I’ve been to Anan…
and I’ll never forget it. We stayed at the forest service cabin for 2 nights and watched the wildlife spectacle unfold. One of the neatest things I’ve done, and with my dad, son & brother too along. We watched 5 black bears and 2 brown bears feed at the river, several sows with cubs. The two species fished totally different, black bears so much more efficient. 100’s of bald eagles, seals eating the salmon too. I literally watched salmon get squeezed out of the water, and flop around on the backs of others trying to fit back into the water. And, very few other people there.
I hope that was in jest
– Last Updated: Aug-12-07 5:19 PM EST –
Spraying bear repelant spray on your clothing, etc. is an invitation to a violent death by grizzly. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS ON THE CANISTER.
Depends
on where you live. Here in NW Montana, Grizzlies are a real threat under certain conditions.
Limit FOOD Odors!
In many non-eventful encounters with grizzly and black bears over four decades of camping (backpacking and mountaineering) I have observed the following –
Bears like FOOD – and usually care little about anything else.
LIMIT ALL FOOD ODORS. (Salami-no, canned greasy beef - yes. Cook on a stove. Burn out cans, smash them, pack them out.) Treat all food (and their odors) as if radioactive. Fear them, Contain them, Limit them, then Decontaminate as if your life depended on it. It does.
Never have ANY food within 50 feet of your tent. Use plastic bottles and double zip-locks in plastic-lined stuff sacks, use dry dehydrated foods. Limit trash and its odor – (On a four week trek in the Wind Rivers, our combined trash from four people filled ONE quart zip-lock.)
I have always let bears wander through my camp, to observe what interests them. A Backpack that tends to smell of Human BO and Stove Gasoline never seems to attract more than a brief sniff. (Once a bear spent serious time near one pack-pocket, later I found toothpaste stored there – I thus switched to baking soda.) I have never hung food except in a Canadian backcountry site equipped with a steel “flagpole with cable” for that purpose.
Watch out when using previously used camp sites - harder to do with paddlers. The last people there, like it or not, have trained and habituated the bears for YOU. If they have dumped bacon grease into the fireplace — bears will expect something from YOU.
In bear country you DO take a chance - enjoy it.
there is correlation
between menstration and Grizzlys. Check out night of the Grizzly’s, the 1964 attack in Glacier Park.
Glacier attack
I have read about those attacks in way too much detail and from way too many sources. I am fairly certain they have debunked this theory about menstruation prompting these attacks. Although, I am open to read anything on this. Can you post your source?
My Kingdom for a Bear Proof Method!
I’ve been stumbling around in the mountains and woods of the Cascades, Sierras, and Rocky Mountains for over 60+ years and I have yet to find a foolproof bear system. Yosemite bears are probably the smartest “people” bears, but those in parts of Glacier National Park, and Jellystone are runners up. I have watched mother bears teach their two cubs to climb up trees and jump onto packs double hung from wires. I have had a Yosemite blackie wait nearby while I hung my trusty food 10’ out from the tree and 12’ off the ground and then climb the tree and chomp my line in to for his snack of the night. Even had a bear lick my face as I sucked on a life saver in my mummy. When I startled and sat up it scared us both so bad he ran off and I looked like the fool I was hopping up and down in the bag with a stuck zipper trying to get out in my BVD’s.
My advise about bears boils down to this:
1. Avoid camping in areas known to be
frequented by “people friendly” bears.
2. Place food in a Garcia Bear Barrel
and leave it 100’ away from camp. A
bear may try to open it and move it
a short way, but will tire and leave it.
3. Don’t cook within 100’ of your sleeping
area.
4. Change out of any clothing you were
wearing while cooking when you go to bed
5. Run all your gear up on a double hung
limb 10’ out from tree and 12’ off
ground. Higher if in Grizzly country.
6. Don’t camp on known bear trails.
7. Don’t rely on a dog for protection.
Grizzlies love dog meat!
8. Don’t wear any type of deoderant, etc
I always make it a point to saturate
my clothing and person with western
red cedar smoke when possible. It masks
human smells and helps keep the bugs off
As for wearing bug spray. I will take facing a bear to being eaten alive by the no see ums any day. Wear your 100% unsented DEET and let the bears find their own bug repellent! Or, get a bug suit and face mask and not worry about it!
Yes … Visited your Kingdom
…“Coleman Cooler Soccer” played by two bears is an interesting spectator sport.
I have used a spray called
Herbal Armor - http://www.allterrainco.com/catalog_c96003.html
and found it to be fantastic. I makes you smell like you have been hit by a truck full of flowers. Not sure what the bears think - Blackflies or Bears - I’ll take Da Bears.
Did you give him the life saver?
bears
What about carrying a handgun to ward them off?
Don’t worry about the bugspray,
Just use lots of fruity smelling sunblock, and the bears won’t be able to smell the bug dope on you. The coconut smell seems to be popular.
Hmmmm! Coconut!
Which begs a question:
Would black bears find a difference in teh aromas of DEET-based repellants and citronella-based ones? I have been using Natrapel with good results, but am I a walking bear bait?
Jim
If it is plastic, bears will likely bite
it to test it out, regardless of smell. I wouldn’t leave it laying around or have it inside the tent. You are more likely to attract the bear with the toothpaste you used just before going to bed than any bugspray.
Firearms & Bears
– Last Updated: Jun-05-08 3:08 PM EST –
Using a firearm in a bear confrontation is a last resort. Dealing with black bears I suspect a good shot of Bear Strength Pepper Spray is your best defense. In areas of Alaska, Canada, and the Arctic generally, most parties carry a large caliber hunting rifle 30-06 to 300 Magnum. Some individuals in Alaska (prohibited in Canada) carry large caliber, long barreled handguns like a S.W. 357 Mag.10" barrel. Personally, shooting a grizzly, Kodiak, or Polar Bear with a handgun sounds like a formula for suicide unless you are one h.... of a shot under combat conditions. A couple rounds from a handgun is unlikely to stop a charging 900 pound bear in time. He may die of the wounds but not before dismembering your body. A well placed round from a 300 magnum is going to put a bear down if located in the main body mass. Best advice is leave the bear shooting to someone who is a qualified hunter or guide. Avoid putting yourself in harms way whenever possible. On the ice in the arctic or on tundra doesn't leave you lots of options if a bear seeks a confrontation. It is one of the few times the Canadian authorities allow expeditions to carry a rifle in their country.