Who uses the UDAP Bear Fence?

[Robinhood21]

Has anybody actually touched or grabbed and felt the shock of this?

I got it all set up and really wanted to test it so I barely grazed my hand on it and felt nothing then I ran my hand along the wires I could feel a little “tingles”. Then I just grabbed it and held on and once again just tingles..... not very SHOCKING.

I went over everything three times and everything is set up perfectly. Put new batteries in, made sure the alligator clips were on lengthwise, and touching plenty of wires etc.

I’m afraid most people buy this don’t even really test it out. I did read a couple reviews where a guy said that the shock was so light it wouldn’t be able to keep a squirrel out.

Does anybody have similar experiences? Different experiences? Let me know thanks


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[z987k]

Did you touch the hot AND the ground wire at the same time? Give that a try, I bet you won't like it.

Did you drive the ground stake, and make sure you were not in bone dry ground, and had your shoes off?

 

[mntnguide]

As a lineman who works on high voltage, and also as a guide who used to run a bear fence that would knock you on your ass... yea I'm not impressed with mine either, and i know how to set one up...i even bring a chunk of actual copper ground rod... im most likely going to pick up the AN90 charger instead of the an20 that comes with it. There is no way i trust the current set up to keep a bear away of they are actually determined to make an effort to get in. Last year i ended up packing my solar power pasture charger to power the small fence because i was so unhappy with the results from the an20

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[jdmaxwell]

Unhook the ground rod then touch it and tell me it just tingles... u become ground rod

 

[live2huntelk]

Get an electric fence voltage tester…. your voltage should be above 5,000V, otherwise something is not right… ground, connection, weeds/ grass touching wire,etc. The electric fence voltage tester is a good way to know if you have a good ground and troubleshoot with. How rocky and dry the soil is makes a difference on how well the ground conducts.

https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1465&context=hwi

https://fwp.mt.gov/binaries/content/assets/fwp/conservation/wildlife-reports/bears/mfwp_electric-fencing-guide_v4.0.pdf

 

[AKDoc]

Get an electric fence voltage tester…. your voltage should be above 5,000V, otherwise something is not right… ground, connection, weeds/ grass touching wire,etc. The electric fence voltage tester is a good way to know if you have a good ground and troubleshoot with. How rocky and dry the soil is makes a difference on how well the ground conducts.

https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1465&context=hwi

https://fwp.mt.gov/binaries/content/assets/fwp/conservation/wildlife-reports/bears/mfwp_electric-fencing-guide_v4.0.pdf

Helpful ideas from others, and those are great articles live2huntelk...thank you for posting those. I'm always learning...and I am now learning that I need to get an electric fence voltage tester to take into the field with me.

I know first hand that my electric fence (pictured below) has definitely given me a significant jolt when past "hand-testing" on Kodiak.

Thanks for starting the thread Robinhood21...I hope you solve your fence mystery...and my apologies if my response is a thread side-track...never my intention.

 

[WyoHuntr]

I hit it in my socks instead of rubber soled boots, and it was a big difference. It had a good ground. I ran an AN90, for a year, but didn't really feel like it was a big enough difference to justify the weight (unless im packing livestock). A 20 still keeps my horses penned.

The grizz that hit my fence must have been checking it with his nose. I woke up to him snorting like he just got nailed. He paced my fence off and on for two nights, but never took a swipe at it. So, I'm usually banking on the fact they'll check it with their nose first.

 

[Robinhood21]

Good info guys, thank you! I’ll set it up again and will make sure my ground has moisture and I’ll take my shoes off for the “grab test”


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[Kevin Dill]

I'm a believer in POWER. I'm switching to a Gallagher S12 solar charger with built-in li-ion batteries. 9200 volts and .08 joules impulse energy. It's relatively small and light (not ultralight) and WILL sting any critter very hard. A friend of mine has been using one on food plots in Oklahoma and he has nothing but praise for it.

 

[z987k]

Good info guys, thank you! I’ll set it up again and will make sure my ground has moisture and I’ll take my shoes off for the “grab test”


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Just grab both the hot wire and the ground wire.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Think of an electric fence as a circle with electrical energy occupying it. The energy stays there in harmless fashion. The ground rod is doing nothing. As soon as a well-grounded animal makes adequate wire contact, energy passes through the animal...into the ground...and over to the ground rod. It's that simple. What's not simple is assuring good grounding of the rod and the animal, or adequate wire contact. The less powerful your charger, the more important these things become.

The problem with most electric fences (no matter their intended target) is getting adequate energy to move from the hot wire...thru the animal...and into the ground. You can run a 2-wire setup with hot and ground wires in proximity circling the fence, but this requires the animal to contact both wires simultaneously. That's the equivalent of touching the hot and ground wires simultaneously. It's more effective but more work and a bit more weight. You still need a good ground rod into moist earth, but a 2-wire rig is less dependent on the animal itself making ground contact.

