Afraid of Bears

“I'm fairly new to backpacking,especialy in bear country.I would like some info on how to camp around bears.What to do with my food and what kind of protection should I take with me?Is there something I should know or do to not disturb the bears?”

“1. No food in your tent!!
2. Bear Canister to keep your bear, I mean food in, or
3. Bear bag.
4. Don't mess with a bear who has managed to get your food, better hungry than dead.
5. Don't start a fight with a bear, in other words, leave them alone.
6. Have fun, it won't be often that you get to see a bear in the wild anyway.”

“What tahoe said.

Learn to hang your food, or buy a canister.”

“I know that this is well known, but worth repeating (maybe). On the trail, a wise old backpacker once told me, "don't ever try to outrun a bear. They can run in excess of 30mph, and they WILL chase you." When he finished, I began tying my boots up tight, and replied, "I don't really have to outrun any bear, Oldtimer. All I have to do is outrun YOU."

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I crack myself up every time I hear or repeat that joke.

Seriously, though. Just be armed with knowledge and you'll have nothing to worry about. Tahoe's advice is exactly what I would recommend (not that I'm any expert). I would recommend doing research on what types of bears you might encounter, and being familiar with them. I've never encountered a Grizzly bear, but I hear that they behave somewhat differently than black bears. Maybe someone can verify or discredit this.”

“I've never seen a damn bear. I don't think they really exist. I think you're all just trying to mess with me. All those pictures on your websites and stuff are done with photoshop.

There's no such thing as bears.”

“That's right,Phaedrus.


They are just a myth created to keep gomers out of the wilderness.”

“ROFL!

Well GOOOO'LLEEEE!”

“Maybe we should create a scarier animal. Bears just aren't quite scary enough to keep the gomers out anymore (they did nothing to deter me!). How about a giant flying bloodthirsty shark....with lungs! I gotta go hide under my bed now...”

“http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/animals/mammal/uram/all.html


There are a number of other sites too. I'm sure people will post links.”

“Never saw a bear backpacking, only when car-camping and canoeing. Car-camping and canoeing, they know where the food is, established sites.”

“never come in between a mother and her cubs. if you do, do not look right at her, keep your face down and walk backwards. if you get to see the bear before it sees you then try to stay very still. if it sees you first then try to make alot of noise!! i would do alot of reading on this subject before entering bear county
good luck and if you do get a chance to see one try to take a pic. to share with the rest of us. (only if this is safe)”

“Just be glad there aren't any dire wolves in the forests anymore.”

“Bears and wolves don't scare me, it's those killer r..r..rabbits with big pointy teeth that will get you:

”

“RUN AWAY!!!! RUN AWAY!!!”

“Fetch the Holy Hand Grenade...”

“If you see a bear and are not sure what kind it is climb a tree...
if it knocks the tree down then its a grizzly but if it climbs up after you then its a black bear. :P”

“Read this.

Here's the part that really interested me:

A big revelation to me was how seldom mothers attack people in defense of cubs. Defense of cubs is primarily a grizzly bear trait. Seventy percent of grizzly-caused deaths are by mothers with cubs, but I don't know of anyone being killed by a black bear mother.
”

“from the same site:

Greatest misconception: The greatest misconception about black bears is that they are likely to attack people in defense of cubs. They are highly unlikely to do this. Black bear researchers often capture screaming cubs in the presence of bluff-charging mothers with no attacks. Defense of cubs is a grizzly bear trait. About 70 percent of human deaths from grizzly bears are from mothers defending cubs, but black bear mothers have not been known to kill anyone in defense of cubs.
”

“A reading from the Book of Armaments, Chapter 4, Verses 16 to 20:

Then did he raise on high the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, saying, "Bless this, O Lord, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy." And the people did rejoice and did feast upon the lambs and toads and tree-sloths and fruit-bats and orangutans and breakfast cereals ... Now did the Lord say, "First thou pullest the Holy Pin. Then thou must count to three. Three shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither shalt thou count two, excepting that thou then proceedeth to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the number of the counting, be reached, then lobbest thou the Holy Hand Grenade in the direction of thine foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it."”

“One...Two...Five...

