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First of all, DO NOT bring anything smelly into your tent. This includes food, tooth paste, deodorant, etc. Also, keep fires away from the tend. Set up a bear triangle campground. Cook your food in one corner, Close to that corner, maybe 50 feet away, set up a latrine area. About 200 feet or more away from both, set up your tents. Keep your food in the ...

Bears don’t really hibernate, although they lower their activity during winter. Here’s one sample study of Black Bear winter behaviour in Sierra Nevada, California: Thirty-nine (62 %) bears were winter-dormant for at least 2 weeks; the remaining 24 (38 %) remained active all winter. Here in Czech Republic we don’t have many bears, most of them cross ...

When you meet a bear, keep several things in mind: Never make eye contact with a bear. Make yourself as large as possible - do this by standing on a stump or rock. take your coat and raise it above your shoulders, etc. Never turn your back to the bear or run. This will make him think you are prey and encourage him to chase you. Talk in a monotone and keep ...

For hunting bears you have to check with your local rangers for hunting season, permits and so on. Self-defense is self-defense if your mental state does not allow you to think and you feel killing is the only way out than it the only way out. BUT Bear Defense Spray is more effective and easier to obtain than .45 Also Noise will scare them off. So if ...

"Better" might be the wrong question. Here are few alternatives: "Safer" - Canister, hands down. Depending on where you are, bears have been known to study brilliant bear hangs, find the critical tie point 3 trees over, and with a casual flick of a claw, order takeout. On the other hand, I have seen bear canisters take a tumble off a several hundred foot ...

Bear canister rules are often relaxed in the winter. However, this will depend on where you are camping. On the east coast, in the Adirondacks, the rule is: NYSDEC Regulation Requires The Use of Bear Resistant Canisters by Overnight Users in The Eastern High Peaks Wilderness Between April 1 And November 30. NYSDEC encourages campers to use bear ...

Bears tend to jump and swipe to get your bear bag. You want above the reach of the tallest bear in the area, I'd recommend 8-10 feet at a minimum. You also want the bag at least a bear leg's length from the trunk of a tree, probably 4-6 feet at a minimum (if possible). Some bears will also kamikaze from the bear cables. I know of some folks who swear ...

Keep your dog on a leash. According the the scouts, dogs are a bad idea in bear country. Leave your dog at home. A dog often infuriates a bear and may come running back to you with the bear in pursuit! New Hampshire department of wildlife agrees that, while small, the primary risk is that your dog agitates a bear then runs to you for protection ...

You can. Bear spray is a more humane option; however, you do ask about legal repercussions. You can shoot pretty much any animal in self defense in the USA. After you shoot the animal it is important what you do if you want to avoid fines. Once the fight is over and you know you are safe you need to call the forest service. If you don't know their number ...

A fuller history: They are were approved for a few years (2004-2007) for use in Yosemite, which is a proving ground for bear-resistant containers. In 2007 I believe there were a couple incidents where bears were able to puncture an Ursack and "suck" food out of it. This led Yosemite to ban them from the park (and ultimately some other national parks ...

First of all the odds that you startle a bear in this way are quite low. There is a good chance that it would have heard or smelled you before you get that close. That said, if you encounter a bear in the wilderness, your reaction depends on how the bear is acting. In most cases, the bear will be defensive. In this case you should stay calm, talk calmly ...

No, a tent will not give you any protection from bears that want what's inside. If you want to use one thats fine, but don't go getting a false sense of security. In some ways a tent could be an attractant if: You have eaten anything in it over the last 6 months. You keep good smelling clothes in it (like the ones you wash in nice smelling detergent). ...

In general, I wouldn't recommend it, although it would probably be alright for a short trip. First of all, a bear has no fear of a dog, and they aren't really going to be too deterred. The fact that you are making any noise will let the bear know you are there, and should encourage it to go away, so it would be a slight benefit. In the event of a close ...

It depends on the area. Some places (Yosemite, Glacier Bay) there are pretty much no safe bear bags and you need a bear-proof container. The bear bag should be high enough that a bear can't reach it from the ground, and far enough from the tree trunk that it cannot reach it from the trunk of the tree. A couple of things that are as important as the number ...

Given that the active ingredient is capsaicin which is used in self-defence sprays for all types of purposes, bear spray should be effective on anything with tear ducts, soft tissue, sinuses, eyeballs, etc, (and will totally dominate a bean burrito**). The discriminating difference between "bear spray" vs "self-defense" spray, vs. law enforcement ...

