Camping in bear country

[onetraveller]

All of Alaska is bear country. We camp up here no problem. Just keep an eye on your little ones and use common sense.

And I can assure you that an 800 pound grizzly doesn't give a hoot about how big your dog is, unless the bear is hungry and the dog is slow.

Mike

 

[762X39]

And I can assure you that an 800 pound grizzly doesn't give a hoot about how big your dog is, unless the bear is hungry and the dog is slow.

Yep, thank you for the laugh of my day. Nothing can ruin your day more than your dog pissing off a bear and having the bear come back to camp. Luckily, we don't get grizzlies here.

 

[dblosch]

I spent many years backpacking and camping in bear country as a "High Adventure" scout. We saw our fair share of cars (not ours) ripped open, and coolers spilled out.

Before one of our first trips right after graduating from cubs scouts, our adult leaders explained to us the dangers of leaving food/toothpaste/deodorant/etc. in a tent. As a bunch of newly minted Tenderfoot scouts, we thought we knew better than they did. We went on that trip, I have no idea where, to an area they knew had a problem with raccoon. They told us, again, not to keep food in our bags, in our tents, etc... But they KNOWINGLY did not check any of our gear.

That first night, when the raccoon came, we all thought the "bears" were going to eat us alive. I remember vividly how they seemed to know just how to unzip a tent. I remember thinking I would never let go of my mag-light, my personal raccoon defense system.

But, we all lived, and we learned our lesson. We never had problems with bears once we started camping in real "bear country."

:wavey:
Dan

 

[mrchips]

For added safety carry a can of bear spray to ward off any pushy bears. In 2010 I ran the Rubicon, and in a campground in Lake Tahoe area, a bear chased folks off the meal they were about to sit down and eat

 

[JIMBO]

:sombrero: Great advice about foods and campfires-

After the first campsite "babywaste" disposal trouble, (35 years ago), I've never triedit again--Always takeout more than you take in and nowadays, with my wife and I and sometimes a couple grandkids--

I've been using a "hatch" tent for the last 6 years and when night predator noise "Wuff Wuff" sounds, we just jump into the back of my jeep and "LOCKUP"--can drive away if required-no troubles-

We've run into several bears and a mountain lion during the days and thats been "interesting"-

Now I kinda doubt that you can camp like this in Yellowstone, but it's possible-

We've had to doit scramble in the jeep twice, in the last two years, with no further danger-

Justa thought-

:costumed-smiley-007:wings: JIMBO

 

[GroupSe7en]

One of the things that you might consider is that all of the "recommended procedures" for dealing with bears comes, at best, from "things that seem to have sort of worked before" and are at worst made up by some park service bureaucrat tasked with creating a pamphlet on bears. There is no hard science in any of it.

What is the sense of putting your cooking 100yards from your tent? How do you know that the bear isn't going to have to walk past your tent to get to where your cooking station is? Or show up while you're cooking? Also remember that all of those tasty cooking smells are not left 100 yards away, they are completely saturating your clothes and hair which are with you in your tent.

The thing about camping with bears is similar to hiking with bears. You don't need to outrun the bear, you just need to outrun the guy next to you ;-) So keeping your food away from you is about making it a better target than you are.

I did a trip through Labrador with my 2 yr old a few years ago - lots of wolves and bears. I slept lightly and had the 12gauge with slugs readily available.

No "procedure" is going to protect you from bears. They are the No1 predator, and we are tasty treats. Camping friends of mine described my 2 yr old as "snack size."

I don't intend to put you off, but I also don't want you to think that you are "safe."
Everyone says, "do 'x' and you'll be fine," that's baseless wishing, and relying on the percentages.

Even my 12gauge is no guarantee - if a bear wants you, a bear is going to have you.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[austintaco]

I think this video will help dismiss much of what has been discussed in this thread. If this has been posted already, I apologize. However, the lessons learned from this video are too important to miss.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMRske3VM5s

 

[nwoods]

the lessons learned from this video are too important to miss.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMRske3VM5s

Another excellent candidate for "post of the year"

 

[mrchips]

Very cool

 

[2025 deleted member]

hilarious

 

[Christophe Noel]

I don't see anywhere in that link where it says you are not allowed to bury waste. I see that it says not to bury garbage but burying the biodegradable diaper is no different than burying waste along with the toilet paper, which I believe is an acceptable method if done correctly..

Regarding the burrial of human waste, even that is unacceptable in some eco systems. You should ideally never bury TP and certainly not a diaper, but this is where debates begin. Some backcountry travelers have a different environmental ethos than others. I'm of the school of thought, as are most fortunately, that you pack out what you pack in. Poopy diapers included. As for human waste, that's a decision driven by the environment you're in as much as anything.

Regarding travel in bear country, that is really about how clean you maintain your camp and how inviting you make it to not just bears, but any critter. If a small, bushy tail rodent loves your camp, his big hairy cousin will too.

 

[lam396]

Regarding the burrial of human waste, even that is unacceptable in some eco systems. You should ideally never bury TP and certainly not a diaper, but this is where debates begin. Some backcountry travelers have a different environmental ethos than others. I'm of the school of thought, as are most fortunately, that you pack out what you pack in. Poopy diapers included. As for human waste, that's a decision driven by the environment you're in as much as anything.

Regarding travel in bear country, that is really about how clean you maintain your camp and how inviting you make it to not just bears, but any critter. If a small, bushy tail rodent loves your camp, his big hairy cousin will too.

I never said I was going to be burying the TP, only the waste along with the insert that is not only biodegradable, but has passed ASTM standards to be certified compostable. Sorry, maybe my ethos is off but if it's ok in my compost, it will be ok in the middle of the wilderness...properly cat holed of course, I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm a cave man. The intent of that post was to point out that the statement made was not factual. Like I said earlier, this was not intended to be a leave no trace post (although they do say that burying TP is ok, guess everyone else is just so much more morally superior to the LNT folks?) and if anyone was familiar with the type of dinsert I'm speaking of, I doubt this would even be an issue. If anyone would like to look into the biodegradable inserts, here is a link http://www.gdiapers.com/feel-good/earth-friendly-diapers/biodegradable-diapers.

Good advice about a generally clean camp though, that is a good idea everywhere, not just in bear country.

 

[TexasTJ]

Keep the diapers in your Vehicle at night with your trash and food. If you take you cloth diapers clean them everyday if disposable through them out everyday. You will more than likely pass a place with a trash can a lot in the Greater Teton area. Keep a clean camp and you will be fine. I camped at the Atherton Creek Campground up by slide lake last summer with a 4 month old and we had not bear troubles.

 

[78ScoutII]

I've always followed the accepted rules when camping in bear country when camping/backpacking before but how could you follow the "accepted bear camping rules" if you have a built in kitchen/fridge/chuck kit built into the back of their rig as many on the board do or because it's within the vehicle and locked up it is not a concern? take everything that doesn't fit in the fridge and hang it? We are planning on having a similar setup as well as in-cab & flip-pac like sleeping setup with the kids. What about the fact we'd be sleeping directly over the contents of our fridge? I'm sure the bears can still smell the contents of the fridge, right? Thanks,

-Drew

 

[tacksman]

Bear Spray and a .44 Mag. But before all that, usually making a SH@#$ ton of noise will scare them off. Air Horn?...lol