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T

TheSongDogHouse

Ranger
Good article here:
thetrek.co

A Preeminent Bear Expert Explains Bear Safety Best Practices - The Trek

One of wildlife biology's foremost experts on human-bear encounters has something to tell you about backcountry bear safety.
thetrek.co thetrek.co
And a new piece of gear:

Amtek Critter Gitter Animal Repellers & Accessories from $9.95. Domestic & Wildlife Control. Bear Alarm - Bear deterrent. Takes both Heat & Motion Combined to trigger the device.

crittergittersensor.com crittergittersensor.com

Especially interested in what our bear and wildlife photographer @JohnC hears from his colleagues and Park Rangers in Tetons.

And our newest fellow CI owners @tjohn who have tented extensively and now going CampInn Glamping in Glacier soon.

I have a funny story about a juvenile black bear following us on a stretch of the AT backpacking 30 years ago.

Wonder if this might become a campfire convo at CICO and what other experienced teardroppers in Bear Country have to say...
@Sweeney you are the unofficial scribe...here, hope you can share if so.

Brother @BEAR ? You out there? Got a good brown or black bear story?

Travel safe, y'all.
 
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TheSongDogHouse said:
Good article here:
thetrek.co

A Preeminent Bear Expert Explains Bear Safety Best Practices - The Trek

One of wildlife biology's foremost experts on human-bear encounters has something to tell you about backcountry bear safety.
thetrek.co thetrek.co
And a new piece of gear:

Amtek Critter Gitter Animal Repellers & Accessories from $9.95. Domestic & Wildlife Control. Bear Alarm - Bear deterrent. Takes both Heat & Motion Combined to trigger the device.

crittergittersensor.com crittergittersensor.com

Especially interested in what our bear and wildlife photographer @JohnC hears from his colleagues and Park Rangers in Tetons.

And our newest fellow CI owners @tjohn who have tented extensively and now going CampInn Glamping in Glacier soon.

I have a funny story about a juvenile black bear following us on a stretch of the AT backpacking 30 years ago.

Wonder if this might become a campfire convo at CICO and what other experienced teardroppers in Bear Country have to say...
@Sweeney you are the unofficial scribe...here, hope you can share if so.

Brother @BEAR ? You out there? Got a good brown or black bear story?

Travel safe, y'all.
Click to expand...
This morning, while i was making coffee, a man came by and we chatted about montana and bears. He told me a story about camping in a place they flew into in montana, and tented at the end of the runway. During the night a bear came into their tent. Looking for food. They shot it and dragged it out. The next day a ranger came by and said tgat bear that on his list. The day before it had broken into the ranger cabin and torn the fridge apart.. Sad to kill it bit the behavior was set now.
 
Jenn said:
This morning, while i was making coffee, a man came by and we chatted about montana and bears. He told me a story about camping in a place they flew into in montana, and tented at the end of the runway. During the night a bear came into their tent. Looking for food. They shot it and dragged it out. The next day a ranger came by and said tgat bear that on his list. The day before it had broken into the ranger cabin and torn the fridge apart.. Sad to kill it bit the behavior was set now.
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Yep, sad but the only way. Transporting them far away just makes it someone elses problem once they associate humans with food...
 
I'm far from an expert but I'm comfortable saying I agree with everything in the article. It's all about knowing your environment, what you may encounter, and how best to deal with it. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Educate yourself and carry bear spray.

If you want to hike trails even in national parks with other people around, don't cheap out by not buying bear spray. You can never know where you might run into one. If you ever spook a bear, that $50 bear spray will be the best $50 you will ever spend in your lifetime.
 
The advice seems very sound to me. I have never encountered a bear in any front country campground while tent camping. I have encountered black bears while backpacking. In most cases I just saw there rear ends as they turned the other way and fled off the trail into the woods.

I did have one case where a bear was feeding just off the trail about 30 or so yards ahead of me. I saw him after rounding conner. He glanced my way and went right back to eating. Completely ignored me. I watched for a minute or two then turned around and went back up the trail the way I had come. I waited for a bit and then tried again. This time he was gone.
 
Bein' a flatlander in Indiana bears really aren't a probem. Black bears have been seen here, but they are not residents -- they are thought to be juveniles that just passed through but apparently it is on the rise.

What is not being talked about is hogs. Feril hogs are moving along the rivers making their way north. These bad boys are as bad as bears.
 
TheSongDogHouse said:
Brother @BEAR ? You out there? Got a good brown or black bear story?
Click to expand...
I have many Grizzly and Black bear stories. I've been growled at by a Grizzly in Alaska and a Grizzly ran from me in Southern Arizona. In Montana a Grizzly molested the camper. I entertained a Black bear upon Mt. Baker, in Washington. I've had Black bears rock the camper while I was in it in; once in Montana and the other in Minnesota . Black bears have addressed the kitchen numerous times in Maine: most recently three times during the past week. The Adirondack Mountains in New York are loaded with Black bear and a cub came to visit while breakfast was being made. There are more. Which one of these would you like to hear about?
 
Sweeney said:
Bein' a flatlander in Indiana bears really aren't a probem. Black bears have been seen here, but they are not residents -- they are thought to be juveniles that just passed through but apparently it is on the rise.

What is not being talked about is hogs. Feril hogs are moving along the rivers making their way north. These bad boys are as bad as bears.
Click to expand...
I'm sure bear spray will work just fine on them as well.
 
