Campfires and critters

[Team4LongGun]

Had a good discussion with my buddy, a life long Alaskan and one hell of a hunter. We were talking about the campfire keeping predators out of camp. Made me think to ask on here-and please, no speculation or second hand info.

Have you ever had a bear or other predator come into your camp while having a fire going?

I'm referring to backcountry locations, not the state park campsites.....and of course legal fires, not reckless blazes.

 

[Bubblehide]

Not a single time with a campfire going.

 

[dtrkyman]

A guy I know was in the Yukon last year, had killed his moose and was hanging around camp, he let the fire go out, his guide returned and simply told him, fire equals no bears. no fires equals bears.

Enough said.

 

[ODB]

Everyone knows rhino hate campfires... but if you stick to Alaska you should be OK...

 

[rdbse]

No predators, but raccoons have come into camp with a fire on several occasions.

 

[VernAK]

Last week I had two different bears approach my camp while we BSing around the campfire. Both came from upwind and approached even though six of us were talking and laughing. The fire was of moderate size....big enough to fry fish in a 12" pan.

 

[FrozenFox]

In the MN BWCA, some bears know a fire means food and they start raiding campsites. I think it depends on the amount of exposure they get to people and how long it takes to associate food with people. While the BWCA is considered backcountry, they do have 150,000 people visit the 1 mil acre wilderness a year. It can get crowded. In the back country in CO, never had an issue with a fire going.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Several times while cooking over an open fire we would bring in a fox. My brother had 160 acres in the Mt. and we hunted there many times. We think it was likley the same fox time after time.

 

[*zap*]

With the right ambient temps a fire will bring snakes into camp around here...

 

[journeyman713]

Did some back country packing/ultralight tent camping in remote Canada, quite a bit.
I use a multi-layer approach. Yes, the fire is a good start, but you're not going to tend it all night, every night. To keep an animal from moseying on into camp by curiosity, or accident, a couple more things...
Scent control, in two ways. The universal signal in the wild that 'this area is taken' is your scent. Urinate in a perimeter around you camp, particularly in the direction where you expect they might be coming from. This forms an invisible boundary, they won't miss. This takes care of the 'accidently' walking in scenario. Secondly and just as important, the 'curiosity scenario' - No food where you sleep! Hang your pack in a tree, away from where you sleep, and burn any leftover food scraps.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

Had them near, but not in camp 2 weeks ago with a fire going. In AK Within 200 yards, but they never came closer.

 

[FLATHEAD]

I remember one time in deer camp, sitting around the fire.
A mouse came up to the fire and just hung out like one of the guys.
It was a cold night.