food storage in bear country

[618-Flatlander]

I have been camping while hunting and fishing in bear country a few times now, and I still do not feel like I have figured out the best techniques for food storage while in bear country. I have only been in black bear country, because I am terrified of being around grizzly bears. I want to know what you all do in each of these situations though, black bear and grizzly country. I have hung the food, but that is kind of a pain and not always realistic with the tree situation where I might camp, and a guy I worked with said he just slept on his food when he camped in grizzly country in Alaska. Let me know all of your tried and true techniques and maybe I'll feel safer when i camp in the future.

 

[mlgc20]

I typically hang my food in grizzly country. I will sometimes use an Ursack if hanging isn't going to be practical. This past summer I had a grizzly in camp in the middle of the night. He was about 20 yards from our tent. But, he never went anywhere near where we had been cooking and hung the food. This has happened to me numerous times. The grizzlies I have encountered just don't seem that interested in me or my food. Having said that, I would never consider sleeping with my food in grizzly country.

 

[BBob]

Ursack tied to a tree nearby and a pile of rocks outside your shelter. If (rare) they (bears, ringtails, whatever...) wake you up scratching, tugging and generally carrying on huck rocks and yell at the basterds. Haven't had to shoot one yet but prepared to do so.

 

[ddavis_1313]

Thanks for the thread. Was wondering how I was going to keep food safe in Alaska next year. Just ordered the ursack allmitey kodiak bag to use for food for me and my wife.


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[618-Flatlander]

Do you guys usually use an opsak in addition to the ursack? After reading around I was leaning towards that route. After reading you guys confirm they work, I’m definitely going that route now.

 

[BBob]

I have not used an opsak but have looked at them. Looks like a good idea but I haven't had the need down here as I'm more pestered by mice and ringtails than black bears. Bears have been rare for us and on the rare occasion they show up I've heard them and run them off before they've crushed things up much.

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[618-Flatlander]

Thanks for the tips. This honestly makes me feel a lot more comfortable for my trips in the future.

 

[Wolf_trapper]

If you have a bear in camp while your there I would take a zero tolerance policy. Look at what happened to the biker lady in ovando mt this summer. Bear came in ran off, came back later when they were sleeping and ate her. If a bear comes into camp it's a bad thing. The best option for a safe camp is a Airedale terrier.

 

[jhm2023]

I hang excess food in a nearby tree some times but not always. I do always piss all around camp like a dog marking his territory, particularly on bushes and trees. In almost a decade of hunting and camping in grizz country I've never had my camp messed with. I've come back to fresh grizz tracks near camp but my camp has never been touched. Maybe I'm just lucky.

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[klj100]

Hanging is great and of coarse there are lots of National forest ect that if you back pack in require an National forest approved bear container. You may want to call said forest and see if they have requirement and if so what their approved containers are because not all containers are approved often the clear one are not allowed as they are weaker.

 

[zion zig zag]

The best option for a safe camp is a Airedale terrier.

The dog in my photo is a border collie/airedale mix, loyal as hell and tenacious. He'll patrol camp all night long if you let him. He also spends about two hours a day training my griff pup how to fight.

 

[SuspiciousFish]

I second hanging a bear bag as it also works well to keep chipmunks etc out of your food. Those little guys are sneaky as hell. Once in Banff National Park I watched a lady get her food stolen out of her purse by one while sitting on a park bench. All you really need is a decent stuff sack and some paracord and throw the cord over a tree limb and haul it up.

 

[diamond10x]

I just pee all over the place around camp as much as possible. Keep my food in a roll top dry bag. Place moth ball pack in panty hose and tie to top of bag. Transporting moth balls keep them in freezer or Mylar bag. Have had bears around camp but not in camp.

 

[mtnbiker208]

personally it all depends on where and how long it will take to resupply food.
If you can eat the next day, hang. if you can't get resupplied for over a week, sleep with it and protect it.

 

[pfred8]

Ursack works well. Just pick any tree and tie the bag to it, simple.

 

[bkmaine]

Totally I thought this said food storage in beer country…

 

[Mykolaivka887]

Thanks for the thread. Was wondering how I was going to keep food safe in Alaska next year. Just ordered the ursack allmitey kodiak bag to use for food for me and my wife.


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Up here in Alaska, I just sleep right with my food. In 58 years of sleeping in bear country up here, I've never once had a bear inside a tent [knock on wood].

 

[BBob]

I use an original Kevlar Ursack. I don’t worry about it much but we’ve had many black bear to human incidents over the years down here. A young lady in a Girl Scout camp lost a portion of her hamstring and glute to a bear while sleeping in her clean tent, a guy was grabbed by his head and yanked off his cot in the middle of the night and was being drug off until his brother woke up and intervened so yeah I don’t sleep with anything in or around my tent to tempt the little guys

 

[def90]

Either rolled up in a dry sack and hung from a tree or in a bear can. Place your tent away from your kitchen area. Honestly the pack rats and other creatures are usually more of an issue than bears.

 

[Rifleman290]

Sleeping on your food…………sounds similar to licking an electrical outlet. Sure you can do it, but it might get you one of these times. Hang it in a tree.