BEAR said:
I have many Grizzly and Black bear stories. I've been growled at by a Grizzly in Alaska and a Grizzly ran from me in Southern Arizona. In Montana a Grizzly molested the camper. I entertained a Black bear upon Mt. Baker, in Washington. I've had Black bears rock the camper while I was in it in; once in Montana and the other in Minnesota . Black bears have addressed the kitchen numerous times in Maine: most recently three times during the past week. The Adirondack Mountains in New York are loaded with Black bear and a cub came to visit while breakfast was being made. There are more. Which one of these would you like to hear about?
Click to expand...
Tell your favorite!
 
Peg and I encountered a Black bear while backpacking, stopped for lunch at a creek crossing on the AT a few years ago near the NC/TN border. It entered the water about 25 yards downstream, looked up at us, and turned back the way it came. We ended our lunch and continued on, luckily heading in the opposite direction... :)
 
I encountered a black bear three years ago. My wife thought she saw a bear walking through the backyard towards the garage. I told her it was probably a large dog. So naturally I went out the front door and walked around the house and rounded the corner of the garage. I literally came face to face with the bear in the driveway. We startled each other, the bear ran in one direction and I ran in another! Since then we have had numerous sightings around our house. A mother with cubs, two cubs alone, and several sightings of just one bear.
 
Calvin & Jane said:
I encountered a black bear three years ago. My wife thought she saw a bear walking through the backyard towards the garage. I told her it was probably a large dog. So naturally I went out the front door and walked around the house and rounded the corner of the garage. I literally came face to face with the bear in the driveway. We startled each other, the bear ran in one direction and I ran in another! Since then we have had numerous sightings around our house. A mother with cubs, two cubs alone, and several sightings of just one bear.
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Great story!
 
DSC_3297v1%201-X2.jpg
 
Awesome shot

For bear spray we have Khazbar our dog!! Golden Doodle with a Poodle bark. Lady was in a parking lot just down the road safe distance away with the telephoto lens. She the bear didn’t move after people were waiting for her to cross the road stopped back 300 feet. The 3 or 4 cars in front all moved and passed her as I followed. Well as we passed Khazbar had to make his presence known as I looked in the rear view mirror of them running back into the woods!! Then passing the poor lady with the great shot missed. Felt so bad..

That was in the Smokies on the way to Cades Cove.

We saw a yearling probably just booted out on a scenic overlook pull out were we parked on the last slot on the right. My wife says bear quietly I say Where? Right there she responds looking over her shoulder. B - line to the Car as I turned back to the car I mentioned to the people on the left There is a bear over there. Amazing how fast people can move to the safety of their vehicles.

He came up a steep slope and by the time he broke into view on the overlook he was about 30 feet from the wife. Sauntering in front of the cars and the safety wall. Again Khazbar made his presence known which he ignored slowly walking by. No time for that photo!! I hope these will do …
 

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Carl U said:
Awesome shot

For bear spray we have Khazbar our dog!! Golden Doodle with a Poodle bark. Lady was in a parking lot just down the road safe distance away with the telephoto lens. She the bear didn’t move after people were waiting for her to cross the road stopped back 300 feet. The 3 or 4 cars in front all moved and passed her as I followed. Well as we passed Khazbar had to make his presence known as I looked in the rear view mirror of them running back into the woods!! Then passing the poor lady with the great shot missed. Felt so bad..

That was in the Smokies on the way to Cades Cove.

We saw a yearling probably just booted out on a scenic overlook pull out were we parked on the last slot on the right. My wife says bear quietly I say Where? Right there she responds looking over her shoulder. B - line to the Car as I turned back to the car I mentioned to the people on the left There is a bear over there. Amazing how fast people can move to the safety of their vehicles.

He came up a steep slope and by the time he broke into view on the overlook he was about 30 feet from the wife. Sauntering in front of the cars and the safety wall. Again Khazbar made his presence known which he ignored slowly walking by. No time for that photo!! I hope these will do …
Click to expand...
Cades Cove - what a great area. Part of our itinerary on the backpacking trip mentioned here. Some beautiful country.
Bears must be so used to people in that area. I think its the most visited NP isn't it?
 
Carl U said:
Awesome shot

For bear spray we have Khazbar our dog!! Golden Doodle with a Poodle bark. Lady was in a parking lot just down the road safe distance away with the telephoto lens. She the bear didn’t move after people were waiting for her to cross the road stopped back 300 feet. The 3 or 4 cars in front all moved and passed her as I followed. Well as we passed Khazbar had to make his presence known as I looked in the rear view mirror of them running back into the woods!! Then passing the poor lady with the great shot missed. Felt so bad..

That was in the Smokies on the way to Cades Cove.

We saw a yearling probably just booted out on a scenic overlook pull out were we parked on the last slot on the right. My wife says bear quietly I say Where? Right there she responds looking over her shoulder. B - line to the Car as I turned back to the car I mentioned to the people on the left There is a bear over there. Amazing how fast people can move to the safety of their vehicles.

He came up a steep slope and by the time he broke into view on the overlook he was about 30 feet from the wife. Sauntering in front of the cars and the safety wall. Again Khazbar made his presence known which he ignored slowly walking by. No time for that photo!! I hope these will do …
Click to expand...
Wow! Nice!
Thank you!
 
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