Bear safe or not

[westbound]

last year in Montana we got fined for not being safe in camp.  The ranger said that even an empty freezer is consider not bear safe which is why we got the ticket. We had empty freezers setting outside unattended. My question is. Is there a way to make freezers bear safe with have a trailer to put them in.  Is a lock to prevent bears from getting into the freezer going to work?

 

[Bowhunter1]

I would guess a hasp and lock on each side of the front of the lid would work. I would call the fish and game and ask them. Maybe email them and print their response out and take it with. Then you can show the picky warden if he is not happy with what the fish and game suggests .

 

[cnelk]

Maybe the warden was concerned about a bear getting into the freezer and the lid closing and suffocating


Shoulda asked him if that ticket met his quota

 

[montanaelk31]

That ranger was a real a-hole for sure.  I would have contested that.  To answer your question, it?s got to be a bear approved container that is bolted closed, or padlocked. Easiest to go with coolers as most bear approved coolers come with a sticker

 

[87TT]

I would ask the warden who wrote the ticket. It was probably that the coolers were out in plain sight. The bears get used to associating the sight of coolers with food.. You may be able to just cover them but most likely you will have to put them inside of an enclosure. The bear doesn't know it's empty until it busts it open. To him it's a "McDonalds" sign.