Suggestions for camping in bear country

[TheWolfPaq82]

Originally Posted by ncebeemer

Bears can be a problem, but usually as most of the above posts state is the cleanliness of the camp that causes the problem. When I was about 8 years old my family was camping in Kings Canyon. My mother, god bless her, was not one to worry about cleaning cooking pots etc right after the meal! I was awakened by a loud banging. I looked out of the tent and saw a bear doing my mothers job, though using its tongue, about six feet away on the table. A couple of year ago, I was in my tt in Dunsmuir, Ca and across the road my son and his family were tent camping. About 2am a bear came to visit, tearing up his campsite, dragging coolers off up the hill. They slept right through the whole thing. This bear was a problem only to messy tent campers, and the dumpster for a few weeks. Eventually he was put down one night. Keep your camp clean and neat, coolers out of sight and you generally will have no problems and the bears will check in and then move along. (my apologies for long post but I had to share)

Good post ! One word....TRASH !! It's one of the "Great Attracters'" of bears in bear country. Burn it, get rid of it and as you said..."Keep It Clean."

[Kf4mnc]

Originally Posted by 67L48

First of all, that's not research. That's an opinion paper published by the US Fish & Wildlife service. It's nothing more than an anecdotal summary of various field agents' recollections, no data, and no citations. It might be accurate, but there's no way to know.

This paper is much more of a legitimate research paper. Here is another one.

The research is inconclusive to many due to the nature of the incidents that are compared. Incidents that contain guns are almost always on a charging bear. Incidents that contain bear spray are rarely on a charging bear and are usually on curious or otherwise non-aggressive bears. And a bear who is not aggravated to the point of charging is much more easily dispersed/deterred than one who has begun its charge. So, it's an apples-to-oranges comparison.

Also, there aren't any public lands where carrying firearms is illegal, since the national park system rescinded that restriction a few years ago. Carrying is the operative word, though. Discharging a firearm is illegal in many of these places ... and you'd better be "lucky enough" to have a chunk of your leg missing to prove to the rangers that your discharge was warranted. Otherwise, the following conversations you have will probably be even more unpleasant than the bear scare you had.

That's not pro-gun or anti-gun. It's just a summary of the situational truths. Research is scant, the conclusions are debatable, and there can be a massive difference between carrying on public lands and discharging on public lands.

I think bear spray is probably the better option, but I sometimes carry a firearm. I already have a firearm and can't be bothered to buy bear spray. If someone were giving away bear spray free, I'd leave my gun and carry the spray.

However, I'm in black bear country (CO has no brown bears). So, I don't even usually carry a firearm. I would in brown bear places.

Good luck.

Thank you for a well thought out and articulated response.

The two links you provided reference the same article. I have read that article, and many others. I provided my original link due to referencing recommendations from US Fish and Wildlife, a leader in scientific research in experience around our nations natural resources. Perhaps research was not the most accurate description, but I still stand by the recommendation. Perhaps this article, which references your article, will provide a bit more insight.

For the first time, bear researchers had provided compelling statistical evidence that firearms were less effective in protecting individuals against bear attacks than many folks previously believed, including the researchers themselves. Among their conclusions were 1) that “firearm bearers suffered the same injury rates in close encounters with bears whether they used their firearms or not,” and 2) that “bear spray [has] a better success rate under a variety of situations ... than firearms.”

You are also correct about the difference in possessing vs discharging a firearm and whether or not either one is legal. There are so many caveats to this topic that we couldn't cover all possibilities. However, the fact remains that Bear Spray has fewer restrictions and is more easily purchased, possessed and to travel with by almost everyone every where.

As to your comment about "can't be bothered to buy bear spray" . . . whatever you choose, be proficient and regimented in your plan. As the article I linked states:

“All of our research continues to show that the basics of safety aren’t about how you well you deploy a firearm or how effectively you get to your bear spray, but how you avoid getting in those situations in the first place.”

So to get us back on topic, it all comes down to avoiding the situations in generally. As myself and others have stated. Keeping a clean site, traveling in groups, and being aware of your surroundings are important to avoid dangerous encounters with wildlife.

Lastly, don't be fooled by the hype of "Bear Bells." The most challenging part is getting them on the bear.

Happy Camping!

[larry2c]

Kf4mnc - your last sentence reminded me of a gift we received one year and I thought I'd share the humor. Picture below sort of says it all! :-) It's a bit blurry but you get the idea!

