Bears
- Thread starter RingTwist
- Start date
True, bears are not everywhere, even out here in the western wilderness. But hanging food is a good practice wherever you camp. Rodents are the biggest threats to your food supply. Rodents will gnaw right through your tent and into your pack to get to your food. They also love to chew pack straps and the padding to get the salt from your sweat. All this is bad enough but it won't take too many nights with food in your tent before a hungry skunk comes to visit. "HANG IT HIGH"
ppine
Forester
The threat from bears around here varies a lot. Last week I was in an area known for bears. There was a full moon. I had a cooler with fresh fish in it, and this time of year they are serious about eating and getting ready for winter. I was only party in the campground. No early morning visits, but the loudest coyotes I have ever heard. Exciting.
wvbreamfisherman
Active Member
I really don't worry much about it. I keep a clean camp and hang food or keep it in the vehicle when car camping (unless the campground had other rules).
Bears are like anything else- they will go where the pickings are easy most of the time.
I've been known to pack a .357 Mag or .44 mag, tho.
Bears are like anything else- they will go where the pickings are easy most of the time.
I've been known to pack a .357 Mag or .44 mag, tho.
Pathfinder1
Well-Known Member
Hi...
We're in the midst of black bear country. As of about two weeks ago, our County's bow hunters had already harvested twenty of them, as did the County above us.
I don't think that anyone (locals) worry about them very much, while either camping or hunting.
Presumably several more will be taken, as rifle season just opened up for deer and bear.
I once heard three city hunters discussing their hunting 'adventure' that of day, and one of them saw a bear and ran away...!!
We're in the midst of black bear country. As of about two weeks ago, our County's bow hunters had already harvested twenty of them, as did the County above us.
I don't think that anyone (locals) worry about them very much, while either camping or hunting.
Presumably several more will be taken, as rifle season just opened up for deer and bear.
I once heard three city hunters discussing their hunting 'adventure' that of day, and one of them saw a bear and ran away...!!
wvbreamfisherman
Active Member
I can count the times I've actually seen a bear in the woods on both thumbs. Both times they were moving away from me. Not to say that you can't get in trouble, especially if you get between a sow and her cub. Mostly black bears are people shy unless they've been conditioned to try to get food from people.
ponderosa
Active Member
We practice good bear-safety camping wherever we are. Most places we camp are in bear country, and about half the time we're in grizzly country. And like others have said, there are other critters that like your food. That being the case, I think it's good to train my kids to use the most secure, cleanest food prep and storage all the time. Food, trash, toiletries, etc are always in the car or bear-proof locker when we're car camping, and backpacking it's always hung (at least 12 feet off the ground, five feet from the limb, and 10 feet from the trunk of the tree) or in a bear can. Nothing scented comes in the tent. We cook a good distance away from where we sleep.
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briansnat
Platnium Member
Most places I camp (NJ, Catskills/Adirondacks and VT) bears are a concern. When car camping the food stays in the car, though I have heard of bears ripping car doors open to get at food. When backpacking we always hang our food, though we just throw it over a branch and don't bother with the two counterbalanced bags over a rope strung between trees method that is recommended. I haven't had an issue yet in 30 years of camping in bear country,
The only problem is when canoe camping. We hang most of our food, but how do you hang a cooler? At night I strap the cooler shut and booby trap it with all of our pots and pans, so if it is raided the racket will wake us up and hopefully we can shoo away the invader. For years I've kept a pack of firecrackers among my camping equipment for that purpose, but it has thankfully gone unused.
The only problem is when canoe camping. We hang most of our food, but how do you hang a cooler? At night I strap the cooler shut and booby trap it with all of our pots and pans, so if it is raided the racket will wake us up and hopefully we can shoo away the invader. For years I've kept a pack of firecrackers among my camping equipment for that purpose, but it has thankfully gone unused.
