Bear safety?

[JamBandFan]

It may be rare but even one close encounter would be rattling...especially if a thin tent was all that separated you. In many years of hiking and car camping, I have seen one bear and one mountain lion in life, both in car as they crossed road at night.

I just boondocked car/tent camping in North Cascades area WA. Looking forward to getting a rig with hard sides so I can sleep better without wondering if every noise I hear trying to get to sleep is an animal sniffing around my tent. In the old days of camping with others going to sleep in the tent after knocking back many beers with friends around campfire I didn't think about it Now that I'm older solo camping sober in boondock areas I seem to hear every sound outside my tent & don't sleep as well. Thus the research on what type of RV to buy

 

[Weight]

Keep it cold, or at least cool. No not shake. Allow time to rest before opening. Don't mix drinks. OH. Bears.

 

[DuneElliot]

Never worried about it in a vehicle or camper. Bears break vehicle windows to get inside, but pretty much every story I've heard about this was when the window was slightly open....enough so that a bear could get its claws in and pull the glass, shattering it.

 

[meme]

I'm new here. One thing I've heard attracts bears is - of all things - toothpaste! Mint maybe, so gum, candy.

Someone posted they cover their cooler from view of windows. I guess they know?

 

[Kathleen]

I lived in Alaska for 45+ years and had more than a few Bear encounters. I always had a gun handy and if yelling at the bear didn't work I would fire a shot in the air and they ran off. Carry a marine air horn and one or two blasts from that should scare them off. Keep food in sealed containers and don't leave garbage outside your RV. For close encounters use bear spray and have a change of underware.

Good advice, esp that last part!

 

[LWalker]

I am currently SUV camping a few miles away from Gacier National Park. Throughout my adventure in West Montana been worried about bears.

I do carry bear spray, luckily havent seen one yet.

I've heard about tooth paste and soap, I do carry dr. Browners bio soap and try use it some yards away from my vehicle. I'm SUV camping

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[Optimistic Paranoid]

Bears are really not much of a problem here in the lower 48, but Alaska has been having a heck of a time with bear attacks this year.  This is only the latest, but fortunately no one was injured.  There have been fatalities in some of the others, just Google "bear attack Alaska" to see details on the others.  Some of them were even attacks by black bears, rather than grizzlies, which is really unusual.

https://www.apnews.com/61242bf8ede6...Alaska-boy-shoots-bear-charging-fishing-party

 

[LWalker]

Well, still concerns me finding a bear on a trail while hiking alone ...lol

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[SoulRaven]

There was a story on Yahoo today of a grizzly attack. The bear by-passed the first two hikers and went for the youngest, who happened to have his shotgun unslung(seems he hadn't bought a sling yet), the first round of birdshot didn't stop the bear but the second one did.

The kid was 11 and pretty much saved the day. A slung rifle or weapon is as useless as tits on a boar hog.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/11-old-alaska-boy-shoots-bear-charging-fishing-182700952.html

 

[Kathleen]

Never worried about it in a vehicle or camper. Bears break vehicle windows to get inside, but pretty much every story I've heard about this was when the window was slightly open....enough so that a bear could get its claws in and pull the glass, shattering it.

Like windows open an inch with rain guards??? Important to know.

I never worried about bears in my early camping days in WY/MT. Followed bear tracks in the dust down the wilderness (not gov't land) road back to my car at the Crow Rez in MT. Did wonder if a bear was peering at me through the pine trees on either side of the narrow road.

Now bear caution is everywhere. So I'm interested to know if they tend to stick their claws through the window crack under the rain guards, that all important inch of air flow that permits us to safely use propane inside our vehicles.

 

[Kathleen]

It was about 7:30 AM on a crisp Montana spring morning. I was walking along a dirt road. I came to a clearing and a fairly large Cinnamon bear (a black bear with a light colored coat) stood up in the clearing about 30 yards for me and growled. 

Great story. That's what I would do too. Love those Cinnamon bears.

I saw one that was golden color with fur a foot long. That was in early June, after that winter so heavy the plows had nowhere to push the snow in Ystone (2011 maybe.) Tried to post that bear pic to the forum but it wouldn't load.

Maybe I'll use it as my Avatar.

 

[John61CT]

Maybe he'll use you as one [GRINNING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

 

[Putts]

In Russia he would.

