View Full Version : question about the bearsu
There's something about this bear-bag and/or canister idea I don't quite get. Obviously while you're hiking, either day or night, your food is right next to your body, in your pack -- but, you want it away from you and suspended from that tree branch while you're camping. So, is this because the bears are smart enough to be timid while they see you are alert and active, but not so timid when you're asleep? Do they just look for food at night? Or, is it that the idea is that the bears may come for the food whether you are camping or hiking, but you're in a better position (theoretically, anyway) to defend it when you're alert?
So, is this because the bears are smart enough to be timid while they see you are alert and active, but not so timid when you're asleep?
Pretty much this. Bears are at least as smart as dogs. A bear is not likely to attempt to take food off of a person, its just too risky in their minds. However, if food is on the ground and not being minded by a person it is open game. You don't even need to be asleep in your tent, just not obviously guarding the food.
MuddyWaters
08-25-2013, 18:24
1) bears are mostly nocturnal, like deer.
2) they are certainly less cautious under cover of darkness as well, like deer
3) they are very intelligent and resourceful
People hang their food to protect themselves, not the food. The food is at greater risk hanging, they are at lesser risk.
A bear is smart enough to gauge when they have a chance of getting food without a fight. If you are asleep 100ft away from your food, well thats a no freakin brainer. If I wanted food thats when Id take it too, hypothetically speaking.
I believe there were a couple of girls that had two tents north of Neel gap back in the spring. Put their food in one, and they slept in the other. Bear forcibly took the food from the tent, or so the story was.
Mostly on the AT , bears wont forcibly take your food from your tent or you.
That is not true everywhere. It is a conditioned trait.
There are good neighborhoods, and bad neighborhoods. The AT is pretty much a "good" neighborhood of bears.
Thanks guys. I got it. But MuddyWaters, when you say "mostly ....wont take..", do you mean to say that i can pretty much feel safe on the whole trail just keeping the food in the tent with me? (My attorney will be sending you something to sign... JUS KIDDIN!)
Also, regarding those canisters; Are those things "smell-proof" to the bears? Can they not smell stuff that's in there, or is it that they can still smell it, but they just can't get it open?
Another Kevin
08-25-2013, 21:30
The New Jersey-New York-Connecticut stretch, where the trail runs through suburbia, tends to have problem bears. They're habituated to humans, so will come closer to get food. I hear that a few small stretches of Georgia/North Carolina are getting that way because the very high hiker population in season is habituating the bears. But on most of the trail the bears have a healthy fear of humans, and the most you'll see of a bear is his butt as he runs away from you.
And yes, the point of a canister is that a bear can't open it. The point of a bag hang is that a bear can't find it, or can't get to it if he can. That's why (if you hang) you should hang a fair way out from the tree trunk, on a branch that won't support a bear's weight, and either hang between two trees or use a PCT hang, so that the bear can't get a piņata by biting through the rope.
I do a PCT hang unless Johnny Law tells me I have to use a canister. As far as I know, on the AT that's just one short stretch in Georgia. I don't trouble to hang when the bears are asleep. Around here, that's pretty much when the calendar says it's winter, and for a couple of weeks into the spring. They usually start waking up around about the start of April. Farther south, they're active earlier.
Of course, if there's a bear box, bear pole, or bear cable provided, I use them.
MuddyWaters
08-25-2013, 22:05
Thanks guys. I got it. But MuddyWaters, when you say "mostly ....wont take..", do you mean to say that i can pretty much feel safe on the whole trail just keeping the food in the tent with me? (My attorney will be sending you something to sign... JUS KIDDIN!)
Also, regarding those canisters; Are those things "smell-proof" to the bears? Can they not smell stuff that's in there, or is it that they can still smell it, but they just can't get it open?
No, cannisters are not smell proof. Bears know there is food in them, and in some areas will try to get it. Hopefully the idea is they get bored and give up. A bear in NY that was shot this yr, yellow-yellow, had learned how to open one brand, and taught her cubs how to as well. That brand wasnt allowed any more in her region.
Of course, if you are sleeping on a ridge, your bear can could dissapear by rolling away if a bear is toying with it. Many people will stash them inside of bushes or someplace they are less likely to roll from sometimes.
A bear in Yellowstone right now has figured out how to open Garcia bear cans. It pushes them off of cliffs so they bust open on rocks below. They are trying to relocate that bear.
Whether to sleep with food or not is a personal choice. Few have ever had an issue doing it on the AT, but there have been a few encounters , no injuries however that Ive ever heard about. On the other hand, in some areas many foodbags are lost to bears, possibly because they are poorly hung.
I would not entertain the idea of sleeping with food at say Yellowstone or Algonquin Provincial Park (canada).
Spirit Walker
08-26-2013, 00:12
Be aware that on the AT bears have been known to come up to hikers while they were cooking their dinner. In '92 I know it happened at least three times, with two different bears. In my case, we threw things at the bear and he wandered off after getting hit in the nose by a stick, so we ate dinner in peace. However he came back after dinner and managed to get all the food hung in trees.
On the PCT a friend had a bear tear into his tent while he was sleeping and get the food he had at his feet. Another hiker I met had a bear steal the food bag from under his head. Both were in the Sierras, where bears are very habituated.
hmm...thanks for all this advice. For me, I don't think I'll be planning to sleep with any food in bear country, but I better learn the proper way of hanging that food. I've seen a couple youtubes on it, but not sure that's good enough. It sounds like, from what I'm reading here, that it's easy to get that wrong! I've seen some methods that require two food bags, two trees, two people. Hope I can find a way that works for just one person! I ran across a site called "At Wilderness Guides", and I'm thinking about getting some practice hikes with them -- altho I'll have to go across country to do that (I live in CA). But I'm really believing that something like that will really be a smart thing to do prior to the actual hike -- especially since my entire life-time camping experience probably consists of 5 or 10 trips to KOAs...(plus a few military school exercises -- 50 years ago!)