Motion Sensors for bears

[GR8ADV]

The best bear is a dead bear

Don't even get me started...

A key piece to remember is that YOU are not on the bears food chain. He is neither looking or hunting for you (unless he is all white :Wow1: ) Unless the bear is sick of threatened, you should have no problems. Typically neither of these two things occur while camping around them. That is IF your food is properly stored. That means high up in a tree, not under your truck or your tent or anywhere else. Take NOTHING into your tent that you don't wear.

Fear, the great American past time...

 

[bob91yj]

Don't even get me started...

A key piece to remember is that YOU are not on the bears food chain. He is neither looking or hunting for you (unless he is all white :Wow1: ) Unless the bear is sick of threatened, you should have no problems. Typically neither of these two things occur while camping around them. That is IF your food is properly stored. That means high up in a tree, not under your truck or your tent or anywhere else. Take NOTHING into your tent that you don't wear.

Fear, the great American past time...

Nothing but pine trees at Rubicon Springs, no way easy way to get stuff up in the air. Camping a mile away from food wasn't a reasonable option either

I learned a few things that trip for sure. Like everyone else, I didn't think it would ever happen to me. Now that it has, I take more precautions, but I'm also better prepared to deal with the situation.

If I'd have had a weapon with me at the time that it happened, I wouldn't have pulled the trigger unless the bear had started trying to get into the tent. I'm not trigger happy by any sense, I understand it is the final option.

BTW, our gun is loaded so the first two shots are snake shot, mostly just noise and a very fine spray of small shot, the rest are .357. May not make sense to some, in my head it's a good idea. Hopefully the noise and the peppering will scare off most varmits if need be. If it doesn't, the next 4 should end the conversation.

 

[Rubiclone]

so is everyone basically saying i shouldnt store my food in a cooler in my truck when im sleeping in the RTT? all the trash would be in sealed ammo cans... so is that really not good enough? most food thats not in the cooler would be canned or dried food anyway.

 

[snowbear]

I used to load buckshot in front of slugs but later decided against it. I have fired rifle shots over bears at close range and they have ignored it. So when sighted in on a close bear, like in camp, waiting to see if it was going to be a problem, I didn't like the idea of having to waste the precious seconds to fire non-lethal rounds IF the bear became a problem.

Bears are opportunistic and curious. When they come into camp I'd much rather have them concentrating on my ice chest than my tent. It usually wakes someone up, they start yelling and the bear runs away.

 

[snowbear]

so is everyone basically saying i shouldnt store my food in a cooler in my truck when im sleeping in the RTT? all the trash would be in sealed ammo cans... so is that really not good enough? most food thats not in the cooler would be canned or dried food anyway.

Around here, south central alaska, on the road or trails, that will be fine.

 

[NuggetHoarder]

so is everyone basically saying i shouldnt store my food in a cooler in my truck when im sleeping in the RTT? all the trash would be in sealed ammo cans... so is that really not good enough? most food thats not in the cooler would be canned or dried food anyway.

Bears in campgrounds definitely know what a cooler looks like. If they see one in your car, they may try to get to it, and they can easily get through a window and car door. Think Yogi the Bear and his pic-a-nic baskets

Bears in the wild are different. They don't have experience with coolers, but they do follow their noses. If you have a cooler with raw meat or other tasty smells or a trash bag with plate scrapings or wrappers from food and you store that in your car, then you are risking a broken window (or even death).

I use an Engel fridge, set to freeze, for freezing food and that stays in my rig. I also keep canned goods in my rig while sleeping. I know I'm taking a risk with the Engel staying in there.

On the other hand, I also have a Yeti cooler, which is bear-proof, and I always leave that outside my rig while sleeping. I also use a stuff sack and hang any non-cooler food I have up in a tree using the PCT method (look up bear bag PCT method on Youtube). Things like fruit and bread and even dry pasta goes in there.

I use a rafter's dry bag, about 16" wide by about 24" tall as my trash bag. Depending on the trip and where I am, that dry bag might contain a couple of kitchen garbage bags with human crap in them, but mostly it will contain all non-burnable trash that could contain food smells - like jars or other containers. I also hang this dry bag up in the same tree using the PCT method.