Yeah Kathleen, even a 1/4 inch is too much if you're really in bear country.

All he's got to do is get one fingernail into it and he pops it off like a yogurt container.

But even in Montana there aren't many places I'd worry about personally. Around Yellowstone, especially out the North East entrance near Cook City, Beartooth pass, and Chief Joseph highway is problematic.

 

[LWalker]

For some reason feel safer when there is more people camping around... but then there is more attractants... more food, soap, tooth paste and so... so wonder what is better, being alone or with more people/more attractants...


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[sushidog]

It's better in a crowd, especially one with fat and elderly people. Worst case scenario, sleep with your shoes on. Remember you can't outrun a bear, but you don't need to as long as you can outrun at least one other camper.

Seriously though, a bigger camp has more activity, noise and a larger human "presence" which naturally discourages bear forays into camp - unless of courses the bear is very hungry then all bets are off. Of course in this scenario the other campers might pose a larger danger than the bear. Decisions, decisions.

Chip

 

[Kathleen]

We often tent camp on Mt.Lemmon in the Coronado National Forest here in southern Arizona, mostly at Spencer Canyon and Rose Canyon Lake.  They just closed Rose Canyon Lake yesterday because of a bear.  The newspaper says that a camper woke up to his trailer shaking and when he looked out the window, he was face to face with a black bear.  The bear was sighted elsewhere in the area, so they closed the campground until the bear is trapped and either relocated or euthanized.

They have bear boxes at every campsite up there. But because the campgrounds are so close to Tucson, many "city folk" don't understand that if a bear gets accustomed to partaking of human food that is left out, they are on much greater danger of attack.

In 2015, Spencer Canyon campground was closed for the remainder of the summer after a mountain lion went after a loaf of bread in a couple's tent. We were the last campers to leave when the campground was closed. We were planning on staying as we practice good camping hygiene, but we had no choice but to leave.

We humans are the cause of bear (and other predator) problems.
Ted

Mount Lemmon!  :heart:   I lived there, up top at 8k feet elevation in Summerhaven, 44 yrs ago before fires and realtors hit. It was such a great place then, Catalina Mtn Range, loved it. Didn't know lions like bread. Yes, we humans are the cause of predator problems. Wilderness teacher say: if you don't want bear encounters understand their behavior to avoid their habitat. Campgrounds are another story...

 

[Kathleen]

In Russia he would.

Yeah Kathleen, even a 1/4 inch is too much if you're really in bear country.

All he's got to do is get one fingernail into it and he pops it off like a yogurt container.

But even in Montana there aren't many places I'd worry about personally. Around Yellowstone, especially out the North East entrance near Cook City, Beartooth pass, and Chief Joseph highway is problematic.

Hmmm, never heard of the bear claws through the crack in the window issue before. Glad DuneElliot brought it up.  That means if you're being cautious you don't crack the windows at all, no heating or cooking indoors. 

Something to consider...and that was one mighty big bear!

 

[Putts]

Something to consider...and that was one mighty big bear!

I think a lot of the preceding posts about being where noisy humans are is good advice.

The only time I actually felt scared was when I camped in a tent near the Beartooth. Somewhere around here maybe. Oddly enough, I had just posted this picture in another thread. This was the morning I knew I woke up un-eaten. That's the Beartooth in the background.

Yeah, there are bears there. But seriously, I've camped all over Montana and mostly just made sure my tent was 200 yards away from the coolers and cook camp, or I was in a Forest Service cabin with the coolers inside. Other than that one night I never felt unsafe.

Odds are way worse that the semi tire is going to blow right next to you and take you out through the drivers door window. Just say'in.

 

[Putts]

Oh, sorry, I should add for context here:

Do all your cooking and fire ring shit up the road a bit, but have a spot 200 yards down the road that you park your rig for sleep in. They may get attracted to the campfire smells and cooking stuff, but if all they find 200 yard away is a sealed metal egg, they'll probably just move on to the left over smores in the fire pit.

 

[John61CT]

Odds are way worse that the semi tire is going to blow right next to you and take you out through the drivers door window.

Yes, funny how all the super-duper common risky stuff we're totally blase about, but get all stressed about the things that really in effect "never" happen. I guess the rarity adds to the scary factor.