Meat and food in camp

[akcabin]

I've kinda noticed that I do things a bit differently when it comes to hanging game meat or groceries around camp. For me , I've always kept the moose or whatnot kinda right where I can see n protect it from bears. Closer to camp.
Seems most recommendations say hang it a hundred feet away. And groceries in a tree.
In my experience I would have probably had to deal with bears if I did. The bears have a bit of natural tendency to be curious n don't want to die either so cautious. I've not had issues with keeping everything close to camp and certainly within campfire light.
I have had grizzly bear follow the trail to our camp after harvesting caribou. And a bear tear up camp when nobody around.
Maybe I've just been lucky, maybe all the folks I hunt with are wrong too. They have all done the same.
I do believe I would have had issues with bears if they thought that they had a chance. I also suspect that other ak folks do the same things. If you have something a bear wants better keep it close kinda thinking.
So do you all keep your harvested game n groceries away from camp or am I just the odd ball out ?

 

[Gobbler36]

We had a caribou taken by a grizz in AK and like you I was like hell no he’s not getting the other one so we moved the meat right behind our camps and got up every hour to protect it…. somewhere in that time frame the bear walked right between our cook tent (where we cooked bacon the night before) and sleep tent and jacked another rib cage. next day we decided to call and have our meat flown out Lol. We never heard it or saw anything but we granted we couldn’t see our meat the best as we tried to hang in the big willow trees.

to answer your questio though you aren’t the only one me and my hunting partner have discussed this multiple times

 

[Theringworm]

I am not an Alaskan native nor do I live in Grizz/Brownie country. I have been to Alaskan however 3 of the last 4 years to hunt, I always grew up being taught to hang food and anything scented away from camp, Makes logical sense, right.

My first trip to Alaska 4 years ago on a moose hunt, our kitchen shelter was 15-20ft away from our tents. Food was stored in a rubber bin but left on the ground in the kitchen area. Trash hung up in a tree next to the kitchen area. This went against everything I had ever been taught, but I wasn’t about to question it. The guide had been doing it like this for a long time.

After i killed my moose, we packed it back to camp and put it 10 ft from our tents and then covered it with evergreen branches. Once gain, something I had always been taught to never do. But that’s how they did it. Right or wrong, who am I to say. As you are alluding to though, it would bring the bear in closer but allows you to be more aware of what is happening and possibly lessen the likelihood of more meat/food/etc being taken before being made aware. But one could argue it increases the possibility of an attack on you as the bear is now closer.

I personally would prefer it be a great distance away from camp to lesson my chances of a bear encounter. If they want it bad enough it don’t matter where it is, they’ll take it. I don’t like “rolling dice”.

 

[AKmatt]

Maybe I’m just lucky butI have never had any problems with keeping the meat close to camp. I prefer keeping it close, that way I know if a critter is getting into it. I worked hard for those groceries.

 

[cnelk]

When we go to Alaska, we separate our food cache in two places, hung up in trees.
That way if one gets compromised we still have food.

Moose quarters have always been fairly close to camp. Ive brought a set of little bells to hang on the meat so we can hear if it gets disturbed.

 

[diamond10x]

Meat and food stays right by the tent for me. Moth balls in panty hose and sweaty dirty socks or shirt tied close to hanging meat and food bag along with urinating around camp especially on/along any path a bear might use to come check things out. In my mind that lets any would be thief know that it’s all already claimed and to stay away.

Is that proper bear aware precautions? I’m not sure but knock on wood it’s worked. Scientifically the nose is a bear’s greatest sense, if I can mix in some unpleasant and different smells with the meat and food scent, in my mind, that tells him to stay away.

At the end of the day, as stated previously, if a bear wants something of yours bad enough, it will be their’s.

 

[Andrew12gauge]

I think that bear behavior in Alaska vs the northern Rocky Mt states of the lower 48 is greatly influenced by the fact that Alaskan bears are hunted and actually have a reason to fear humans vs the protected bears of the lower 48. I notice nobody from Montana has come in here and said they always store their elk meat and food close to camp. It’s all AK guys


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[WV Mountaineer]

This is black bears only. But, I doubt there’s any where in the world where there is more black bear per sq. Mile then in WV.

We’ve always hung deer in camp. We’ve always left food and out coming canopy in camp. It’s never been a problem until two years ago.

The last two years, I’ve had bear come into camp. They’ve not once bothered the human food. But, they’ve come after the deer both times. Both were whole, gutted carcasses.

The first time, I hung the deer just high enough to get the skin off. I never heard the bear that night. I suspect because I’ve already skinned it. Making getting to the meat easy. It ate everything meat upto the ribs. Then jerked the front shoulders off and left me with just the tips of the back straps and neck. I unknowingly run it off the next morning going outside. It was hanging within 35 feet of where I slept.

Last year, I killed a little buck on my way back into camp. It was within 3/4 mile. I decided to guy him and just drag him in due to it being almost dark and so close. Once I got him to camp, we hung him about 80 feet from the tent. About 9 i started hearing something that sounded like a bass drum. I woke up my brother and buddy. I had a pretty good idea what it was.

I had left the skin on this deer due to it getting so cool at nigh. I didn’t want it to freeze solid before I could get it broke down the next morning. The sound I was hearing was the bear ripping through the hide to get at the deer. He had it bouncing off the tree.