This answer will focus on food storage, since that's what I know the most about and it hasn't been addressed in other answers yet. There are two common means of food storage in bear country: Hanging and counter-balance methods The basic idea behind these methods is to hang the food in a tree in such a way that a bear wouldn't be able to reach it. Remember ...

Hanging a bear bag isn't just for bears. It's also to protect your food from other wildlife. Shorter and colder days are all the more reason to plan accordingly to protect your food from hungry animals that are just looking for an easy meal. From Princeton's Outdoor Action Site: “Bear bagging” is something of a general term used for hanging your food. ...

A tent can provide a psychological barrier for the bear - which won't do much to deter it if it smells something it wants inside (food), but can prevent haphazard encounters. For example, if a bear is wandering through your camp on its way to check out your expertly hung bear hang a tent will be a visual obstacle it will naturally move around / avoid, ...

A tent may give you slightly more protection than sleeping out in the open, but not much. If a bear wants at you, the fabric of the tent is no match for his sharp claws. Bears, both black and grizzly, have been known to cause severe damage even to buildings, high wooden fences, and even vehicles. I knew of an apple orchard that had an 8-10 ft. high ...

I can say that the behavior of the owner can affect your safety with taking a dog into bear country. Taking a rambunctious dog off-leash into bear country can mean the dog chasing a cub up a tree, which I have seen before on the Appalachian Trail. It's miraculous that the mother bear didn't go after the dog or its owners after that. As far as I know, ...

From About.com's US Parks safety info: If a Grizzly Bear Attacks… Play dead! Lie face down on the ground with your hands around the back of your neck. Stay silent and try not to move. Keep your legs spread apart and if you can, leave your pack on to protect your back. Once the bear backs off, stay quiet and still for as long as you ...

I think the regulations are so strict because the park service wants to keep a level of discipline about how hikers manage their food, so that none is accidentally left in a pack, and the oils and crumbs from food don't contaminate a pack. This avoids scenarios where food was left in a pack unintentionally. Bears don't hunt humans except in rare cases ...

Bear populations, bear problems, and aggressive bears are distributed extremely unevenly in California wilderness areas. There are dense populations of problem animals in a few small areas such as Yosemite Valley and Little Yosemite. These are areas with a lot of humans packed into a small space. You're going to the White Mountains, which gets very few human ...

According to Yosemite Park's website, bears have lost fear towards humans and will try to get food from whatever is the easiest way. This usually means that it's easier to break a car's window of wreck a campsite than going hunting. They have a keen sense of smell and will follow not just food, but products with various scents that we wouldn't think of as ...

Better is often relative. I would not like having to carry a bear canister around as it is extra weight and bulk. However there are likely places where you will not have a tree suitable for hanging a bear bag, and the canister is the only way to go. It really depends on where you are going to be hiking.

I don't think there are any standards, but I would shoot for at least 10 feet high, and at least 4 feet away from the trunk of a tree. Make sure the bag is suspended on a branch too small to support the weight of a bear. It should also be hanging down from the branch by around a foot to prevent other smaller animals from having direct access to the bag.

The above advice is quite good, just wanted to add on thing to consider regarding food in bear country. You have probably heard the expression "a fed bear is a dead bear". Giving up your "smelly" bag to a bear has the potential to humanize the animal making its confrontations with future hikers even more aggressive, and that future hiker could be me so ...

Chemically, if you can use it, I see no reason why it wouldn't work on any similar animals - though practically it may not be as effective. In terms of cougars for instance, this seems to imply it'll work if you can get it out and use it in time, but because of their nature the chances of you being able to carry out the task successfully are dramatically ...

In the test report of 2004 according to Ursack: Bears carried inadequately-secured Ursacks short distances suggesting that users should be able to locate most bags that might get carried off by bears. Distances carried during the four tests were 0.3m, 1.6 m, 5.8 m, and somewhere between 41 and 67 m. In those cases, the sack did prevent the bear from ...

I would suggest following the bear rules year round. In the Canadian Rockies, we still have areas closed due to bear activity in the middle of January. Plus ravens will make short work of anything left accessible, not to mention worrying about attracting cougars and wolves. Here's a couple links outlining safety for camping in the backcountry, and in case ...