-03-2007, 20:17
Roo likes bears, but HATES mice :D Well, except for Mickey, but that's a whole other post...
when it gets dark i just run 50yards away and find an easy spot to hang or place it. I try to get it off the floor becauce of the mice. I genrally dont go crazy getting it all high. cause everyone is allways saying how good bears are at getting themm anyway. I just try to get it away from me during the nightg. I dont care if a bear gets it. just as long as it is at least 50 yards away.
I do these things:
Ursack bag.
If not allowed then my Bear Vault canister.
If hiking in Mt. Rainier NP I still use my Ursack but hang it from the bear poles. Same in the Olympic NP where there are bear wires.
I do this to not only stop bears from being fed but to keep out birs, mice, squirrels, marmots, skunks...blahblahblah.
I take keeping my food secure pretty seriously. I have seen a fed bear and it isn't funny. Here at Rainier bears get moved twice usually for rehabilitation. They come back a third time they get killed. And that is very sad - in that our laziness causes their deaths. We can prevent nearly all times that animals get our food and garbage. Yes, carrying a canister isn't fun and is heavy. But I am willing to do it if my Ursack isn't allowed (and it is in nearly everywhere here in the PNW).
By the way......one of the worst animals for camps? raccoons. Agh! They will open tent doors - they can operate zippers! If not they have some very sharp claws. You don't want to wake up to one in your lap......
And I might add........bears that get habiuated are awful creatures. For those of you who don't care if a bear gets your food, I am hedging you have never seen a large bear angry and scared?
In 2003 I was with my son on The Wonderland Trail. A bear had been fed by hand by a group of campers who thought it was funny. He came back of course for more - he was about 3 years old, recently booted out by mom and hungry. He made his way to the campground that sits at Ipsuit Creek, that is for cars. The whole thing went bad fast: idiots with dogs tried to use their dogs to pin the bear (which of course isn't legal....) the bear got on top of a nearly new truck out of fear. I came off the trail to see all of this going down. The bear started jumping up and down on the truck's hood - full claws out, howling and growling. Yeah, the hood was destroyed. You wanna bet the owner was mad when they got done hiking?
I went, got in my truck and drove till I found a ranger after yelling at the idiots. This bear was given 3 chances and finally stayed away from backcountry camps as well.
It isn't funny by any means. Bears are beautiful creatures that deserve some respect. That same summer I encountered another bear sitting in huckleberry bushes while hiking. He was more scared of me than I was of him. Treat the bruins gently. We have a responsibility to them! We need to keep them wild.
fiddlehead
01-28-2008, 00:29
Bears will get your food if they really want it, no matter what you do.
of course sleeping with your food makes it tougher for the bear to get as he knows he will have to fight you for it, and in the animal world, possession takes precendence.
So, if he is REALLY hungry and doesn't care what it takes, he will come for it if you are the only one around and no other food available. BUT, if there are hikers who have hung food, and ones who are sleeping with it, they will go get the easy (hung food) first. They are much better at this than you may think.
So, sleeping with your food is the best way. I use my foodbag to prop up my feet at night.
dessertrat
01-28-2008, 01:13
Or you can camp near one of those hammock hangers. They are known as bear pinatas (how do you make that accent?), and they will distract the bear from your food bag, because they are bigger.
Almost There
01-28-2008, 12:11
My food bag works as a great pillow!!!:carrw
I hang mine using two ropes between two trees to keep away from bears, and small critters. I also do not cook/eat near my tent. My pots/spoon/trash get hung also.
dessertrat
01-28-2008, 12:39
One reason to bear bag is as a courtesy to anyone camping near you who might be made nervous by your not doing so, even if you personally are not worried about it. It's not that much trouble, and others may be put at ease by it.
Almost There
01-28-2008, 12:50
One reason to bear bag is as a courtesy to anyone camping near you who might be made nervous by your not doing so, even if you personally are not worried about it. It's not that much trouble, and others may be put at ease by it.
It's not a worry in the south, people hunt black bears, black bears are afraid of people down here. I don't like hanging my food, have had animals get into it before, but never when I sleep with it, my choice, my life, I make it perfectly clear to others that it is my philosophy. Nothing like having 5 days to go and had an animal get into it and ruin 3 days worth of food, sorry to make someone feel better, nope, I'd rather have food to eat.
:::Just shaking my head sadly::: :( Please think about it at least? Do bears deserve to be killed for our sins?
Lone Wolf
01-28-2008, 19:16
:::Just shaking my head sadly::: :( Please think about it at least? Do bears deserve to be killed for our sins?
bears are hunted
wrongway_08
01-28-2008, 19:26
It would be nice if hikers were allowed to carry the 9 shot paintball pistols. The real paintball pistols, not those cheap ones. This way when the bears even tried to get semi-close you could just hit them a few times with the paintballs. This would help to teach them not to come around without hurting them.
But people are people and there would always be a small group of idiots to screw around and mess this idea up.
People that keep food and "smellables" with them are one of the many reasons I don't camp near others. Doesn't matter where you are, just hang it all. I just keep my trash, food and toiletries in separate bags and those bags in 1 big hanging bag. Try the PCT method:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/bear_bag_hanging_technique.html
bears are hunted
In our NP's bears are not hunted unless for extreme reasons - and those reasons almost always have to do with humans screwing up. :mad:
Even then, out here bear hunting season is very short with few permits. We have a healthy population of black bears in Wa & Or. And more so we need to keep them wild and healthy.
Simply put: Yes I will call out the laziness in hikers. You are lazy if you don't protect your food from animals. Yes, not all of us live where there are bears - even then we need to keep human food and garbage from other animals. If you don't, well then don't whine when you have mice doing the limbo on your food bag at 2 am. That means: even if you don't have bears around you still need to rodent proof your items!!
The wilderness is to visit - let us not forget who lives there: the animals.
Lone Wolf
01-28-2008, 22:03
i protect my food from animals by sleeping with it in my tent
Almost There
01-28-2008, 23:15
I wrap my food bag with my fleece and put my big fat head on it, it seems to have kept the rodents away over the years, and I have yet to have any issues with bears. If I sleep in a shelter I hang, but I prefer my tent.