are bears attracted to any kind of smells...

[LazyLightning]

ok I have a serious question here that may sound like a joke. Also if this isn't the right place to ask please forgive me and either let me know so I can edit the post or delete it for me

I know bears and other animals are attracted to any food smells, I'm wondering about smoke smells. More particularly in states where some things are legal to smoke that have a very strong odor even when not being smoked. I figure it's wise to hang all your smokeables with your food and not smoke anything in your tent during the night ... I'm also wondering about some of those strong odors that might stick to you a little even if nothing is in the tent with you. Hopefully the body odor over powers any of those smells, and hopefully animals arn't attracted to nasty body odor.

[Slo-go'en]

If any of those things were a concern, I would have been eaten by a bear a long time ago...

[Martzy13]

If any of those things were a concern, I would have been eaten by a bear a long time ago...

+1 on that

[SoaknWet]

If they get the munchies you had better be gone!!!

[GoldenBear]

First thing to know about bears is that their sense of smell is incredible
http://www.knowyourneighbors.net/bear-sense-of-smell/
It's pretty much how they interact with their world -- in the same way we use our eyes for long distance searching, bears use their noses.

The question then becomes one of how bears react to specific smells.
Which quickly becomes problematic because (1) research is sporadic, usually anecdotal, and sometimes contradictory; and (2) bears don't read the scientific literature.
It's like the Abbott & Costello routine where the former is trying to convince the latter not to worry about vampires:
"C'mon. Dracula doesn't exist, he's just a made-up story! You know he's not real, I know he's not real, EVERYONE knows he's not real."
"Yes, but does DRACULA know that he's not real!?"
Thus, no matter how firmly anyone (including me!) declares, "We all know that bears react in this way," you must ask the question, "Yes, but do the BEARS know that?"
Also, if someone states, "Odds are 999 out of 1000 that a bear will do this," you must ask the question, "What if I come across that one out of a thousand bear?"

**IN GENERAL**, bears have two main reactions to smells.
https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/...ract-bears.htm
"Food" equals "good."
"Human" equals "bad."
That's why bears will inevitably meander close to ANY kind of smell remotely like food (like perfumes), but (generally) run away when they smell a human.

The problem comes when a bear has learned (been trained?) to think that "human" equals "food" equals "good."
When that happens, a bear will not only fail to run when it smells us, it will start to meander to where humans are gathering.
At which point everyone is in trouble.

Thus, don't count on a bear being disgusted with the smell of a stinky shirt, anymore that it would be disgusted with the smell of a rotting dear carcass. If the bear has learned "stinky shirt" equals "humans" equals "food," then you might as well sleep next to a deer carcass.

Now about the smells of stuff that one might smoke.
Surprisingly, people have tried to answer this question
http://www.westword.com/marijuana/do...o-know-9300448
https://www.backpacker.com/stories/a...l-my-marijuana
and the (basic) answer is, "We're not sure either way, but it would make sense that a bear MIGHT be attracted."

[grubbster]

Problem is those smokables may make you think you have a bear around even if you don't!

[Puddlefish]

First thing to know about bears is that their sense of smell is incredible
http://www.knowyourneighbors.net/bear-sense-of-smell/
It's pretty much how they interact with their world -- in the same way we use our eyes for long distance searching, bears use their noses.

The question then becomes one of how bears react to specific smells.
Which quickly becomes problematic because (1) research is sporadic, usually anecdotal, and sometimes contradictory; and (2) bears don't read the scientific literature.
It's like the Abbott & Costello routine where the former is trying to convince the latter not to worry about vampires:
"C'mon. Dracula doesn't exist, he's just a made-up story! You know he's not real, I know he's not real, EVERYONE knows he's not real."
"Yes, but does DRACULA know that he's not real."

**IN GENERAL**, bears have two main reactions to smells.
https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/...ract-bears.htm
"Food" equals "good."
"Human" equals "bad."
That's why bears will inevitably meander close to ANY kind of smell remotely like food (like perfumes), but (generally) run away when they smell a human.

The problem comes when a bear has learned (been trained?) to think that "human" equals "food" equals "good."
When that happens, a bear will not only fail to run when it smells us, it will start to meander to where humans are gathering.
At which point everyone is in trouble.

