Backpack Hunting in Grizzly Country

[Idaho Brad]

Next fall I will be deep in Grizzly country and was wondering how a person handled the freeze dried meal packages and other tactics for staying safe in camp.

 

[COSA]

Everything that could be considered an attractant should go up in a tree at least 100 yds from your tent. Don't eat or prepare food near your tent. Don't poop near camp.Try not to camp on trails, ridgelines, or saddles (bears are lazy too). In the end, realize your odds of being killed by a bear are probably less than getting struck by lightning.

 

[tuffcity]

I condense every package into the smallest amount and stuff it in an XL zip lock bag. It then gets cached away from camp. Every couple of days, if I can find enough wood, it gets burned then the remains get put back in the zip lock and re-cached. Everything gets packed out at the end of the trip. A lot of years hunting in grizzly country ( pretty much all of BC is ) and so far not a problem.... knock on wood.

RC

 

[Jason Snyder]

Hang your food 100 feet from camp. Don't sleep with food in your tent. Keep a clean camp.

ANY attractants, including toothpaste and such should be hung. I've only had one issue and that was completely my fault.

 

[Mad Mountain Mike]

There's some good advice here. Trouble is that at or near tree line the trees aren't high enough or tough enough to stop a bear from just pulling them down. I cache my food in dry bags under a vault of rocks. 100 yards away from camp is probably the proper distance but I tend to keep my cache about half that distance so that I can hopefully hear any miradors at night and defend my stash of food. A two day walk out of the mountains without any food because you donated it to the local wild life sounds like an unnecessary hardship. I'm by no means suggesting that anyone should stray from the gov. approved methods of bear safety just stating what works for me.
Have any of you tree hangers ever had Ravens or whiskey jacks get into your food?

 

[COSA]

Never had an issue hanging food from a tree. Usually try to find a limb at least 10' high and away from the trunk, and keep the food in zip locks inside a dry bag. It does become a pain in the ass, especially after dinner and retrieving in the morning. Never had a problem.

 

[gmajor]

Have any of you tree hangers ever had Ravens or whiskey jacks get into your food?

Yes. Ravens. They can eat more than I had expected!

 

[Beastmode]

Camp as close to the carcass as possible, eat in your tent and keep leftovers right next to your head in case you get hungry in the middle of the night. Haha

I basically do what others do. Try and keep a clean camp. Keep smelly thing away whether on the ground or in a tree. I keep all my food in zip locks in an extra large pullout.

 

[Jon Boy]

I've found in the areas I hunt in Absarokas the long toes stick to the brushy creek bottoms. Yuh know the ones that trails usually run right along.. We've gotten to the point where if were hiking in the dark we get off the trail and scale the ridge and hike up that to get to the elk. So obviously we camp no where near those creek bottoms. Just a little added advice to what everyone else has said.

 

[adventure907]

While we aren't "backpacking", at our brown bear spike camps, we set up one tent for sleeping, and one tent for cooking. All the food remains in the cook tent.
Keeping a "clean" camp is what is important.

 

[outdoorsman_3]

While we aren't "backpacking", at our brown bear spike camps, we set up one tent for sleeping, and one tent for cooking. All the food remains in the cook tent.
Keeping a "clean" camp is what is important.

What is the definition of a clean camp? Clean pots and one and no trash? How about food smells from uneaten food. I am always curious what clean means when I hear this.

 

[adventure907]

What is the definition of a clean camp? Clean pots and one and no trash? How about food smells from uneaten food. I am always curious what clean means when I hear this.

My definition is of clean is a well organized camp, without trash everywhere. For one, I should preface that their are some major differences between base/spike camp hunting, and backpack hunting.

When I am backpack hunting, my trash from candy wrappers,bars,snacks, etc, goes inside a used mountain house packet. I fill it up, and if need be, then I go to another used mountain house packet. The empty packets/trash go into the bottom of my food bag. Burning garbage is sometimes an option depending on the circumstances. The extent of my "cooking" while backpack hunting, is boiling water. I routinely keep my mountain house's, snacks, and lunch food in a food bag, which stays in either the tent with me, or in the vestibule. When the weather is bad, I often cook (boil water) inside my tent/vestibule. Many times I've been tent bound for multiple days at a time when waiting out a storm, this is another instance when I cook in my tent.

As far as human waste goes, I dig catholes for you know what, and burn the toilet paper. This is always done away from camp, as one shouldn't **** where they eat.