Also take into account that, in many important ways, black bears in the lower 48 are a very different animal from brown bears in Alaska. Something to keep in mind as you read advice - try to figure out if they're talking about 800 lb brown bears vs. 175 lb. black bears.

For black bears, I do all the above practices I mentioned. If I'm in brown bear country, I do all the above, but I'm much more worried about cooking in camp and I try to have my cook area at least 50 yards away from my sleeping camp (I usually camp in out of the way places with no other nearby campers). If I'm spooked for whatever reason - large footprints, or seeing a big bear in the distance - then I go to extremes - I will drive a mile away at meal times - cook there - then return to camp to lounge around or sleep, and I'll setup my UDAP bear fence at my sleeping camp and I use the hanging bags every night no matter where I am. If there are no trees, I use the bear fence and leave everything on the ground but as far away from my tent as possible (the bear fence encloses an area 27'x27')

 

[cruisertoy]

I used to load buckshot in front of slugs but later decided against it. I have fired rifle shots over bears at close range and they have ignored it. So when sighted in on a close bear, like in camp, waiting to see if it was going to be a problem, I didn't like the idea of having to waste the precious seconds to fire non-lethal rounds IF the bear became a problem.

Bears are opportunistic and curious. When they come into camp I'd much rather have them concentrating on my ice chest than my tent. It usually wakes someone up, they start yelling and the bear runs away.

We run the Stuyahook into the Mulchatna every year just out side Illiumna. It's a 7-10 float with 3 days in Illiumna to catch Sockeye to ship home. Every year for the past 4-5 years the bears both in the village and on the river seem to be getting more daring as the fish counts seem to have gone down. We carry both large pistols and a couple sawed off shot guns. The guns get used every trip, probably every other day.

We each carry bear spray, but you can't effectively use it until a charging bear is really close. I see "snowbears" point about the buckshot first round in the shotgun, but that is what we do. Most of the time the first shot is a noise maker and does the trick. The second shot is only a half second behind it if needed. We had a few year old male charge us on the river a two years ago. We fired several round out of a couple pistols and the first out of the shotgun as warnings until it got within 40 feet. The next rounds were going to be on target, but it stopped and rose up on its back legs, did the whole roar type thing and then just looked at us for a minute. It's ears folded like a puppy dog and he cocked his head like he was just checking us out. He had been at a full speed run right at us, huffing and grunting. He dropped and ran off into the woods. We broke camp and went 5 miles down stream. The crazy thing is that most mornings we have bear prints and steaming scat within 20 feet of our tents. A little unnerving, but we've never had a problem.

Probably just as important as what you are carrying is knowing how to use it and where to aim it. Even aiming a shotgun with a slug at the wrong part of a bear will just tick it off. If your aiming at the animal, know it's kill points. Those big bears have thick skulls. Our Bush pilot showed us pictures of a Sow that had one of its front leg, its jaw and part of a back leg blown off by hunters and it was still charging. They'll do anything to protect a cub. Sleep well.

 

[Co-opski]

What you described sounds right, cruisertoy. With wild animals (bears to red squirrels)chest thumping and loud noise is more common than combat. Even small wounds can become fatal if not instant then over time with sickness and starvation. The very freighting thing is you never know when it is a bluff or the real deal.

I've had good luck with portable electric fences in the bush.

 

[jdholder]

Don't even get me started...

A key piece to remember is that YOU are not on the bears food chain. He is neither looking or hunting for you (unless he is all white :Wow1: ) Unless the bear is sick of threatened, you should have no problems. Typically neither of these two things occur while camping around them. That is IF your food is properly stored. That means high up in a tree, not under your truck or your tent or anywhere else. Take NOTHING into your tent that you don't wear.

Fear, the great American past time...

Last time I checked Oreo's aren't on the Bear's food chain either, but they like the taste of them!

We can agree to disagree, but some bears, be they brown or white, do hunt and eat people.

