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Newb
03-30-2009, 09:59
A hiker mentioned in her journal (http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=264764)that a bear has figured out how to get bear-bags on Wolf Laurel Top down in Georgia.

If you're going that way...might want to hang higher, further out on the branch, and use a better tie-off method :D

Valentine
03-30-2009, 14:52
I talked with a potential through hiker who lost all of her food somewhere near a days walk of Neels Gap on March 14th.

Lilred
03-30-2009, 17:32
Ya, they've closed the section from Neels Gap to six miles north to camping. Lots of people losing their foodbags and packs

Frosty
03-30-2009, 17:57
Wait until the bears get this smart:

http://www.amazon.com/Bears-Discover-Fire-Other-Stories/dp/0312890354/

Jim Adams
03-30-2009, 18:57
Wait until the bears get this smart:

http://www.amazon.com/Bears-Discover-Fire-Other-Stories/dp/0312890354/

That's noth'in...I once saw a picture of bears sitt'in around a table play'in poker!!!!!:D

geek

Newb
03-31-2009, 07:37
Ya, they've closed the section from Neels Gap to six miles north to camping. Lots of people losing their foodbags and packs

So, somewhere in the woods just north of Neel's gap there is a bear with a cave full of camping equipment?

gearfreak
03-31-2009, 09:31
I ran into a guy at Big Spring Shelter one time who told me that a ridgerunner alerted him to the fact that some bears learned that by repeatedly tugging on the cable they could bounce food bags off the hooks. I've clipped mine on with a caribiner ever since and so far, so good. :cool:

mister krabs
03-31-2009, 09:35
Warning is up here.

http://www.fs.fed.us/conf/conditions/index.shtml

max patch
03-31-2009, 09:46
I ran into a guy at Big Spring Shelter one time who told me that a ridgerunner alerted him to the fact that some bears learned that by repeatedly tugging on the cable they could bounce food bags off the hooks. I've clipped mine on with a caribiner ever since and so far, so good. :cool:

FWIW, bears have been known to defeat ordinary caibiners too (Springer Mtn, for example). Use a locking caribeener for more security.

Newb
03-31-2009, 10:20
NFS bear-bagging and reporting info:

http://www.fs.fed.us/conf/rec/wilderness/bear-proofing.htm

Strategic
04-03-2009, 11:42
This just goes to show that you need to be careful if you want to keep your food. Now not only are some hikers going hungry, but this bear is likely to be shot or relocated for his/her forays.

The Forest Service site isn't very good on the whole bear bagging thing. Their method is complicated and has the same problems as what most of these hikers seem to have had: it leaves a chance for the bear to defeat the system. The best way to go is the PCT method, worked out for bears a lot craftier than our eastern variety (with the possible exception of this Neel's Gap bear). Here's the BackpackingLight article (http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/bear_bag_hanging_technique.html) that explains it best, with pictures to help.

max patch
04-03-2009, 12:21
This just goes to show that you need to be careful if you want to keep your food. Now not only are some hikers going hungry,

Well, not really. The camping spot is only 4 miles north of NeelS Gap where one can easily resupply. If you had to pick a spot to have a bear steal your food, this would be a pretty good place to lose it. More of an expensive inconvenience.

SGT Rock
04-03-2009, 12:25
Yep. Sometimes the hard lessons are the best one.

Frostbite.

catfishrivers
04-03-2009, 12:35
An old coworker is trying to tell me to urinate around where I tie off the cord when I hang my bearbag ( obviously not at the shelters but when I camp and hang the bag from trees ). He says it will deter most animals. He is even suggesting I buy a vile a wolf pee for the same purpose. Is he just messing with me?

SGT Rock
04-03-2009, 12:38
An old coworker is trying to tell me to urinate around where I tie off the cord when I hang my bearbag ( obviously not at the shelters but when I camp and hang the bag from trees ). He says it will deter most animals. He is even suggesting I buy a vile a wolf pee for the same purpose. Is he just messing with me?
He may be. Or he may be wrong about his assumptions.

I have a couple of friends that are AVID bow hunters. So one day we are telling deer stories. I tell them about a time on Scott Mountain where my son and I were packing up to leave when two deer come up and start licking where we had been peeing.

They both looked shocked. They said human urine scares away animals.

I told them that was FOS. I've seen this done more than a few times by deer. They like the salt.

They said all the hunting experts say this ain't true. You gotta pee away from where you hunt and you need scents to cover yours.

Then I asked how much the scent costs? They immediately figured out that they had been sold on the fact by someone selling something. I think they now pee where they want the deer to stand.