Now, when I have a spike camp where weight isn't a factor, for instance during brown bear hunts, things operate a little differently. We bring in a cooler of real food (bacon, steaks, eggs, chicken, sausage, etc, etc), along with some veggies, canned foods, and other assorted food items. We generally have one tent for cooking, and one for sleeping. These tents will often be in close proximity to each other, depending on the lay of the land where we are camping. I keep one trash bag for garbage, and when that is full, I tie it off and start another one. If circumstances dictate, sometimes the garbage gets burned, sometimes it gets flown out. After cooking a meal, dishes are usually done after eating said meal, hence keeping things clean.

I find that there is a lot of bearanoia out there, especially when it comes to what to do with food in bear country. I've never felt the need to hang anything in a tree, cook 100 yards away from camp, or any of that other stuff. I've been camping and hunting in Alaska for quite a long time, and have never had a bear get into my camp (knock on wood), other than walking by.

Just my thoughts....

 

[1hoda]

Next fall I will be deep in Grizzly country and was wondering how a person handled the freeze dried meal packages and other tactics for staying safe in camp.

In addition to the other good info here, remember USFS requires bear canisters in many areas. That will add about 3 1/2 pounds to your pack, or if you go the Ursack route, you'll need 2- 3 depending on how long you'll be out. They are lighter but the $70 /each adds up in a hurry. I put my food inside an ALOKSAK in whatever storage container I'm using. I carry a a large Ziplok freezer bag for garbage I can't burn so it keeps the odor at bay.

 

[Jason Snyder]

What is the definition of a clean camp? Clean pots and one and no trash? How about food smells from uneaten food. I am always curious what clean means when I hear this.

No garbage anywhere, including semi burned stuff in the camp fire. All food hung 10' high and 4' out. No attractants of any sort on the ground or left in the tent.

 

[Jason Snyder]

I've found in the areas I hunt in Absarokas the long toes stick to the brushy creek bottoms. Yuh know the ones that trails usually run right along.. We've gotten to the point where if were hiking in the dark we get off the trail and scale the ridge and hike up that to get to the elk. So obviously we camp no where near those creek bottoms. Just a little added advice to what everyone else has said.

Fairly consistent with what I've seen also. They travel ridges some, but prefer the bottoms.

 

[jmez]

I think the bears in Alaska have a little healthier respect for people than those in the lower 48. They are two different situations.

 

[Kevin Dill]

My own thoughts and experiences....

No animal innately knows that human food odors mean edible food. They might be curious and investigate, but until they taste or eat human food/garbage, they have no way of knowing its what they want.

Bears exposed to humans and their food or garbage become a problem much more easily than wilderness bears. Most wilderness grizzlies have no taste for oatmeal, bacon or beef stroganoff. They do not typically become raiders.

You're not going to stop a good grizzly from smelling you, your camp or your food odors when they are down-wind. Their noses are beyond comprehension.

I've camped plenty in Alaska where grizzlies were numerous. No special food storage precautions. We prepare and eat food in our tent 100% of the time. We don't store fresh or odorous food in our main tent. Our empty MH packets go in a trash bag and it stays just away from the main tent. Our poop-zone is away from camp. We spread as much other human scent around camp as possible, knowing a wild bear will be more repelled than attracted. We want our presence to be obvious or unmistakable to bears so they can avoid us.

I am most concerned about smelling like blood, meat or a natural meal to bears. No fish, no animals, no fresh meat in camp. A bloody pack or clothes gets put in the river or a pond to soak and wash. I want no part of smelling like something a bear is innately attracted to by its normal tendencies.

After many years I've never had a bear problem in camp. Our only issue has ever been a bear stealing meat from a cache (moose we killed) and this we could not stop. There were no trees we could possibly have used to get it out of reach.

I strongly recommend an electric bear fence if you can manage one...but only for base or extended spike camps. I'm not so concerned about a night attack, but during the day I am not there to protect my tent from a curious bear of any color. That said, after hundreds of days and nights afield in central Alaska, I've not had a bear mess with my camp once...fence or no fence.

 

[airlocksniffer]

All good recommendations here. I hunt quite a bit in griz country and keep a clean camp and use common sense. It's highly unlikely that you'll see a bear and if you do, even more unlikely it will do anything except run away. One good thing about hunting in griz country-less people!!

 

[AK Troutbum]

I strongly recommend an electric bear fence if you can manage one.

^^^This.

 

[belly-deep]

bearanoia

Did you come up with that? Haha, I love it!