 

[Christophe Noel]

Bear spray will just piss them off. For Alaska, you need a minimum 44mag revolver and/or a 12ga shotgun with slugs.

.

That is entirely NOT accurate in any way, shape or form. In fact, that's rather dangerous advice.

As the GM for one of the largest backcountry guide services in Alaska, our group of 60+ guides would frequently encounter, and spray, bears ranging from small black bears to gigantic coastal browns. Personally, I've sprayed a few bears including one freakishly huge bear in my front yard. Spray works. Most importantly, you don't have to be a very good shot. Snowbear points out one very important thing about bears - unpredictability and individuality. We'd come across some bears that behaved like cows, just chewing dandy lions with no concern for anything. Others have been nervous and fidgety. Some simply curious, although that gets just as freaky as the nervous bear. We also noticed the spray had different effects on different bears. Some would get sprayed and shoot off into the woods like a freight train. Others would seem slightly dazed and confused before loping off into the bush. In every case, the bears instantly lost interest in the sprayer, and became full on focused on the spray. We used the Counter Assault brand of spray. I recall spraying one juvenile black bear that got too close to our camp and that bear was so devastated by the spray, I felt really bad for it. Poor thing darted into the bush and plowed right into a 75 foot tall Sitka spruce.

I do disagree with Snowbear on one thing. A dead bear is a sad, sad thing. These are beautiful creatures doing what they do, where they've always done it. Just because we've chosen to share THEIR turf, that doesn't mean it's our turf. Bears are really amazing animals.

 

[jdholder]

Just because we've chosen to share THEIR turf, that doesn't mean it's our turf. Bears are really amazing animals.

I think you mean they are sharing our turf. The earth was made for man - yes, we are responsible for it and yes we should respect it, but it's ours.

 

[Sawyer]

I think you mean they are sharing our turf. The earth was made for man - yes, we are responsible for it and yes we should respect it, but it's ours.

That may be YOUR view but not everyone shares it.

 

[Christophe Noel]

I think you mean they are sharing our turf. The earth was made for man - yes, we are responsible for it and yes we should respect it, but it's ours.

It's all well and good to wax poetic about who's turf it is until you find yourself standing amidst a landscape pocked with huge footprints and scattered with big piles of poo.

 

[jdholder]

It's all well and good to wax poetic about who's turf it is until you find yourself standing amidst a landscape pocked with huge footprints and scattered with big piles of poo.

And me with a bazooka!

 

[Rubiclone]

That is entirely NOT accurate in any way, shape or form. In fact, that's rather dangerous advice.

As the GM for one of the largest backcountry guide services in Alaska, our group of 60+ guides would frequently encounter, and spray, bears ranging from small black bears to gigantic coastal browns. Personally, I've sprayed a few bears including one freakishly huge bear in my front yard. Spray works. Most importantly, you don't have to be a very good shot. Snowbear points out one very important thing about bears - unpredictability and individuality. We'd come across some bears that behaved like cows, just chewing dandy lions with no concern for anything. Others have been nervous and fidgety. Some simply curious, although that gets just as freaky as the nervous bear. We also noticed the spray had different effects on different bears. Some would get sprayed and shoot off into the woods like a freight train. Others would seem slightly dazed and confused before loping off into the bush. In every case, the bears instantly lost interest in the sprayer, and became full on focused on the spray. We used the Counter Assault brand of spray. I recall spraying one juvenile black bear that got too close to our camp and that bear was so devastated by the spray, I felt really bad for it. Poor thing darted into the bush and plowed right into a 75 foot tall Sitka spruce.

I do disagree with Snowbear on one thing. A dead bear is a sad, sad thing. These are beautiful creatures doing what they do, where they've always done it. Just because we've chosen to share THEIR turf, that doesn't mean it's our turf. Bears are really amazing animals.

Awsome info, I will take note to get that bear spray, what outfit are you GM for, maybe i could stop by on my way through and check out what you have to offer!

And lets not get into the topic of who owns this world, pretty sure animals have been here first, and the only thing we have done to this world is polluted it, and took away that natural beauty there once was and replaced with with big buildings, concrete and ruined the habitat for thousands of species.

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