nearlywild
North Pole, AK
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We live in Alaska and we want to start car camping next spring or summer. I'm looking for advice on keeping our food(and us) safe from bears. We plan on staying in established camping areas at state, BLM and military rec areas. Are bears brazen enough to come into populated camp sites? I know not leave any food out. To make sure we clean up after cooking and to make sure all the trash is properly thrown away. Do we need to hoist our food up into a tree? How do you do that? Any advice would be appreciated. On a side note. Does anyone know of any good websites that specialize on family tent camping in Alaska?
Kristie S.
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BIKERK9
Santa Cruz, CA
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Joined: 02/13/2009
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If you swim in ocean waters where sharks are known to visit,
do they bother swimmers when looking for food 
If your in a bears back yard, will your presence frighten them
when they are looking around for food - duh 
Bears are curious animals.
Bears can run faster than you, they out weigh you,
they are stronger than you, and they have longer nails than you,
BUT you only need to faster than the slowest person with you, 
UNLESS there is more than one bear. 
Shooting bears with a camera or gun can be dangerous.
When entering country of bears and other wild animals, ALWAYS speak
with the local Park Rangers, Dept of Forestry, and other officials to obtain guidance.
Many state and federal parks have bear boxes for securing food.
Food protection - Hanging food from trees
Even when using a food storage container, it is recommended that you hang all of the food
(and other items such as toothpaste, pop, gum, etc.) at least 10 feet off the ground and 4 feet
from the tree trunk. However, this is not foolproof! Black bears are very often creative and
persistent in their efforts to obtain food rewards.
In the Popo Agie wilderness, USFS requires food to be hung or placed in bear-proof containers.
Here is another bear thread you may find interesting.
I was told that when in bear country carry pepper spray and bells
to ward off bears.
And that you can identify bear droppings because of the smell of peppers
and seeing little bells in their poo.
* This post was
edited 08/29/09 03:39am by BIKERK9 *
DoggyDaddy
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Paw Paw Festus
Borger TX
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When I was a SCUBA diver, I always carried a knife for shark protection. Never happened -- but if a shark got after me??? I planned on stabbing my buddy. I could get away while the shark ate him...
Might work for bears too. IF theres only one bear.....
Seriously. I'm scared to death of bears. We have a place in Red River NM and there are DOZENS of bears around all the time. I carry my .40 with me ALL THE TIME. haven't had an "encounter" yet, but I stay prepared none the less.
I'll probably never camp in AK, cuz I can't transport my gun through Canada. If we go to AK, we'll fly and stay in a hotel.
They got Grizzer Bears in AK. Little black bears just big enough to whoop a dog scare the daylights outta me.
Good luck and have fun.
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Gunship Guy
Florida
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Some good info here.
PICS OF STUFF
I like chicks with nice tents.
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skipnchar
Google Kansas USA
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Joined: 12/17/2003
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nearlywild wrote:We live in Alaska and we want to start car camping next spring or summer. I'm looking for advice on keeping our food(and us) safe from bears. We plan on staying in established camping areas at state, BLM and military rec areas. Are bears brazen enough to come into populated camp sites? That's where they live so YES they'll come there if they want to.I know not leave any food out. To make sure we clean up after cooking and to make sure all the trash is properly thrown away. Do we need to hoist our food up into a tree? How do you do that? Any advice would be appreciated. Use "bear boxes" when they're available, store food in your car when they're not. Make sure windows are rolled up and that the food is not VISIBLE looking through the window. If you DO use the tree hoist method make sure it's located a hundred yards from the tent. Otherwise it's just bait. On a side note. Does anyone know of any good websites that specialize on family tent camping in Alaska?
If you keep a clean camp site AND (this is unfortunate) the campers who have been near your location, have also kept a clean campsite, you PROBABLY wont see a bear. Ask for local knowledge at ranger stations, district offices or campground host for specifics for the PARTICULAR place you're camping. Often in Alaska campgrounds there will be notices when bears have recently been seen in the campground. We just spent a bit over a MONTH traveling around Alaska and camping MOSTLY on public land with no facilities and we saw ZERO bears in Alaska. Saw several DOZEN in Canada on the way up but nothing in Alaska but we DID see lots of bear SIGN so we know they were there.
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old guy
Oregon (pronounced Or e gun)
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sleep with a BIG GUN
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nearlywild
North Pole, AK
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skipnchar wrote:
If you keep a clean camp site AND (this is unfortunate) the campers who have been near your location, have also kept a clean campsite, you PROBABLY wont see a bear.
I'm trying to avoid being this person. I know that bears live in the area and that if they want to, they'll come for a visit. I just don't want to be the person who encouraged that visit. I did just read some interesting info from the Alaska Public Lands site. From 1900 to 1985 20 people were killed in bear attacks. But, from 1975 to 1985, 19 were people killed by dogs. Not sure why it only goes through 1985.
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mtlogger
Montana/Guatemala
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Joined: 05/26/2008
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nearlywild wrote:We live in Alaska and we want to start car camping next spring or summer. I'm looking for advice on keeping our food(and us) safe from bears. We plan on staying in established camping areas at state, BLM and military rec areas. Are bears brazen enough to come into populated camp sites? I know not leave any food out. To make sure we clean up after cooking and to make sure all the trash is properly thrown away. Do we need to hoist our food up into a tree? How do you do that? Any advice would be appreciated. On a side note. Does anyone know of any good websites that specialize on family tent camping in Alaska?
I live in Montana and I see bears nearly every week. What do I do? I keep food out of the truck and where it belongs in the refrig or up a tree. Bears do whatever they want - they are animals acting on instinct. Actually we are the intruders.
Matt J: Deceased 29 Jan 2010 in Antigua, Guatemala
Sons: - Bert moved to ND w/08 Dakota 4.7, 56 Unimog 416 & 19 Airstream
- Alf moved to Guatemala 03 Uni 1750L Camper
Annie J: kept the 99 Dodge V10,
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bee66
Illinois
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I've car-camped in a few places where there were bears lurking around the campground at night. Even if you keep a clean camp, if someone's given the bear the opportuntity before to get free and easy food, the bear will probably keep coming back to scope for more.
In some places - like in an east Glacier Park KOA campground we just got back from - you'll be ok putting the food, cooler, dishes, etc. in your car at night with a blanket or towel over it (some bears will recognize a cooler). Some places, though, esp. if you're in the backcountry or remote area, will have a special storage container for you to leave your food and stuff overnight. I think that's only if the bear problem is bad enough where the bear has actually broken into someone's car, and from what I understand that's rare, but it has happened.
If you're car-camping, it's probably best to put food, etc in the car. And make sure you clean your table really well with disinfectant wipes after you eat/cook. Also, don't sleep in the clothes you ate/cooked in, and don't bring toiletries into the tent with you. Leave them in the car.
Hope this helps.
We've never had a problem with bears, or any other critters, getting into our food. We camped by some people once who had their water jug destroyed because the black bear bit into it, thinking it had food inside, I guess.
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tplife69
SoCal
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old guy wrote:sleep with a BIG GUN
This has ALWAYS worked for us. Out here however the dangerous predator is the mountain lion, cougar, panther, or whatever name your locale uses for this killer.
People's Republik of Kalifornia
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