bears out of camp

[davin]

i know keeping a clean camp helps alot but was just wondering if anyone has anything to add. also
wolfs and mountain lions ?

 

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[RGINN]

Right now I don't have to worry much about bears as they're hibernating. I rarely see lions but I'm sure they see me. We don't have wolves but they generally won't come in to where you're camped unless you have food sitting around from what I've heard. I camp in bear country and generally sleep out in the open on the ground with no problem. I do keep a clean camp and pay attention to what the bear activity in the area is, and how desperate they are for food, and check the area for bear sign. If you're really bothered about it, cook supper in one place then move away from there to sleep. It's probably just a fable, but I always create a 'whizz fence' around my camp site. Not a good idea to use a lot of aftershave or sweet smelling bath soap before you go out camping. I always have a gun, but that's mainly just to make a loud noise and scare them off rather than try to kill one. The alarm button on my truck works for that too. In this part of the country, you're more apt to be struck by lightning or hit by a falling dead pine tree than attacked by a bear or lion. And luckily, we have no grizzlies here.

 

[davin]

RGINN, thanks for your advise and ideas. just moved to northern Idaho last year and wanted to get advise and opinions about camping and prospecting in
bear country. again thanks and I appreciate your good in put.
davin

 

[coloradocav1]

making noise when your hiking around might help from surprising a bear. Last year I was checking fence and surprised a sow black bear with 2 cubs. She ran towards me and stopped no more than 4 foot from me. She was making a hissing noise and smelling me, I literally saw my reflection in those little beady eyes! I raised my arms high up and talked to her in a stern voice, I believe there were lots of swear words involved! I only had a hunting knife on me, If I would have been carrying my gun or bear spray I would have not thought twice about using it. What was weird was that the whole experience was like a slow motion dream, Hard to explain it. Like RGINN, I also whizz around my camp area. Lions, ha thats another story. No matter what though, Don't ever ever run.

 

[RGINN]

Good job, coloradocav1. That was a challenge charge. Good response, and you probably could have walked backwards slowly away. Gun or bear spray might have started a fight though since cubs were present. You're right about never run. Some animals will consider you prey. Except with moose. Run like hell to the truck or a thicket of trees they can't get in. As to lions, when I'm out in the woods many time I see somethin interestin on the ground or in a creek and I get down on my knees to look it over. Sometimes the thought comes to me, 'I wonder if I look like a poor defenseless fawn?!'.

 

[coloradocav1]

Thanks RGINN, I tell you that was a good first hand experience! Etched in my memory forever thats for sure. I have felt a strange closeness and even more respect for black bears since that day, I grew up on the bison and elk ranch there in Genesee, been tossed like a ragdoll by a couple cow bison and chased behind trees by p.o.ed cow elk with calves. But the bear changed me that day, glad it went the way it did. I think black bears could be more hard to read than a grizz, black bears are pretty dang unpredictable. They are getting too used to people since the population has exploded around here.

 

[Capt Nemo]

My new tool on the worksite is a Saiga 12 shotgun with a 10 round box of slugs. Momma bear with cub tracks, and coy wolf tracks last year on the beach. Both came from the campground.

 

[Frank Tillman]

i know keeping a clean camp helps alot but was just wondering if anyone has anything to add. also
wolfs and mountain lions ?

Problem with bears is that when some are thinking about food they really don't care about such things as noise, activity, etc. they look
for an opportunity and go for it. Mountain lions "usually" only go after adults if they are running or riding bikes, but target children and will
go after them close to camp.