eating in the van in bear country

[Ella1]

It's dark by 6PM now, and stays that way till almost 7AM.
When camped in bear country, either in a campground or boondocking,
do you eat in your vehicle?
Your evening meal?
A bedtime snack, nibble while reading?
Your cereal or coffee in the AM?
I do like a bedtime snack. It's often fruit, but not always. And often accompanied by hot cocoa.

(Probably the bear's favorite snack, too!) :huh:
Do you then take the garbage to the bear box, or leave it your vehicle?

 

[highdesertranger]

short answer, no I don't eat in my vehicle because of bears. keeping a clean camp is important. here's a GENERAL rule the problem bears are in areas where they can't be hunted. this is not 100% so don't rub bacon grease all over yourself and sleep outside. in areas where bears are protected they have become accustom to man and associate man as a food source. highdesertranger

 

[USExplorer]

I will eat a snack in the evening when camped in bear country if I feel like it, though I will avoid highly savory and flavorful foods or anything cooked. No food ever goes in my tent in bear country. I keep any trash inside my truck.

If a bear comes sniffling around and is undeterred by stern warnings, I have an Orion flare gun loaded with a 12 gauge blank (chop the top half of a birdshot shell off, dump out the powder and throw away the wad). It is as loud as a .22, and will scare most any bear away. If that doesn't work, I have a belt holster can of Sabre Red pepper spray.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

It's dark by 6PM now, and stays that way till almost 7AM.
Ya, I know.  It sucks.
When camped in bear country, either in a campground or boondocking,
do you eat in your vehicle?
Unless weather is bad, I cook and eat outdoors (not just in bear country).  I will not cook food that leaves a residual smell in my camper (stuff like bacon or grilling meat), so to minimize strong residual smells in the camper itself.
Your evening meal?
Grilling when outside, soup and salads are for inside meals(when weather is crappy).
A bedtime snack, nibble while reading?
In cold weather I will have some GORP just before sleep.  Even when tenting, I never had a problem with bears (mice and squirrels are a different story).
Your cereal or coffee in the AM?
Coffee (with cream!!) is made in the camper as soon as up.  Bacon and eggs are cooked outside.  In really bad weather: hot cereal made indoors.
...
Do you then take the garbage to the bear box, or leave it your vehicle?
When in a campground (seldom) I will follow whatever instructions they give.  When boondocking; I keep food and garbage in the truck camper with me, in sealed containers like tupperware or ziploc.

I have camped in grizzly country for years and never had a problem, even in a tent.
I also have a very good bear alarm called a beagle.

If you are real paranoid, one can purchase ($$$$) or make ($) bear proof containers to keep food, garbage and toiletries (yes bears will eat your shampoo and toothpaste) safe outside your vehicle.

-- Spiff

 

[MikeRuth]

As a camper on and off all my life I can't says s I ever gave a second thought to bears or anything else for that matter, if it was dark and we had to eat, we cooked right outside and ate.
That meant an ice box might be open and sitting outside along with the food to be prepared. Guess I was lucky and I plan on continuing to be.

Clean camp of course is the rule any where.

I will say the only time critters were a problem was somewhere up north on the coast in CA and the dang raccoons were pretty tough. I recall one jumping in the camper and trying to open the ice chest, LOL. A little noise and a show of us not being threaten by them and they wondered off to the next camp.

 

[dhawktx]

http://www.bigskyfishing.com/camping-articles/grizzly-bear-country.shtm

 

[Marie]

OK. I've got a bear question: For years the generally accepted advice was, when tent camping in bear country, to lock up your food, cosmetics, etc. in the car - not in your tent. Good idea not to have that stuff in your tent, but if you've got a bear snarfling around your car, how the heck are you gonna get out of there?

 

[highdesertranger]

not to mention they rip open cars too. just do a search dozen of examples even some youtube vids. highdesertranger

 

[B and C]

As soon as you have a bear sniffing around your site or are awakened, get in the driver's seat, honk the horn while starting the engine.  If that does not deter them, put it in gear and drive away.  You can come back later for whatever is left of your stuff.

YMMV

 

[dhawktx]

What Brian said! LOL!

 

[Patrick46]

Bears are actually pretty skittish, and don't wanna be messed with.

Using your brains is the key here. I don't leave steaks laying all over the campsite, and if bears ever did show up, then I do the same thing as Brian...honk that horn!! (bears don't like loud noises.)

 

[accrete]

we have adopted many of the tips shared so far above.

The last two seasons we incorporated hammocks ( Hennessy and WarBonnet expedition class...not backyard loungers : )
We do camp regularly in bear country but to date have had no personal run-ins. Though in my teens in Yellowstone and Lake Tahoe had several up-close and personal never-want-them-repeated encounters (like waking up to terrible bad breath of the scout next to me... but it wasn't his _bad breath_ it was a black bear sniffing him!)

We did modify a few things in our camp. Since we do enjoy parking the rig under shade we have ice-coolers rather than 12v fridge and solar. We swapped out a YETI for bear certified Engels about three years ago since the rangers can give tickets if food is left in camp or out overnight in anything but bear certified containers.

We also cook nearly all meals outside and the garbage is hoisted up in a tree per clean-camp suggestions.

The funniest thing (speaking of the little critters that can cause a nuisance) was a squirrel that attempted to jump up onto my wife's Hennessy one trip. Scared the heck out of her with the _THUMP_ from the jump/hit to the side of the hammock.

: ) Thom