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Refrigerator
New Member
I have been told that New Jersey has more black bear per square mile than the smokies. I read this on a study of Black Bear populations and there parnership with humans living in populated areas.
ppine
Forester
Do not make the mistake of under-estimating black bears. I like a group of dogs as the first line of defense, scaring them as the second, then bear spray, then a large caliber revolver.
ppine
Forester
I packed horses with a guy from Victoria in Australia. He was a great horseman, but had no experience with bears. He was working full-time for an outfitter on the east side of the Sierras. He went to sleep one night using a sack of grain for a pillow. He woke up to a lot of commotion one night- You guessed it- a bear was chewing on the sack of grain.
Refrigerator
New Member
Speaking Bears.... Question.... who has the answer... has there ever been an official Bear attack while riding on a Horse ever?
ppine
Forester
Refrigerator,
It is well documented to occur often. Pack strings carry lots of food. Most mountain horses and mules go on full alert in the vicinity of bears. They give you lots of warning. Sometimes they will refuse to go forward and you have to go around the trail.
Equines learn to deal with the scent of bears with experience, and most can be trained to pack fresh meat. The first time they pack meat can be a real rodeo. Better to teach them at home. The scent of mountain lions tends to make them all crazy and jittery. That is how I got hurt in 2007. An experienced mount will tend to see other critters before you do. Watch their ears. A good hunting horse or mule that can travel and find critters, and get you home with no visibility is worth a lot in the northern Rockies. Some are worth $10,000 and up.
It is well documented to occur often. Pack strings carry lots of food. Most mountain horses and mules go on full alert in the vicinity of bears. They give you lots of warning. Sometimes they will refuse to go forward and you have to go around the trail.
Equines learn to deal with the scent of bears with experience, and most can be trained to pack fresh meat. The first time they pack meat can be a real rodeo. Better to teach them at home. The scent of mountain lions tends to make them all crazy and jittery. That is how I got hurt in 2007. An experienced mount will tend to see other critters before you do. Watch their ears. A good hunting horse or mule that can travel and find critters, and get you home with no visibility is worth a lot in the northern Rockies. Some are worth $10,000 and up.
The only horse/bear encounter in our past was not an attack. Dad, ayoungster of 13 at the time, was taking a lunch up to the herder . Lazing along on the back of his horse, they rounded a corner and ran smack into a bear. The horse shied dumping Dad in the middle of the trail. The bear headed north as fast as he could go and the horse headed south as fast as he could go leaving Dad sitting in the dirt cussing them both.
briansnat
Platnium Member
I believe it. Since they allowed bear hunting in NJ again about 4 years ago it's not as bad, but before that bears were a fairly common sight even in suburban towns.
We still see one occasionally but not as regularly as we did 5-10 years ago.
ppine
Forester
In drought years like this one, black bears come out of the hills in the fall and end up in all sorts of places they don't belong. They are in suburban neighborhoods, the airport, and last year a yearling ended up downtown in a casino lobby. Strange but true.
Pathfinder1
Well-Known Member
Hi...
One that MIGHT(?) qualify happened last year. A young female guide on horseback found herself in the path of a running elk (or similar animal) that a bear was chasing.
Apparently, her horse scared away the animal the bear was after, but the bear then came after the horse and rider. Since the guide had other horsemen with her, and wanted to keep them as safe as possible...she urged her horse to CHARGE the bear, which...apparently...scared the bear off.
It worked...!! BRAVO...!! (Granted, the circumstances were 'unique').
ppine
Forester
Maybe some of you have seen the photos that circulated around the internet of a mule thrashing a mountain lion. Most horse people believe the photos were staged and the lion was dead.
Equines are prey animals. They don't think you or predators are going to harm, they are often sure they are about to be killed. It is possible to overcome all of that flight instinct, but it takes training and patience. Convincing a horse or saddle mule to charge an animal they are instinctively afraid of takes a leap of faith.
Equines are prey animals. They don't think you or predators are going to harm, they are often sure they are about to be killed. It is possible to overcome all of that flight instinct, but it takes training and patience. Convincing a horse or saddle mule to charge an animal they are instinctively afraid of takes a leap of faith.