Advocate I
My $.02 in answers to your questions:I'm not from North America so I'm not so familiar with the behaviour of bears. When I was cycling camping there were signs to report bears because that would be unusual in the areas I was in.
Is there a time when bears are more active?
Are they a problem if I leave my car and go for a hike during the day?
Will they try and break into a vehicle (eg RV) while you are sleeping in it and food is in the refrigerator?
Trail Blazer III
Influencer II
FOR THE WIN!!!!!Overlanding with Bears? We have a large old German Shepard, she takes up so much room in the rig, and the shedding is horrible. Can't imagine how much of a pain it would be if we brought a bear instead! Would need the giant size bag of Pruina Bear Kibble, not to mention based on @PapaDave 's phots above, would need an extra large Trasharoo to carry out all the plastic baggies of droppings.. Think we will stay with the dog for now... lol
Advocate I
An excellent summary regarding bear safety! Thank you!Keep a clean camp. Don’t eat where you sleep especially in a ground based tent and don’t keep snacks other food or toothpaste in your tent. If you have spilled food in or on your tent in the past the odor will remain detectable to bears for a looooooong time. Consider replacing your tent. If you have a campfire do not dump grease or oil into the fire and don’t burn food scraps. Coolers absorb and keep odors from anything stored in them even canned and bottled drinks. Clean your cooking equipment. Food should be stored in bear proof canister or hoisted into a tree at least 15 feet on the air and 8-10 feet out from the trunk. (A line run between 2 trees accomplishes this). Women’s hygiene items should be bagged and hoisted as well. Be aware that bears can and will appear at any time nearly anywhere. They are very food motivated and although they can appear goofy in their actions (especially black bears) they will do whatever it takes to access food. Including maiming or killing humans. In grizzly country if you happen across dead carcasses (sometimes partially buried). Leave the area in a high sense of awareness preferably in a down wind direction. If you encounter cubs of either species. Same thing as carcasses. Gtfo right now . Carry bear spray and know how to use it (mind your wind direction if you need to deploy it). If you are reasonably trained with firearms they are a viable option if of a suitable caliber and with appropriate ammunition. Be aware a bear will get the jump on you and close distance so fast your head will spin. Grizzly bears especially can absorb a lot of rounds especially from a handgun regardless of caliber with little effect. Lived hunted played and worked in high density grizzly and black bear country for 40 years. Encountered many of each species. A female bicyclist was killed by a grizzly bear while camping overnight IN A TOWN very close to me because she didn’t use common sense and had not heeded basic information regarding bears. Food in the tent. No need to be paranoid but take bears seriously and use your head.
Influencer I
Yep, you win!!! not sure what, but you win!Overlanding with Bears? We have a large old German Shepard, she takes up so much room in the rig, and the shedding is horrible. Can't imagine how much of a pain it would be if we brought a bear instead! Would need the giant size bag of Pruina Bear Kibble, not to mention based on @PapaDave 's phots above, would need an extra large Trasharoo to carry out all the plastic baggies of droppings.. Think we will stay with the dog for now... lol
Influencer II
This really is the best advice. Also include chapstick, toothpaste, deoderant, soap, etc. It all smells tasty to bears.cook in one place, store your food in another, sleep in another
Advocate II
Right on. We've been told by many camp hosts and rangers that ANYTHING with an added smell will attract bears.This really is the best advice. Also include chapstick, toothpaste, deoderant, soap, etc. It all smells tasty to bears.
- Don't attract a bear with smells in the first place.
- Bear Spray and/or Glock 20 10mm.
- Poop your pants.
- At this point you're either thanking God, even if you don't believe in God.... or you're being eaten alive.
Enthusiast III
Advocate II
Advocate II
Hiking, backpacking, and car camping in bear country for quite a few years now. The reason bears, and what I should say is these are specific bears, get and break into cars is they have had human food before. They smell it and yearn for it! They will do anything they can to get to that scent. (Breaking into cars, houses, tents, coolers....etc.) This behavior unfortunately leads to bears being killed because they will encounter people and be aggressive instead of skittish. Now living in Colorado it has been very annoying seeing people not read up on bear safety (I'm glad you are reaching out though!) and causing these bears to learn a behavior that is not natural for them. This then harms every other visitor to bear country. The examples above like Sequioa are great reminders of what happens when it gets out of control and humans do not do their part.On a past overland trip to Colorado, we had a bear try getting into our cooler. We left the coolers outside the Jeeps overnight. I have seen anti bear food vaults, and understand the idea. My question is, do we need to empty our refrigerators that are in the vehicles too?
Advocate II
I don't know about training. But you can get some training spray to practice with. Cabela's is a big outdoor store for hunting in the states. Unsure about Canada. Here is a link for the inert spray: Frontiersman Practice Bear Spray | Cabela's (cabelas.com) This spray is one time use so ensure the family is paying attention.I looked at this post a while back. I have a question.
I'm planning to spend some time in Oregon, Idaho, and Alberta.
Is there anybody in that area who trains people to use bear spray in an environment that does not involve actual bears? and maybe placebo spray. I'm more concerned with other family members.
I'm planning on doing some bike riding and hiking as well as overlanding in that region next year, about this time of year.
Off-Road Ranger I
Influencer II
Advocate II
Yeah, I do not ever see switching back to putting food in the tent. Definitely not worth the risk of a late night wake up call to a bear trying to snuggle up with you.Backpacking, we've all switched to keeping our food in our tents with us.
If the bear can stand between you and your food, then your food is fair game. Because why do people abandon their food? That's the bears moral mentality.
If your food is on you, the bear sees that as "your food". The bear has to actively decide to be a problem bear. Which is rare.
If our food is so addictive to bears........maybe it's time to also analyze how addictive it is to us.
Advocate I
Except that’s not how it works…Backpacking, we've all switched to keeping our food in our tents with us.
If the bear can stand between you and your food, then your food is fair game. Because why do people abandon their food? That's the bears moral mentality.
If your food is on you, the bear sees that as "your food". The bear has to actively decide to be a problem bear. Which is rare.
If our food is so addictive to bears........maybe it's time to also analyze how addictive it is to us.
Off-Road Ranger I
Off-Road Ranger I