Three sir!

Three...”

“You should be more frightened of 'Bama back-packers.”

“Dang...I brought the Holy Handgrenade, but passed on the book of Armaments due to my lightweight philosophy. It weighed in at 5lbs. 7oz. and I could only find two uses for it. However, it was difficult to remove the pages on account of the stitched binding, therefore rendering it ineffective as TP! Scratch use 2... Maybe I should recopy Armaments 4:16-20 on the back of my topo map.

P.S. sorry for bringing this thread so off topic, but what's done is done...my bad!”

“Nice try!”

“Oh, shutup. And go and change your armor.”

“respect bears, don't fear them. Like everyone said, hang or canister your smelly stuff. Prepare food away from your tent, make lots of noise”

“Bears are not the problem! You are!”

“The only bear I've seen while backpacking was in Amicalola SP in july 2000. The glimpse I caught was of a very large fuzzy butt running away from me as fast as it could. It was actually funny.”

“I ain't skeerta no beers! 'Specially Guinness.”

“In 25 years of backpacking...I've only seen two bears in the backcountry. The first encounter was in the Kern Canyon and I was walking alone ...the poor bear looked scared to death ....it had climbed a dead snag to see over the brush....it's nostrils were doing double time trying to determine what manner of beast was coming down the trail...LOL!

Second time was in Mineral King , four of us were eating dinner...the bear came walking down the trail and tried to bluff us a little bouncing and grunting.
He was just checking to see if we would drop our meal and run... we didn't and he settled for natural bear food in the meadow. We watched him for a couple of hours grazing in the meadow....very cool!

I see tracks and scat on every trip...but actually seeing the critters....not very often.

I've seen lots of bears while car camping in Sequoia/ Kings Canyon though!”

“is a bear catholic?”

“Does the Pope $hit in the woods?”

“Just remember, The bears want your food and now you. Keep your food tied up suspended between two trees out of reach from the ground or any tree limbs. Or, Get a bear canister. KEEP YOUR FOOD DOWN WIND FROM CAMP A GOOD DISTANCE AWAY!!!!!”

“Yes, keep a clean camp. Black bears will tag team while after your food. They can also rocket up a tree. Seen it happen.

BTW, there are black bears and then there are Yosemite black bears. There's difference. If the area you're going into is habituated, you might need to be more cautious.”

“Just don't be stupid about your food. Be cautius.

Bearpaw Meadow bear ”

“It's funny you bring this up, because I'm going on my first backpacking trip this weekend w/ my g/f and I am scared sensless on bears. Here are a couple things that made me feel better and some stuff I read.

Out of all the experienced hikers/backpackers I've talked to I get "In 20 yrs I've been hiking I've seen 1, and it was it's ass as it was running away". I am also hiking in GA where there are black bears but not common to see.

What I have learned:
1. Hang food in a bear bag at least 100yds from your camp, down wind. (So the bear does not sniff the food and walk over you camp getting to it).
2. Do not go to bed smelling like what you cooked, if you spilled spaghetti sauce on you, chocolate, etc - change.
3. Avoid cleaning up with lemony smelling hand wipes, etc. Anything that leaves a good sent on you.
4. Never have food in your tent no matter how insignificant.
5. Bears stash food, if you smell something dead and can't pinpoint the smell. Camp somewhere else. It could be a half buried carcass he is saving for dinner later.
6. Don't cook next to your tent, the smell will linger and bring in critter/bears. This did happen to a friend of mine.
7. If possible, don't make a new campsite but find a less worn/used one. The "popular" campsites may be a place where a bear associates it with food. So even if he doesn't smell anything he may check it out before he goes to bed.

If you run into one:
Grizzly's and Black bears act very diffrently. So learn to identify them or know whats in your area.

Grizzy - Will attack with cubs, or for territory, or if startled. Will run away, but not as much as black bears.

Black Bears - Usually will run like hell, even with a cub. But don't take that part for granted. Can be startled and will run away. Bang pots, etc.

If either get aggressive - DON'T MOVE. Charges are most likely a bluff or to knock you over. If you run (just back up slowly), you trigger the preditory instinct and he will chase your ass down. Speak calmly so he knows you are there and "get big" - slowly raise arms and back up slowly), etc. Make them think you are too much trouble.