That was a long night. That sucker wouldn’t leave no matter how many times we chased him off. We shot into the air. We even cut the deer down and moved him to within 20 feet of the tent. Didn’t matter. He came after it anyways.

Not once did either of those bears try to get into the coolers or human food under the cooking awning. But, they sure come after the deer.

I don’t know what I’d do in Alaska or anywhere around grizzly bears. I’d probably hang it far enough away that they’d not feel to threatened if they got on it. I’m all for fighting for what’s mine but, after that deal in the dark last year with a 150 pound black bear, I want nothing to do with a grizz, food, and dark. The bear last year simply wasn’t scared at all. Down right brazen. I can only imagine a grizzly in the same frame of mind.

 

[Stoneage]

Where we hunt Moose and Mountain Goats there are tons of Grizzly. During the Day, Game Meat is under a Teepee type smoke Tent to keep the Flies away before it can be flown out. At night it gets hoisted up at least 15 Ft above Ground between 2 Trees otherwise the Grizzlies take it. Tentcamp itself is protected by a electric Fence with LED lights on all night.

Cheers

 

[Voyageur]

This is black bears only. But, I doubt there’s any where in the world where there is more black bear per sq. Mile then in WV.

We’ve always hung deer in camp. We’ve always left food and out coming canopy in camp. It’s never been a problem until two years ago.

The last two years, I’ve had bear come into camp. They’ve not once bothered the human food. But, they’ve come after the deer both times. Both were whole, gutted carcasses.

The first time, I hung the deer just high enough to get the skin off. I never heard the bear that night. I suspect because I’ve already skinned it. Making getting to the meat easy. It ate everything meat upto the ribs. Then jerked the front shoulders off and left me with just the tips of the back straps and neck. I unknowingly run it off the next morning going outside. It was hanging within 35 feet of where I slept.

Last year, I killed a little buck on my way back into camp. It was within 3/4 mile. I decided to guy him and just drag him in due to it being almost dark and so close. Once I got him to camp, we hung him about 80 feet from the tent. About 9 i started hearing something that sounded like a bass drum. I woke up my brother and buddy. I had a pretty good idea what it was.

I had left the skin on this deer due to it getting so cool at nigh. I didn’t want it to freeze solid before I could get it broke down the next morning. The sound I was hearing was the bear ripping through the hide to get at the deer. He had it bouncing off the tree.

That was a long night. That sucker wouldn’t leave no matter how many times we chased him off. We shot into the air. We even cut the deer down and moved him to within 20 feet of the tent. Didn’t matter. He came after it anyways.

Not once did either of those bears try to get into the coolers or human food under the cooking awning. But, they sure come after the deer.

I don’t know what I’d do in Alaska or anywhere around grizzly bears. I’d probably hang it far enough away that they’d not feel to threatened if they got on it. I’m all for fighting for what’s mine but, after that deal in the dark last year with a 150 pound black bear, I want nothing to do with a grizz, food, and dark. The bear last year simply wasn’t scared at all. Down right brazen. I can only imagine a grizzly in the same frame of mind.

Was camp located in the same place both years? I ask because I'm curious if it could have been the same bear.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

No. They were 70 miles apart.

 

[BCSojourner]

Meat and food stays right by the tent for me. Moth balls in panty hose and sweaty dirty socks or shirt tied close to hanging meat and food bag along with urinating around camp especially on/along any path a bear might use to come check things out. In my mind that lets any would be thief know that it’s all already claimed and to stay away.

Is that proper bear aware precautions? I’m not sure but knock on wood it’s worked. Scientifically the nose is a bear’s greatest sense, if I can mix in some unpleasant and different smells with the meat and food scent, in my mind, that tells him to stay away.

At the end of the day, as stated previously, if a bear wants something of yours bad enough, it will be their’s.

I've also read that Pine Sol-soaked rags work well to keep bears away from camp.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

without any doubt meat cache locations are <100 feet (within accurate 10mm range) from my tent in plain sight day and night. Bears prefer comfortable sneak and steal over a full on confrontation. The farther the meat is away from camp the more comfortable predators will be.

Anyone who adheres to the "100-yards away from camp" rule in AK might as well expect problems. But in nearly 30 years of hunting here, I have yet to have meat stolen by anything except martens and small meat eaters.

Not only does meat always get cached in camp, we also urinate around the cache and every point of logical access a bear would enter or leave camp. We also leave our scat piles open to air and strategically dumped on likely bear trails or access points around the perimeter to give any predator a sensory heads up before getting brained by me or a partner in camp. Of course before leaving that camp and if fox haven't cleaned up our piles, they get buried.

I've killed two grizzly at uncomfortably close distance in 25 years and neither instance was related to protecting my meat.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

Moth balls work but really too strong an odor for my tolerance. Buried my dog in bear country and layered the soil with moth balls. Site is still undisturbed as of late fall.

 

[crrakcrrak]

Redneck oysters Rockafeller...
(Oysters in the half shell over the fire on a tripod grill)
Place whole oysters on grill until they just start to open.
Pull them off, shuck leaving loose oyster in the bottom shell with the nectar.
Garnish with a bit of white wine, butter, onion or shallots, bacon bits, Tabasco and fresh parmasian cheese and put back on the grill until cheese melts. Pull tripod grill back up off the heat and eat them over the campfire. Yum.