Hanging Food in Bear Country

[805Bowhunter]

I have a meat bag that I am planning on storing food in, but what do you all feel is the best way to store your food etc in a tree in grizz country? Was planning on hanging the bag with 550 over a branch then tying off to the trunk...am I missing anything? Previous hunts in grizzly country have been primarily done from the truck as basecamp. Will be backpacking a bit more this year.

 

[jolemons]

Check out the PCT method using carabiner and stick

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[Upchurch_k]

+1 for the PCT method, there's a bunch of good videos on YouTube. Really easy to do and in my opinion would be more bear proof than roping off to the trunk of a tree.

 

[805Bowhunter]

Awesome! Had no idea about the PCT method...super easy and what a great way to keep it out of reach. So glad I reached out. Thanks guys.

 

[Ranger619]

I like to use Lawson Equipment reflective glowire. It slides over branches better than 550 cord and is reflective which really help find the bag in the dark. cordage-c152

 

[Beendare]

In my experience, it depends on where you are. I've tied off to the trunk on many hunts- no problems. Now I've backpacked in the natl parks and some of those bears are savvy to that and will go right at that cord. Heck in Yosemite we had them messing with the cables they have setup.

in the high country camps they used to have a steel cable tied off 20' up one tree then going across to a hooky at 20' in another tree then down the trunk. You let out cable so it dips down to the ground, tie on your pack then hoist the cable and there is a little clip that holds it to the tree at waist level.

Those bears would get on their hind legs, put their paws between the cable and the tree....and back up taking the dip out of the cable raising your stuff....then let go which had the effect of your stuff swinging around and bouncing on the cable between trees. If you didn't tie it on- it was dinner time for those bears.

Oh and all of this was 15' from the tent....live entertainment! The one trip they spent 45 min trying to get at our food.

But like I said, I wouldn't worry about that in most hunting units.

...

 

[xcutter]

Do you guys always hang your food when hunting September in Colorado? Never hanged my food before but usually hunted Utah and not many bears where I hunted.

 

[805Bowhunter]

Do you guys always hang your food when hunting September in Colorado? Never hanged my food before but usually hunted Utah and not many bears where I hunted.

I not done it in CO but never have been in country with a lot of bears. In CO I have just kept food away from the tent if backpacking (which is rare as in CO I have typically hunted from the truck). Different for me this year as I will be in Wy grizzly country. I figure its not bad practice to do so in CO though.

 

[piercej]

You might look into a hard canister or an Ursak as an alternative. Here is an argument against hanging. Not because you shouldn't keep food away from bears but because most people don't need to or don't do it right.

 

[TradLife406]

You might look into a hard canister or an Ursak as an alternative. Here is an argument against hanging. Not because you shouldn't keep food away from bears but because most people don't need to or don't do it right.

I bought an Ursak and it seems really well made. But I got the Almighty and dang the thing is small... That or I eat a ton of food because it sure doesn't hold much for as much as they cost! I'll stil have to use the good old dry bag as well.

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[piercej]

I bought an Ursak and it seems really well made. But I got the Almighty and dang the thing is small... That or I eat a ton of food because it sure doesn't hold much for as much as they cost! I'll stil have to use the good old dry bag as well.

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They say it fits about 5 days of food for one person. I'm assuming this is mainly dehydrated/freeze dried though so ymmv. It's slightly smaller (0.85 L) than the BV500 based on published spec but the flexibility have the space more usable.

 

[Dos Perros]

You might look into a hard canister or an Ursak as an alternative. Here is an argument against hanging. Not because you shouldn't keep food away from bears but because most people don't need to or don't do it right.

I've seen that. It's an argument that may work for the general population, but if you're the kind of person who knows how to do things right hanging still seems to be the most effective method. We should strive to be people who know how to do things right, especially in matters where our safety or the safety of animals is impacted.

 

[Cng]

I've seen that. It's an argument that may work for the general population, but if you're the kind of person who knows how to do things right hanging still seems to be the most effective method. We should strive to be people who know how to do things right, especially in matters where our safety or the safety of animals is impacted.

I agree with this. Skurka’s claim that it takes practice is silly. Just do it right. And his argument against it—that most people do it wrong—is also kind of silly. Just do it right.

I’ve never backpacked in grizzly country, but spent a lot of time in places with black bears. This summer my wife and I went on a 5 day backpacking trip to a place with problem bears, where they highly suggested a canister. I found out really quickly that Skurka is right about most people hanging their food improperly. But I also found out that Bear Vaults are in no way scent proof. And the last thing my wife wanted was a bear nosing around camp. So I ended up stuffing all our food in a canister at night and then putting that in a bag and hanging it away from camp exactly like I would have done a proper bear bag anyway.

And that’s what seems most problematic with Skurka’s article. Sure, a bear couldn’t have eaten my food because it was in a canister, but the scent might still have brought them into camp and drastically increased the likelihood of a potentially dangerous encounter.

It seems safer to me, especially in grizzly country, to hang a proper bear bag away from camp. And even if canisters are required, I would still hang it so a bear doesn’t roll your canister down the mountain and into a creek.

 

[Cng]

This summer my wife and I went on a 5 day backpacking trip to a place with problem bears

Side story to this, we met a college kid and his girlfriend at a backcountry site and learned that they didn’t bring any rope for a bag. I offered them some and his girlfriend insisted he take it and hang their food. I went to bed feeling like I’d helped them out a little.

When I woke up the next morning, I found their food hanging chest high five feet from their tent. Doh!

Ran into another couple who was headed out because a bear ate all their food. They said they had hung it and everything. I asked them a couple of questions and it turns out that they had dangled it from a limb right up against the tree at head height.

 

[Mosby]

I use an Ursack bag outwest. It can be tough finding trees with the perfect limb and I am not a patient man when I am tired. The Ursack is heavier but much easier IMO.

 

[Hucklebear]

Not always possible but when you hang your bag, hopefully you can give it some room to hang in free space away from a large branch or the trunk itself. Sometimes we've had more trouble from other critters (squirrels, mice, etc) gnawing holes than from bears.

 

[joes3]

Today I learned something. PCT method looks pretty darn cool!