Most of us are using a conventional all-hot fence with the charger grounded to earth. This works great as long as the animal is also making good ground contact along with adequate wire contact. If the animal is standing on dry vegetation it will serve as an insulator from current passage. If only their thick hair makes contact they may never feel a thing unless they are well grounded. You'd ideally like the animal standing on bare ground (soil contact) and touching the wire with their nose or other short-hair part. A good electric fence has enough power to actually arc energy across space and to the skin. I've witnessed this myself as a visible spark jumps from the wire to a dog's or cow's nose or skin. Pain!

The lesson here is get a solid ground rod or spike established. Check it with a good test unit. Use enough energy to help overcome some expected resistance. Clear the ground outside the fence. I've taken strips of aluminum foil (think size of a hot dog) and wrapped them around the fence wire at spaced intervals. The idea is to catch a bruin's attention and have them nose or lick the foil when they approach the fence. Zing!

 

[b.purcell]

I used one this spring on the peninsula and could never really get it to work right. Had it all set up right but I felt like it was more of an illusion of safety for the clients than anything. Most of those bears run like hell when they smell humans anyway

 

[rayporter]

^^^^
kevin has an excellent explanation.

for stock i usually just string the wire through the bushes but a lot of energy is lost this way.

for maximum effect you must be sure your posts are not leaking current to ground, also.

 

[rayporter]

oh, wet soil for the ground is important. this is why ground rods are 8 ft long for your home. for farm fencers it is sometimes necessary to install several 8 ft rods for a ground as this gets them down to moisture.

in sand i have "wet down" the ground rod daily to get the fencer to work somewhat.

 

[Kevin Dill]

On a very short bear fence a long, deep ground rod isn't really needed. That's mostly because the current doesn't have far to travel from a grounded (and shocked) bear back to the grounding rod/spike or point. On a livestock fence a cow or horse might be a hundred yards or further from the ground point....meaning it has to be much more effective due to distance. Not to say a poor ground point is acceptable for a bear fence. Quite the contrary, and a gutter spike or large nail is barely adequate and then only in moist soil. A 2' piece of copper pipe or small diameter galv conduit pounded in with a rock (and left for future use if desired) is a much better grounding point than the almost-useless things in the UDAP kit.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Good info guys, thank you! I’ll set it up again and will make sure my ground has moisture and I’ll take my shoes off for the “grab test”


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Please PLEASE PLEASE take video.

 

[z987k]

Think of an electric fence as a circle with electrical energy occupying it. The energy stays there in harmless fashion. The ground rod is doing nothing. As soon as a well-grounded animal makes adequate wire contact, energy passes through the animal...into the ground...and over to the ground rod. It's that simple. What's not simple is assuring good grounding of the rod and the animal, or adequate wire contact. The less powerful your charger, the more important these things become.

The problem with most electric fences (no matter their intended target) is getting adequate energy to move from the hot wire...thru the animal...and into the ground. You can run a 2-wire setup with hot and ground wires in proximity circling the fence, but this requires the animal to contact both wires simultaneously. That's the equivalent of touching the hot and ground wires simultaneously. It's more effective but more work and a bit more weight. You still need a good ground rod into moist earth, but a 2-wire rig is less dependent on the animal itself making ground contact.

Most of us are using a conventional all-hot fence with the charger grounded to earth. This works great as long as the animal is also making good ground contact along with adequate wire contact. If the animal is standing on dry vegetation it will serve as an insulator from current passage. If only their thick hair makes contact they may never feel a thing unless they are well grounded. You'd ideally like the animal standing on bare ground (soil contact) and touching the wire with their nose or other short-hair part. A good electric fence has enough power to actually arc energy across space and to the skin. I've witnessed this myself as a visible spark jumps from the wire to a dog's or cow's nose or skin. Pain!

The lesson here is get a solid ground rod or spike established. Check it with a good test unit. Use enough energy to help overcome some expected resistance. Clear the ground outside the fence. I've taken strips of aluminum foil (think size of a hot dog) and wrapped them around the fence wire at spaced intervals. The idea is to catch a bruin's attention and have them nose or lick the foil when they approach the fence. Zing!

I use 3 wires, and dedicate the middle as a ground wire, connected of course to the ground spike. This way, if the soil is entirely inadequate, it still works.

Bears don't jump over these things, if they walk much into it, it gets them with all 3 if it didn't already get them with a hot through them to the ground.

 

[Tahoe1305]

Please PLEASE PLEASE take video.

View attachment 434297

I have a video of my wife touching my Canadian made bear fence….not sure she’d appreciate me sharing though. She was barefoot on grass. I felt it too, it gets your attention but not put you to the ground bad.

 

[rayporter]

i forgot my ground spike once and buried a piece of the fence for a ground. sometimes ya got get creative.

 

[hornchaser2011]

I had the same issue with the UDAP bear fence. Felt like it was more to make u feel better mentally than really something that would deter a motivated bear. No matter how I set it up it was a very light tingle. With the added weight and hassle of setting it up I have left it at home on my last couple trips and just sleep with a loaded pistol and rifle at arms length