If a Grizzly attacks - lay on ground stomach down, lock your hands behind your head and protect your neck, spred your legs so he can't flip you over. He will probably bat and swat at you and leave you be.

If a black bear attacks - Fight back, punch, kick, jab, aim for eyes and nose. Apparently it takes alot for a black bear to get scared/angry enough to attack so he is there for the count - fight him back.


Lastly, I looked into mace - purely for wackos or wild dogs on the trail. I was told however, and verified this at the store - that the keychain handheld mace doesn't do squat on bears. There is specific mace for bears - when I checked that out, the canaster was as big as a mini fire extinguisher, weight about 1.5 lbs and cost $40.00. I bypassed this option - but know what to ask for if you decideto go this route.”

“Snow Nymph, how do you like your Bearikade canister ???”

“The Bearikade is airtight. You can leave it in the rain and won't get water in it. The Garcia is plastic and water can get in it. I love it because even the Expedition is lighter than the Garcia. I have the Weekender now, so that saves me over 1/2 lb, and is 1/2 the weight of the Garcia. The Bearikade keeps the scent inside. SnowDude had cinnamon bagels, and when we opened the canister the smell was really strong. I've used the bearikade for storing food in the truck (problem areas like Whitney Portal and Onion Valley) and had no problems.

In Yosemite we were banging pots, the bear just looked at us. As it got closer to the food, we got faster and louder and the bear ran (to the next campsite). The people there never got out of their tents, so we had to chase the bear from their site too. They gave us food in the morning.”

“I would like a link to this cannister site. Thanks”

“I ordered a Bearikade a few days ago - wahoo!!”

“Saltlick's info is right on. Always keep in mind that Grizzly's are pretty rare in the lower 48, the ones that are left are in Idaho and Montana. Black bears are spread troughout, and are very timid.. they'll steer clear of you anyway they can most of the time. You have a greater chance of getting attacked by the neighbor's dog than you do by a bear.”

“FG -can't believe you said that about the 'Head Ped.'”

“jerber:

try this

http://www.wild-ideas.net/Bearikade.htm”

“So it`s come down to this and the splitin` of hairs
think what you will, but I ain`t `fraid of no bears
got a chance to get away so, I did scamp
on the backside of nowhere I made camp
in the middle of the night a bear wanted to make a meal of me
funny now, but for some odd reason `bout that time I wanted to pee
right out and in a hurry like, I called out you better get
dang ol` bear charged me then, my world up and turned to #&%!$
ears just a ringin`, my old heart poundin`, about to max
no gun with me at all, but I had thought to pack an ax
it was all a real blur and none of it planed
I did what had to be done with what was at hand
on he charged me and with that ax I cut the air
both of us bluffin` the other, but what a scare
one more attempt made at me before he showed his ass, the ax hit`m square
what a long ass night that was spent tellin` myself, I ain`t afraid of no bear”

“Darkness surrounded me with no hint of slackin`
I couldn`t stop, my jaws just kept on yackin`
my voice played out and trailed off into the night
not sure talking helped any, but I hoped it might
I did make it out and I swore I would be back again
I never saw the bear again, guess he knew I was packin`”

“The ranger told me to carry pepper spray and to wear bear bells to warn bears. It's also a good idea to know the difference between black bears and grizzlys. For example, black bear scat is smaller and contains seeds and grass whereas grizzly scat smells like pepper and has little bells in it.”

“I've encountered many bears on the trail, both Black and Griz. Some at quite close range, but have yet to even experience a bluff charge. For the most part, they just stop browsing for food, and stare at me.

I've read more than once, where Black's are supposed to be more agressive. I'm not sure that's correct, but they are more likely to have had previous encounters (possibly bad) with humans. One things for sure, if I had to go one on one, I'd prefer the black, for a chance at survival.

There is no shortage of differing opinions as to what to do if attacked.... fight back or play dead. I think if it gets to that, you're already in deep $hit, so go with your instinct... the bear is.

Caution, awareness and safe food practices are definitely your best defence.”

“Thanks ROseymonster!”