Thus, don't count on a bear being disgusted with the smell of a stinky shirt, anymore that it would be disgusted with the smell of a rotting dear carcass. If the bear has learned "stinky shirt" equals "humans" equals "food," then you might as well sleep next to a deer carcass.

Now about the smells of stuff that one might smoke.
Surprisingly, people have tried to answer this question
http://www.westword.com/marijuana/do...o-know-9300448
https://www.backpacker.com/stories/a...l-my-marijuana
and the (basic) answer is, "We're not sure either way, but it would make sense that a bear MIGHT be attracted."

Username checks out, and good advice.

[Dogwood]

ok I have a serious question here that may sound like a joke. Also if this isn't the right place to ask please forgive me and either let me know so I can edit the post or delete it for me

I know bears and other animals are attracted to any food smells, I'm wondering about smoke smells. More particularly in states where some things are legal to smoke that have a very strong odor even when not being smoked. I figure it's wise to hang all your smokeables with your food and not smoke anything in your tent during the night ... I'm also wondering about some of those strong odors that might stick to you a little even if nothing is in the tent with you. Hopefully the body odor over powers any of those smells, and hopefully animals arn't attracted to nasty body odor.

Your question gives new meaning to Smokey the Bear.

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[AllDownhillFromHere]

Even if the bear doesn't want your weed, they've learned by now that weed = hikers = snickersbars. The smell is going to attract them, and then they're going to eat your food... and probably weed.

[Dogwood]

Thers a simple solution since we're discussing legal med and rec use in states with dispensaries. Use responsibly which means legally by opting for concentrates in a Vap pen. There's no significant smell. And, it's much more discrete. And, you're not ingesting smoke from a combustible(burning) material affecting your lungs as much.

Most edibles have a reduced odor as well. Again, the above applies.

If you're considering legal med use for aches and pains brought about by inflammation from backpacking you should consider CBD only cannabis concentrates in various non smokable non smelly delivery systems.

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[Coffee]

Bears are known to associate marijuana smoke with an unusual prevalence of junk food in the vicinity, especially at AT shelters near road junctions that lead to towns.

[peakbagger]

I expect the answer dependent on if the bears are human habituated?. Wild black bears dont want to mess with humans, the human habituated bears along much of the AT, I expect regard any unnatural smell near a shelter or campsite to be dinner bell. They have been rewarded often enough that its worth the energy to wander on over and check the "menu on the wall" and see whats easy to to get to. I expect weed smells similar to a campfire and travels quite far so for human habituated bears I expect they will appreciate the long distance dinner bell.

[TJ aka Teej]

When a bear associates a scent with rewarded foraging it is more likely to investigate that scent in the future.
No matter what the scent is.

[SoaknWet]

Which raises the chances that that bear will be destroyed.

[rocketsocks]

Anything new in the environment provokes interest, kinda like giving a hamster a new toy.

[gbolt]

Maybe after sniffing the smoke for awhile, the bear gets the munchies like everyone else! Let’s not over think this lol!

[Dogwood]

Ahh, east coaster cannabis mentalities and sensibilities are so not yet up to the west coasts and CO. You don't need to smell anything, experience red eyes, have smoke clouds, etc if you opt for non smoking products and delivery systems. Again, we're discussing legal use where there are dispensaries that have these alternatives available.

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[Sarcasm the elf]

Oh great, now I've gotta worry about bears that have the munchies?!?

[Sarcasm the elf]

To answer the question, anecdotally, I can't imagine that they care about the smell. Though as Teej noted above, if they learn to associate any arbitrary smell with easy access to improperly stored food then they could hypothetically come a lookin.

[MuddyWaters]

Bears may investigate and taste any unusual smell.
May. Not will.
No animal behaves 100% predictable.
My brother and i once had two deer walk up behind us while we were sighting in rifles against a dirt pile . They were 50 yds behind us when we noticed them. Their tracks showed they had walked down the dirt road toward us about 100 yds. They didnt run until they knew we saw them. The shooting didnt alarm them at all, might have attracted them. One had antlers....usually extremely wary.