[NoviBill]

Wear bells and take pepper spray into bear country:
It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat.
*Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur.
*Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.

[2rad4u]

I always carry a large knife on my back pack and always think of this...

[HangDiver]

Camping? My wife chases black bears off our deck while banging pots and pans.

[larry2c]

Originally Posted by HangDiver

Camping? My wife chases black bears off our deck while banging pots and pans.

That should wake you up better than any cup of coffee!

[BarabooBob]

If I had to avoid every camp site that was located in bear country, I might as well stay home.. Oh wait, I can't stay home because we now have bears IN Baraboo, WI and in Richland County where I own property. The DNR now says that 1/2 of Wisconsin is populated by black bear.
I personally prefer both bear spray and my .40 loaded with full metal jacket bullets.

[Jakieboy]

Good advice all around. Camping in bear country can be the most memorable trip you will ever have. Last summer at Yellowstone, we saw a Momma Black Bear with three tiny cubs that could not have been more than a couple of weeks old. Of course, the traffic jam near the siting was a road-block, and the Rangers had their hands full trying to keep people from exiting their cars and running into the meadow to get photos of Momma Bear!! Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Most important in bear country is to keep food, or anything that smells like food, enclosed in a lock box or in your hard-sided RV and lout of sight. Do not leave coolers in clear sight. A few years ago while camping at Sequoia NP, we hiked to a trailhead parking lot where there were three late model SUV's with their tailgates ripped off by hungry bears, and the remains of several coolers scattered around the vehicles. I'm talking about thousands of $'s of damage that could have been prevented if simply putting blankets or towels or something over the coolers so the bears would not see them.

If a bear enters your camping area, make as much noise as possible by clanging pots and pans together. Keep bear spray available, but do not go out looking for trouble. The bear will win.

[Wannabe123]

Those crazy bears

[dbledan]

I would not debate anything others have posted. I would suggest that when checking in you ask the campground staff. In national parks they are sometimes rangers. If not ask the local ranger when they come around.

Yellowstone was very clear. Hard sided campers only, dont leave trash food or your grill outside. Food inside was ok and so was cooking g outside. If there is an issue the bear will be shot (rumor is they make you watch) and you will be fined. Did not matter if you were in camp or not the grill could not be left out unattended.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by dbledan

Yellowstone was very clear. Hard sided campers only.

Not true. Fishing Bridge campground is the ONLY Yellowstone campground for RVs, that has a permanent ban on soft-sided campers.
Soft-sided campers are allowed in Grant, Madison, Norris, Canyon, Mammoth, Bridge Bay.

[njfishing]

Best practice is to make lots of noise so you don’t startle the bear. Most campers and hikers wear bells and blow whistles to make their presence known. Next thing is you need to do is determine if you have black or brown bear in the area since brown bear are way more aggressive. All you need to do is examine their scar. Black bear usually have berries in theirs and brown bear have bells and whistles

[dbledan]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Not true. Fishing Bridge campground is the ONLY Yellowstone campground for RVs, that has a permanent ban on soft-sided campers.
Soft-sided campers are allowed in Grant, Madison, Norris, Canyon, Mammoth, Bridge Bay.

You are correct...I meant to say in Yellowstone Fishing Bridge was very clear.

[TheWolfPaq82]

A women in Montana a couple years ago prevented a bear attack and was able to scare off the Mama bear by picking up the bicycle she was riding, shaking it in the air and screaming. The bear ran off immediately. Sounds like that bear met my wife.

[rp53]

Here is what NOT to do in bear country, one of our fav. CG's is in black bear country, they don't allow tents, that tells you there are a lot of bears around. when we arrived, got setup and were talking with a neighbour, he told us make sure we put everything up as a bear had gotten his cooler the previous night. we had a good evening around the campfire as usual, went to bed. Around 2 in the morning we wake up to noise outside, sure enough a bear got the neighbours NEW cooler AGAIN, moral of the story practice what you preach and keep a clean campsite

[kurtsont]

Make sure you keep any food out of your vehicle and lock the doors. I had a bear do door lock checks on my truck at a campsight in Estes Park. Bastard left small scratches in the clear coat as he was pulling the door handles.

[Jomo]

Just Try to remember black bear scat has berries and still like that in it. Brown bears scat have bits of clothing little bells & smells like bear spray.

[Crusadernoob]

Just leave a picinic basket out every night, they will quietly come and take it away!

[Jomo]

Hey boobo