Bears, camps, food

[Deertick]

I had the chance to see a very big black bear up close last year as he huffed and puffed around my camp for about 10-15 minutes last year.

I\'m trying to sort out how to arrange camp and hide food. I still haven\'t come up with a good solution.

1. When hanging bear bags, I\'m thinking of hanging 2 of them ... one with the \"cache\" of food, one with \"tomorrow\'s food\" so I don\'t have to sort that all out in the dark. Anyone else do that?

2. How far do you keep the food from your tent?

3. I\'ve got bear spray and a handgun, but would prefer spray, so as to not have to take a day or two off to \"explain my actions\" to a law enforcement officer.

4. Any experience with bear fences? I have access to one. Is it really that easy?

Thoughts?

 

[mtnmutt]

Recommended distance for bear bags is 250 yards or more from camp. I am lazy and hang mine 100-150 yards from my camp. 12 feet up over a branch and lowered 18-24 inches from a branch and away from any branch that a squirrel can get to bag.

I put everything in there: food, trash, bloodied items (used tampons), toothpaste, anything scented.

I have not had an issue, yet.

Last year to appease my family, I started carrying bear spray. This year, bear spray stays in car until I am lucky enough to pack out meat. I have never had a bear encounter for the 23 years in the CO woods.

I also try to urinate around my campsite within 15-20 yards. Chili pepper may also work. Refresh after it rains.

If you had horses with you, would that cause a black bear to get all territorial on you?

If possible, don\'t camp near bushes with acorns or berry bushes.

 

[Deertick]

I didn\'t have horses with me last year ... and have only run into one black bear on horseback (it was me on the horse, not the bear :lolno: ) and he ran the other way, fast.

I\'m thinking of using electric horse fence, though, to keep bears away from food. Any experience with that?

I have found that hanging my bear bag 12\' off the ground leads to a sag and a good sized bear could just reach up and take it. Even if it was hung up correctly, I don\'t have a lot of confidence that a bear couldn\'t get it down. (Is the effectiveness of bear bags really tried and true?)

 

[Swede]

I also try to urinate around my campsite within 15-20 yards.

Don\'t put any confidence in that tactic. I urinate a few feet or yards away from camp also. It doesn\'t keep bears away. I urinate out of my tree stand, and bears are not affected by that either. I don\'t know of anything that will keep them away, but hanging your food up high can eliminate the incentive for them to hang around. I doubt you will ever need an electric fence to protect yourself from Black bears, but it won\'t hurt, unless you forget in the night and walk into it, or worse, pee on it. :lol:

 

[Deertick]

Swede -- sounds like the voice of experience, perhaps!

I was thinking more of using the fence around the food, 8-12\" off the ground or so.

I know bear trouble is rare. I pictured them as just \"big raccoons\" ... until September 2013. That was no \"raccoon\"!

 

[Tdiesel]

I had the chance to see a very big black bear up close last year as he huffed and puffed around my camp for about 10-15 minutes last year.

prefer spray, so as to not have to take a day or two off to \"explain my actions\" to a law enforcement officer.

thoughts?

get bear tag! if you can\'t I thought thats what blunts are for :dk: I bet an ol blunt to the side of the head would make him leave you alone.

ok for seriousness just keep a clean camp and I have never had a problem even in some high populated bear country. we usually dont do much cook tough and usually have everything sealed up . if you get a bear tag thats the best bear repellant I know of I see bears every year except those that I have the bear tag then I never see them and others do

 

[mtnmutt]

Based on my lack of encounters with bears, I have concluded that I stink worse than a bear. Therefore, they do not want to come within 1/4 mile of me. Kind of like elk

My 12 ft high thing was only for black bears, however, the WY black bears may be more robust than our CO bears. I have short arms and I am short. My swinging to hang a bear bag is lacking. If I make it to 12 ft, I am happy.

Someone in grizzly country mentioned using lightweight pulleys for bear bags. It allowed them to get the bag up higher by using the pulleys and it made it easier to get it up and down.

I forgot to mention the triangle layout. Camp is at one tip of the triangle. The bear bag and cooking/eating area are at the other tips. I do not eat or cook next to or in my tent. I cook and eat at least 50-75 yards from my tent. Cleaning of stuff and brushing my teeth are also done 50-75 yards from my tent. Inconvenient, however, no bears have attacked my tent yet.

Swede, the bears in your area have had to tolerate your urine on their heads, so they no longer care. However, you would know better than me. Plus, my tactic may attract rodents to my camp because of salt in the urine. I am rethinking this tactic.

