Tent camping in bear country

[TOLeary]

Looking for a guideline/principles to follow when tent camping in grizzly country. Haven’t camped in their area before and been hesitant to do so since I don’t have an experience guy to go with. Looking for some tips!

 

[8404]

Don't have food in camp, don't prepare food in or near camp. Sleep with bear spray and a firearm readily accessible. Have a BRIGHT flashlight with your gun and spray. Few things are scarier than knowing there's a bear in camp and not being able to see it. You can't hit what you can't see.

Also you need to do some thought experiments about what your plan of action is in different scenarios so you can act, rather than spend time thinking about what to do.

For example, if a bear is in camp but not in your tent, what is your plan? What noise maker do you have available to deploy before needing to use deadly force?

If the bear is IN the tent, like he has ripped the tent or is pressing his head against yours, you may decide a different ladder of force is necessary.

These choices are highly personal and different people will have different opinions on what to do.

Some people go as far as carrying a tripwire alarm system to rig around the tent. There are lightweight solutions for this.

 

[Ron.C]

Use the same precautions in griz country you would in Black bear country. Like stated above, keep food away from your tent, store food where it is not easily accessible for bears. If possible, avoid setting up in spots where someone else recently vacated (you have no idea what they did that could have already began to attract bears to the spot).

If possible, set up in an open area away from game trails and natural food sources. Basically, don't set up in spot that think a bear might come to browse or could be surprised by your presence.

Keep your firearm/spray/flashlight etc. in a close, easy access spot (AT ALL TIMES). In the very unlikely event you have a griz encounter/attack in camp day or night, none of them will do you any good if they are not right beside you.

If you are jumpy and think every noise at night is a bear, wear earplugs to bed (or have a shot of whiskey to relax before you turn in). Our imaginations can be our own worse enemy.

There used to be a product called a Pack Alarm. Fairly compact/lightweight and we have used them for a number of years to set up a perimeter as a means of letting us know if something actually does wander into camp, close to the tent at night.

 

[DawnPatrol]

Just got back from 10 days camping on a salmon stream in western AK with no bad bear interactions. Saw bears most days. Here are my suggestions:

1. Keep food and food prep as far from your tent as possible.
2. Ear plugs and melatonin/whisky
3. Always keep your spray or gun on or at hand.
4. Portable fence charger and electric fence? ( I’ve seen a griz hit an electric fence and run off bawling, but I don’t have any recommendations for a make/model).

 

[TOLeary]

@Ron.C @8404 @DawnPatrol

thank you, I really appreciate the info. Great guideline to follow

 

[beachbunny]

Some people go as far as carrying a tripwire alarm system to rig around the tent. There are lightweight solutions for this.

i've made one of these .used to use the rocks in a beer can alarm.
so you can actually buy a premade one?

 

[Johnny Tyndall]

Just to be clear, you need to be really diligent about food. That's everything scented - toothpaste, whiskey, etc... A woman was killed last summer out here with empty wrappers in her tent. Be sure to secure your food when you're not around - either hang it well, or use bear canisters. If it's super thick with bears, you should be cooking and cleaning well away from camp. Advice to have flashlight and spray/firearm in the tent is good. If you do have a bear encounter around camp, pack up and move right then, not the next morning (see that report above).

Not to scare you off. They're just animals doing animal stuff. Keep good practices, but then don't worry too much. They're not stealth assassins, they'd just prefer powerbars to pine seeds. The book Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance by Stephen Hererro is very good (he's a long time bear biologist).

Edit: here's the bear video the NPS shows you in Denali before they let you go into the backcountry.

 

[Gr8tz]

anyone using ursack for food storage?

 

[DawnPatrol]

Just to be clear, you need to be really diligent about food. That's everything scented - toothpaste, whiskey, etc..

The more diligent the better, for sure. But I’d say there’s a bit of a sliding scale when it comes to my comfort camping with griz. Things to consider include:
1. How hungry the bears are (ie is there an alternate food source like salmon or berries around, or is it a lean year when the bears are scratching for calories?)
2. How habituated are the bears to getting food from people? Like is this a campground with problem bears that know people =food?
3. How afraid of people are the bears there? Is this Wyo where bears are sacred, or someplace in AK where they get hunted?

