Black bear concerns and day packs...

[bald9eagle]

One thing that just occurred to me are the concerns of black bears raiding camp. Do you guys string up the things that you don't carry with you are do you take most of your cooking/eating stuff with you in a daypack? My buddy and I plan on splitting up to try and find some animals the first few days and we both talked about carrying a sleeping hammock in case we find ourselves a long way from camp. Just wondering how you guys handle this sort of thing.

[Swede]

Where I hunt there are Black bears, but they do not present a significant hazard. I have heard of them coming in to a camp and raiding it, but it is very rare. I try to keep all food in sealed containers, if it is outside. I have left downed elk out over night and never had a problem. Take reasonable care of your stuff, but do not get too concerned.

[JPC]

Where I hunt there are Black bears, but they do not present a significant hazard. I have heard of them coming in to a camp and raiding it, but it is very rare. I try to keep all food in sealed containers, if it is outside. I have left downed elk out over night and never had a problem. Take reasonable care of your stuff, but do not get too concerned.

This

Plus I would just add to keep your food/kitchen area away from your camp/sleeping area.

Quick story: a 60 year old man had to be evacuated by helicopter after what he claimed to be a bear attack - after further investigation, it was discovered that what actually happened was: the man was camping solo (in Utah) and set his kitchen up next to his tent. In the middle of the night a bear tried to get into his food, but tripped over the tent on the way. Once the bear saw movement in the collapsed tent, it ran off. The man was not injured. The man faked injuries in order to get a ride out. True story.

[saddlesore]

Certain areas in CO do have more bears than others. East side of Sangre De Christos, North of Gunnison to name a few. Best thing to do is beside what has been posted is to hang your food up high suspended from a rope between two trees . I had a sow drag the front quarters of my elk around. Luckily they were frozen solid and she went back to the gut pile.Another time a big boar climbed a tree and was able to pull the hind quarters of a nice bull down that a friend had hung. I have had them rub along the side of my wall tent. So the problem does exist,but is not all that common.

[bald9eagle]

Good deal. I was just thinking about leaving camp for the day. Would I make my lunch and put it in my pack and leave everything else in my tent or hanging? What if I think that I might not make it back that night?

[JPC]

Good deal. I was just thinking about leaving camp for the day. Would I make my lunch and put it in my pack and leave everything else in my tent or hanging? What if I think that I might not make it back that night?

My recommendation: DO NOT put food in your tent. In the backcountry, keep all food at least 200 feet from your sleeping area. If there are not any trees big enough to do a proper bear-hang, at least hang it off the ground away from your tent. Food and/or dirty dishes can attract wildlife. Don't attract them to your tent! I have seen marmots and mountain goats chew through backpacks to get food from them.

Even if you think you WILL make it back to camp before dark, I would take some extra food as well as some extra gear just in case. I'm not talking about tent/sleeping bag kind of gear - just enough to survive the night. If you think there is a good chance you won't make it back until the next day, I might even take a little more.

My unexpected overnight kit includes:
Extra food - (roughly 1 meals worth of snacks)
Extra warm layers - (I can sleep in these with rain gear to keep me from getting too cold)
Flashlight and/or headlamp (with extra batteries)
Lightweight backpacking stove and small pot
Small tarp - (I can sleep under this if it rains, or on top of it if it doesn't rain to help insulate myself from the cold ground)
Water filter or purification tablets

My goal for unplanned overnights is to survive without being too miserable. For planned overnights, I'll take a little more food and gear for a little more comfort. The more you take, the more you have to carry all day. It all comes down to how comfortable you want to be sleeping vs how comfortable you want to be hiking all day.

[Navesgane]

I've never been raided by a bear but have twice by squirrels so now I take the same precautions I do for bear and hang my food and trash from a tree/limb via 550 cord.

[CurlyTail]

Bears in Colorado may be a concern in established National Forest campgrounds, where they can become habituated to humans and their yummy food.

I have not had any problems in short term , temporary camps like Elk Camp. I personally do not hang my food anywhere in Colorado. That may change someday, as black bears and bear encounters are way more common now than they were 20 years ago, before Colorado outlawed spring bear hunting.

If you have a bear encounter, they will be after your food - not you. So just let them have it. Seems reasonable to keep food and camp kitchen away from your tent. I wouldn't do anything else or give it much worry.

[saddlesore]

The exception is if the bear is stalking you. Usually it is a mature boar and they definitely want to eat you.This is why all the survival manuals say to fight off a black bear. Most sows will not even attack when cubs are present (but don't try to find out if it is true) Camp raiding bears are unpredictable. They will fight if threatened or you try to take their food away.

I never leave main camp without enough equipment or supplies to let me stay out overnight. I might not be comfortable, but I won't freeze to death or go hungry

[nrocchio]

If you string your food and trash up in a tree, and don't eat or bring food with you into your tent you should be fine in the rare event a bear comes into camp. I have had one bear in camp in my lifetime of hunting and camping in Colorado. That was 15-20 years ago and my mom was the only one that didn't sleep through it. It didn't bother anyone or destroy anything, but my mom doesn't camp any more haha.

With that being said, I used to never see many bears here. I ran into 4 during last years archery season. It is becoming more common to see them, or run into some fresh sign while hunting. I keep bear spray on my day pack, and take keeping a clean camp a little more seriously now, just in case.

[Backyard]

In the years that I've hunted Co. I've never had a problem in the area I hunt. I have seen bears on almost every trip, never had them in base camp, but I do hang the smellables when I spike camp.
On the other hand tho, when I go to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness near Canada it's much different. There the bears encounter messy campers and get habituated to relating people with dinner. I always hang the food pack there. Have had alot of bears in camp too but never a problem, Blacks scare off rather easy. The rule that works well when hanging is at least 12 ft. up, 6 ft. from the trunk, and 4 ft down from the branch that it's hanging from. Sometimes one might need to string it between 2 trees for lack of branch length.
Mice and little critters seem to do more damage than bears.

[cohunter]

If you're hunting August-September, I'd hang all food in a tree or put it in a bear-safe container... Later in October after they're in bed, no big deal. I know bears are trying their best to pack on the pounds in the fall and eat absolutely everything they stumble across pretty much 24 hours a day. I"m not risking it!

[Lefty]

Tons of bear stuff .

https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/bearsafety.htm