 

[Swede]

Mtnmutt: At my age I am beginning to see life through a new set of lens. I need to get up about 3 times each night. The world seems to be a little sweeter at 11:00PM, 1:00AM and 3:00AM. It is also colder. I am still not getting well dressed for these outings, so I don\'t want to be gone long, and come back to a cold bed. With 3 trips out at night they are going to be short. Not wanting to be gone long, I may go without shoes if I can stand it. Ten feet to twenty feet is far enough over pine needles and cones.
If anyone ever asks now I will tell them it is part of my plan for those short trips is to keep bears away from camp. That sure sounds better than the alternatives. Another part of getting older is that now I prepare to snooze in my tree stand. Hey, I did not sleep much last night. A comfortable stand is my number 1 priority. Call it lazy if you will , but it also played a part in finding out that animals pay no attention to where you pee. A person discovers things when you stretch the limits of what you think is going to pass. Anyway I think I am beginning to understand why people thought granddad was so wise.
His bladder probably did not function like it used to, so he was getting up at all hours of the night. He discovered things he might have never known other wise. He was tired from lack of good sleep and napped during the afternoon, which by the way reminds me I have not had my afternoon siesta. I think those afternoon naps are the secret to wisdom.
Finally, the new lens we view life through after we have aged well, allows us to see a much more glorious past. I even amaze myself.

 

[cnelk]

1. When hanging bear bags, I\'m thinking of hanging 2 of them ... one with the \"cache\" of food, one with \"tomorrow\'s food\" so I don\'t have to sort that all out in the dark. Anyone else do that?
I have never used bear bags


2. How far do you keep the food from your tent?
As you know, I truck camp. I have for years. I havent had any bear issues even with keeping food in coolers, either in the tent or just outside.

3. I\'ve got bear spray and a handgun, but would prefer spray, so as to not have to take a day or two off to \"explain my actions\" to a law enforcement officer.
I prefer a handgun, its my right . There are a couple problems with bear spray - 1) Wind 2) You cant use it in a tent


4. Any experience with bear fences? I have access to one. Is it really that easy?
There is a good thread about a DIY bear fence over on Rokslide. And they work good I hear.

 

[cohunter14]

+1 to what Brad said. I have never had any issues with bears. No bear bags, no special measures, etc. We keep a clean camp, but we cook each evening, have food in the tent during the day, and keep other food in coolers outside. Maybe we have just been lucky, but we never even see bears.

 

[Jaquomo]

I used to go outside to do my business at night until discovering that an empty Gatorade bottle worked a whole lot better.

Have never had an issue with bears in camp except once, when one tore up a spike camp after we left to hunt. We didn\'t hang our food and made hot cocoa in the morning before heading out to hunt. Now that I\'m solo spike camping again, I do plan to hang my food when I\'m not around. Otherwise, I have an any-weapon bear tag...

As far as electric fences, have never used one in the field, but I once talked a co-worker into peeing on one when I told him it would shoot off sparks like 4th of July. Man, did he howl and curse and jump around!!!

 

[Deertick]

Well, I was in the \"never had a problem\" camp until last year ... now I\'m in the \"I\'ve had a problem\" camp.

I keep a handgun in the tent now because of what Cnelk said ... although I\'d prefer to use spray to avoid the legal issues ... although I know a guy who shot spray out of his camper at a brownie near Sitka and the wind blew it right back in his camper. His wife was upset. Oh, and the bear was subsequently attracted to the area\'s new \"smell\" ... it had to be trapped and \"relocated\" ... so I know there\'s no perfect answer.

But ... prevention is where my mind is. I\'d like to not have to worry. I want to go back to the \"never had a problem\" camp. My hunch is the fences would work best. My hunch is that hanging the food doesn\'t work much at all.

 

[Swede]

Jacuomo\'s story about talking a co-worker into peeing on an electric fence reminds me of an incident in my past. My cousin and I were about 13 years old. We were out in the woods running around, when he said he needed to relieve himself. Neither of us had toilet paper, so he asked me what he should use. I pointed to a nearby plant and said use those leaves. He finished his business and tried the leaves. They were nettles. I am confident he still remembers that incident from more than 50 years ago.

 

[bowhunter]

Jacuomo\'s story about talking a co-worker into peeing on an electric fence reminds me of an incident in my past. My cousin and I were about 13 years old. We were out in the woods running around, when he said he needed to relieve himself. Neither of us had toilet paper, so he asked me what he should use. I pointed to a nearby plant and said use those leaves. He finished his business and tried the leaves. They were nettles. I am confident he still remembers that incident from more than 50 years ago.

:haha: :haha: The nettles are nasty and they will poke right through a thin pair of hunting pants in the early fall.
I take a stiff stick and nock them down to make a trail to my deer stands.