Bivy out tempts me but fears keep me at bay

[HiMtnHntr]

If not bivouacing in griz country I wouldn’t be at all concerned.

 

[BBob]

Everybody says don’t be worried but then you hear about a dude getting dragged off his porch and eaten in Arizona.

Curious so I checked it out. 2 deaths by Black Bear in AZ in 50 years. 2023 and 2011. The more recent one in Groom Ck and the other in Prescott. There was another in the 60's but that was a pet bear. I can recall two attacks in S AZ in that time span but there's likely been more here and there throughout the state. One attack was lacerations to the head and the other was some pretty serious chewing on upper hamstring and glute. The hamstring and glute attack should have been preventable but that's another story.

List of fatal bear attacks in North America - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[flyfisher117]

It's OK. I have an irrational fear of predators while hunting too. I still blame my dad because when his bear rug was delivered I was young, he pulled it out of the box snarling and chasing me around the house with it. I was so young i don't really remember anything other than a large box, snarling noises and a bear head in my face, and my running and hiding behind my mother apron.

I will say, time out in the field eases the worry for me. I am still very strict on a clean camp and proper food practices. Just makes me feel better.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

"A dude"... as in singular. Lots of hunters/campers in the field every year. Not sure how that translates into odds but it's probably somewhere close to being hit in your bed by a falling aircraft. You are right that another persons concerns are his regardless of my opinion but the concerns will most certainly wane the more eventless nights he/she spends without being mauled.

Interestingly however I am pretty concerned about spending time in a designated campground. Seems there's always some drunk loudmouth itching for a conflict 20 yards away. I'd never go camping if that's how I had to camp. Oh, and not to mention campground bears that are real enough.

I'd much rather, by far, be in the middle of nowhere than an established campground where grifters on the road move in and out. We've seen some absolute weirdos in a few national parks, luckily with some good eye contact they've left us alone but I don't like it.

 

[IdahoElk]

get a bear fence if you cant shake it off.

pine marten in camp after meat -DAMN!!!!

A Pine Marten in the middle of the night going through stuff can sound like a Grizzly bear.

 

[fmyth]

Curious so I checked it out. 2 deaths by Black Bear in AZ in 50 years. 2023 and 2011. The more recent one in Groom Ck and the other in Prescott. There was another in the 60's but that was a pet bear. I can recall two attacks in S AZ in that time span but there's likely been more here and there throughout the state. One attack was lacerations to the head and the other was some pretty serious chewing on upper hamstring and glute. The hamstring and glute attack should have been preventable but that's another story.

List of fatal bear attacks in North America - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Groom Creek is just outside the city limits of Prescott. I hunted deer all around the Groom Creek area the season before this attack. I saw tons of bear sign but no bears. IIRC the 2011 attack was a woman walking a small yip yap dog past the dumpsters late at night in her neighborhood in Pinetop. Dog started barking at a bear in the dumpster and the bear decided he'd enjoy a snack. Mauled the elderly woman pretty good and she died from infection days later.

Bear kills man near Prescott - Arizona Game & Fish Department

This is the second fatal bear attack in Arizona since 1990.

www.azgfd.com

Fatal attack in White Mountains a reminder of black bear danger

The fatal black bear attack on a Gilbert woman in Pinetop this summer is a sobering reminder that development is bringing people closer to a creature that's shy by nature

www.eastvalleytribune.com