Backcountry camping. Do you worry about black bears?

[GBHunter]

We have not experienced any challenges with bears in our backcountry camps that could not be solved by a 300RUM . A few curious skunks over the years has been more of a challenge.

 

[tt_johnsclist]

I don’t worry about them at all when camping, my wife does more than enough worrying for both of us.

 

[cnelk]

In over 30+ years of truck camping and elk hunting never had a bear issue. Don’t hang food, don’t do anything out of the normal day to day. I’ve even had my base camp up for an entire month with no issues.

Campgrounds will have the most bear encounters as they know they can get easy treats from the hippie campers left out overnight

Go hunt. Have fun. Bears are way down on the worry list.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Nope....never really done anything special for black bears when back packing...
Now when I was guiding for black bears on the NC coast anything with a seat or with hydraulic fluid yes... I dont know why they like it so much...I have seen them pass up a full bags of corn in the loader bucket of a tractor just to eat the hydraulic lines off the side...

 

[grfox92]

Would never be worried about bears of the black variety or mountain lions or wolves. Grizzlies are a different story.

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[frank church guy]

I see bears all the time. This guy is sitting on aa gut pile two years ago. Last year this same bear bluffed charged me. I was down filling water bottles outside my camp and he showed up. Four days later I was at my camp solo. Probably 150 yards were he came at me. Didn't have one problem.. And when I hiked up to camp four days after he came at me I saw two bruins and a sow with two cubs on the hike back up to camp. Never saw this guy again the rest of the season. Solo always produces the most wildlife. All my black bear encounters over thirtyfive years only two made me a bit nervous. Grizzly would be a lot different. A side note, that guy is goning to be a rug this spring.

 

[Will_m]

For your first elk hunt ever do you want to be worried about it all night, or do you want to take 10 extra minutes to hang your food and sleep soundly?

I always hang my food 100 yards or more from camp. None of my hunting buddies bother and they've never had problems but why risk it?

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Only thing about that is you might not hear a blackie or something else getting into it at night. Would be a sad hunt ruined because a critter came in and made off with your grub.

 

[C.payne]

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

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

Leave your food/ cooler locked in the truck

 

[MTbowhunter36]

Be careful on your first elk hunt. Bears are very sneaky...they can be as quiet as a mouse. Any noise around camp could be a bear...even just a slight rustling of the wind could be a bear. If you have a partner make sure to wake him up immediately with every noise you hear outside the tent. He will appreciate it. Best way to wake a partner up is shake them and yell bear. It will most likely scare the bear away by yelling "bear".

I've done this dozens and dozens of times and its always scared the bear away from our camp. The bears have never stuck around when i finally peak out of the tent. All the different hunting partners i have had over the years have been pretty thankful...because it was usually the last time they hunted with me. Must have been scared off by all the bears in camp i figure.

In all seriousness...as far as hanging food and your original question.
Do what makes you feel comfortable.
I dont ever hang food...but probably should to be on the safe side.
I just keep a very clean camp and dont have food that is not sealed and all used packaging/garbage is in sealed ziplocs.

A few guys and I would do a hiking trip together once a year. One year one guy invited his nephew from GA along. That year we were doing a through hike and part of it went through Yellowstone Park. We had seen a couple griz on our first day and one of them was above us. It came bounding towards us, which and stopped at about 50 yards. It was amazing how it maneuvered that cliff face. We were all at a stand-off. It ended up walking away.

We hiked about a half mile past where we had seen the bears and set up camp for the night. We each had our own tent and the guy from GA rigged up a "bear alarm" that consisted of pans, etc., on a rope around his tent. Each time he heard a noise he would either yell something or shine his headlamp out of his tent all around camp. All. Night. Long.

He wasn't invited on any more trips...



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[rayporter]

not in 39 years in colorado
in alsaka i would have except for the fact there were no trees to hang food so we just carried it a ways off.

 

[Amos Moses]

We’ve started leaving the tipi door tied open during the day while out hunting, just in case a bear wants to dig around inside. Hopefully he doesn’t rip the shelter.

 

[couesbitten]

I'm 53 and have never hung my food in the Cascades or Blue Mtns of Washington, generally just in a corner of the tent. Never had a bear issue once and honestly don't personally know anyone that has. The mice though.............

 

[frank church guy]

bears are bears. It is great we can go into the woods and still see them. 190 years ago lewis and clark fought grizzlies at the breaks of the missouri (spelling i know). Enjoy everything the wilderness has to offer. It is what makes us the top predator, Limited physical skills but huge brain power. (you know, gun powder)
)

 

[CJ19]

Nothing to fear from a black bear other than losing your food and having to clean up a bunch of trash if a bear or some other creature gets into it.

Now, there is something to fear from campmates that have zeroed in on high value targets such as beef jerky, whiskey, or fruit snacks such as gummi bears in your food pack. The old "it must have been a bear" routine is pretty easy to pull off.

 

[Nykki]

My partner and I used to hunt in an area that was thick with black bears. We never hung our food but didn't leave it in the tent, burned everything that would smell like food including cans. Had a bear woof at me while in camp but never had any problems with them coming into camp. We no longer hunt that area, got to be to many people but we always got our moose opening morning.

 

[Mosby]

I never eat in my tent. I use an Ursack most of the time to store my food. Easy.

 

[S.Clancy]

We treat them the same as griz, clean camp, hang food, etc. I have had black bears it camp when we used to hunt with horses, but we weren't exactly clean back in those days. I pack bear spray

 

[Marbles]

Most black bear attacks are because the bear wants to eat you. It is rare, but worth remembering. In general, they are less likely to bother you than browns though.

Most brown bear attacks are territorial, you exist on ground they don't want you on. This might be because they see you as standing between them and a meal (of something other than you).

The proper thing to do is hang your food or use a bear container. Most people I know take no precautions in black bear county though. Personally, I need to be more disciplined, so I have no room to judge others on this.

 

[LongWayAround]

I have occasionally but usually not.

When I eat dinner, I want to go to sleep. Not stumble around to/from some tree. Same in the morning. I wake up and I want my coffee and breakfast now.

Plus, I have the heart of a fat kid. I need snacks, constantly. It's tough to eat them when they're in a tree.

Some places are difficult to find an appropriate tree also.

I tend to worry more about rodents getting into my food than I do bears. There's a lot more nice, squirrels, and marmots out there than bears.

 

[jarrettd]

Wow, this thread blew up. Thanks to everyone who had a response related to back country hunting in COLORADO. It sounds like Black Bears mostly want your food - not your flesh. Now I'm interested if the seasoned COLORADO hunters on this thread carry a pistol or bear spray when hunting COLORADO.