 

[Greyinggrayling]

NOTHING in your tent that has an odor - toothpaste, antiperspirant, chap stick, WHISKY, minty dental floss, the pants with blood on them sitting next to your sleeping bag... be dedicated to NO SMELL in the tent. As long as there are more interesting things outside of the tent (preferably way away from the tent) than inside the tent then you’re good.

 

[Rooggvc]

This is some great information. I had a black bear come into camp a few years ago. We had all the food in containers, and we cleaned up after we cooked. We never thought about the dog food bowl that still had dog food in it. The bear was about 15 feet from the tent eating out of the dog bowl.

 

[ZAK13]

Besides food, don't forget to to keep the incidentals away from camp as well. Lip balms, deodorant, soaps, basically anything with a sweet scent, keep that away from your camp with the food. Saw the aftermath of what a grizzly did to someone's SUV just to get the lip balm that was kept in the center console.

 

[TOLeary]

The more diligent the better, for sure. But I’d say there’s a bit of a sliding scale when it comes to my comfort camping with griz. Things to consider include:
1. How hungry the bears are (ie is there an alternate food source like salmon or berries around, or is it a lean year when the bears are scratching for calories?)
2. How habituated are the bears to getting food from people? Like is this a campground with problem bears that know people =food?
3. How afraid of people are the bears there? Is this Wyo where bears are sacred, or someplace in AK where they get hunted?

It’s southwest montana. So bears and wolves. 3 or 4 recreational camp sites at the base of the mountains. Actually saw a guy mountain biking last year. There were also hunters horse backed in and camping. We didn’t see any bears personally, but head they were seen down the road. And saw 1 wolf by us and another guy where we were at.

We aren’t planning on staying in the field the whole time but if we find a spot with Elk I don’t want to have to hesitate to stay out for a night or two.

The other thing I was wondering was distance to keep everything away. I assume that changes but is there a general rule? And keep everything downwind I’d assume If there’s a prevailing

 

[DawnPatrol]

The other thing I was wondering was distance to keep everything away. I assume that changes but is there a general rule? And keep everything downwind I’d assume If there’s a prevailing

I set up my food 100 yds down wind. That way, if the scent pulls in a bear, it won’t pull it through my camp; but it’s close enough that the bear will definitely smell me too, which might scare it off. So goes my thinking, anyway.

In the end, it’s a bit of a crap shoot. Lots of good replies above along the lines of: get all the smelly stuff out of your tent and the bear won’t be interested in you.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I pack chlorine tabs (I have a pool) and bust em up to sprinkle it around my vehicle at the trailhead and my campsite. Helps deter everything from mice to bears...one whiff and they are really unhappy. Learned this trick from an old guy with a self-made wooden camper on his ole, beater truck. He returned from a four day trek to find his truck untouched but two small cars 80 yards away had been destroyed by bears. I also pack a BearShock ultra lightweight electric fence.

Bears and other predators may try to dig under the fence.

 

[Mikej]

set advanced warning using fishing line or like cord connected on each end to a personal alarm like a byrna or birdie.

Set a 20 foot perimeter, 16” off the ground.

 

[Cbled]

Bear watch wildlife deterrent system is an option. I believe 3 lbs for the system, made here in BC. I keep a clean camp and try to camp away from travel corridors, other than that put some earplugs in and try not to overthink it.

 

[shwacker]

Lots of good tips above. I would add that I prefer to store food either in a bear proof container or properly hung well away from both tent and kitchen.

 

[Nick Muche]

This may seem crazy, but so do the chlorine tablets... but I bring enough cinder blocks to build a 6'x6' enclosed shelter to sleep in at night. It's a lot of work, but you never can be too safe.

 

[TX_Diver]

This may seem crazy, but so do the chlorine tablets... but I bring enough cinder blocks to build a 6'x6' enclosed shelter to sleep in at night. It's a lot of work, but you never can be too safe.

Do you use rebar and fill them with grout? Or just freestanding.

I have no experience camping w/ grizz (I got a hotel in town), but a few of the camps I did see near the road had electric fences around them in WY a few years ago. Worth looking into maybe for a truck camp.