Backcountry camping. Do you worry about black bears?

[conley417]

Buy a bear tag and you won't see any bears

 

[Huntindog45]

ive never bothered and its never been a problem.

 

[Freeride]

From a safety standpoint not really.
Keep a clean camp, hang your food. Bears can destroy a lot while your out hunting. They will test everything to see if they like it, atv seats, trail cams, you name it...

But at night in camp, no I don't worry.

Where I hunt is 90% G bears now, I like seeing black bears as it means no G bear close.

 

[WCB]

Not for Black Bears and not really for Grizz in most areas. take some precautions and keep a clean camp. I look at it as it is wither going to happen or isn't and me not getting sleep isn't going to change that.

 

[idcuda]

I'm in Idaho, but no, I've never really considered it. I've probably been pretty reckless with food storage, too. If I was solo, I'd probably hang stuff just for peace of mind.

 

[rclouse79]

Not really. That being said, I tend to sleep better with my 10mm glock under my pillow.

 

[MattB]

Not unless I am near a place where bears are habituated to associate camps with food. There is a place we hunt where we glasses up 19 bears in one day and we’ve never hung food and never had problems. It is miles from any car camping spots though.

 

[Maverick1]

Hang food. Don’t worry about it.

 

[Kleos]

I always maintain a healthy fear of all bears.

I am a big proponent of always making your food inaccessible to all forms of wildlife especially bears. Some people are lazy and won't take precautions and this is bad for bears and humans alike. All it takes is one time for that bear to stumble upon a human camp and eat twinkies and pop tarts like a king at a feast to start associating human smell with gourmet meals.

Take the extra five minutes and carry the extra five pounds. Use a method that you think will be best.

 

[SAM55]

Like many of the previous posters, we hang our food and keep a clean camp even when we're away from camp. We don't go as far as 100 yards to hang food - maybe 30 yards or so. Only one time have we had a black bear wander into camp. But, finding no food he just passed through and moved on pretty quickly without tearing anything up.

 

[Marble]

I've been camping, backpacking and hunting in what is normally the three counties in the lower 48 with the highest bear density. Never have had one get into our food.

When I backpack I do hang it in a tree, but mostly to protect from rodents. If the food bag is on the ground, 100% chance of rodents getting involved.

It's a good idea to hang it. I get it about 15' up in a tree and out far enough to wear if they climb the tree they can't get out onth3 limb to grab it. Plus it's close enough that if a bear does try, I'll hear it.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[RufusB.Marion]

Food hung and a handgun in close proximity set my fears at ease. Also, an OTC bear tag in your pocket is better than bear spray.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

I lump it under the "why not" theory, no reason not to hang it.

 

[FLATHEAD]

How far away from camp should food be hung?

 

[PredatorSlayer]

No - I always have a bear tag out elk hunting and would love for one to crash my camp looking for food or something so I wouldnt have to pack it far. I have done about everything you can think of to draw a bear into my backcountry camp and have been unsuccessful . I have killed several spot and stalk and they aren’t intimidating animals. I would be more concerned with Mt Lions. Those suckers are sneaky and will come out of trees.

 

[Brock A]

Never worried about them, never hung my food. Typically eat dinner in my tent...
If you were camped close to a popular area that had a bear that wasn't afraid of humans, different story.

 

[ZAK13]

Grizzly or black bear, keep a clean camp and keep food a safe distance. Never had a problem with either specifies of bear.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

During Archery season in Colorado once, some hunting buddies of mine had a bear puncture their unopened Gatorade bottles that were cooling in a little brook about 50 ft from their tents in the middle of the night. That one still puzzles me because if a bear can smell sugar inside of an unopened plastic bottle that's submerged in a creek then it can literally smell anything. There is no way you could mask the smell of dinner on you, your clothes, your breath...

So I don't tend to worry about black bears but take certain precautions anyway such as cooking and storing food away from the tent.

 

[mwebs]

Ran into a guy that had his new expensive tipi tore apart by a black bear because he kept food in it, also know guys that had one tear a side of their wall tent apart. I would say hanging or keeping food in coolers in the truck is a minor inconvenience compared to that.

 

[TX_Diver]

Out of curiosity, what do you guys that truck camp do?

I am not hanging my cooler in a tree...