Overlanding with bears?

[MOAK]

Are you guys insinuating that you're not the food? I was talking about black bears.

Good luck to yall in grizz land.

And it doesn't matter how clean your camp site is. They have a foot long nose, and I can smell your Cheetoz from here. They can smell bugs a foot under ground.

Well, we just camped for 7 of the past 9 weeks is heavy grizzly bear territory and did not see a single one. A black bear wandered by our camp within about 50 yards one afternoon, but because he did not associate people with free food, he just kept on sauntering by. Friends of ours continually mention that a bear encounter is less likely than being struck by lightning, to which I always reply, there’s a good reason for that. No one stands out in the middle of a field during a lightning storm. Sporting events are postponed, golphers go to the clubhouse and wait it out. Farmers come in off the field. Imagine if no one took cover. There’d be a crap load of lighting strike deaths every month. Same with bears, if we don’t take proper precautions we’d be reading about several deaths per month. I’ll continue keeping a clean camp.

 

[ZombieCat]

Black bears are no joke, either…

Hiker snapped pictures of bear before fatal attack in West Milford

Darsh Patel, 22, took pictures of the approaching bear just before the fatal attack, authorities say

www.nj.com

https://amp.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article276616681.html

List of fatal bear attacks in North America - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[grubworm]

bears are just like people and have their own problems they are going thru. we met this bear in yellowstone and he was going thru a divorce and had just lost his cave and half of his honey reserves...

 

[Ethan N]

Black bears are no joke, either…

Hiker snapped pictures of bear before fatal attack in West Milford

Darsh Patel, 22, took pictures of the approaching bear just before the fatal attack, authorities say

www.nj.com

https://amp.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article276616681.html

List of fatal bear attacks in North America - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Sheesh that happened right when I moved here. Never heard the story.

My brother is a Park Ranger, worked in VA, GA, UT, I think a couple more places. He carries a paintball gun on duty, and earned himself the name "Walks With Bears." Only time I've ever encountered a bear was driving through WI. Luckily I kept it moving, haha.

 

[Loanrangie]

I've tried overlanding with bears but Koala's just wont sit still

 

[Jonathon]

I grew up in bear country. Also have experience hiking in bear country. First thing is don't cook or eat where you sleep. If you know you are going to be in bear country make sure to invest in bear proof containers. I would start here Bear Resistant Products - Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee they should also have some good resources to go through. When backpacking always hang your food away from camp and between 2 trees. Also I would recommend bear spray to keep close by. The biggest thing is separating food from where you sleep. and be mindful of wiping your hands on your cloths when cooking or eating.

 

[Dunnage Garage]

Thanks for the input

 

[rgallant]

Living in BC black bears are incredibly common, everywhere. The biggest thing is being aware of where you are going to camp. If there is a lot of garbage on the ground, or bear crap move on. As noted most bear problems are bears used to eating human garbage/food, older less capable predatory bears figuring humans are easy prey and territorial attacks. Territorial can be cubs around or a big Grizzly not wanting you there, the standard rule is just back off if possible. Older lame bears can be a serious problem but tend be slower and have much smaller territories.

Bear spray is a high success rate, against bluff charges , against, predatory attacks much less so.

As to firearms read about bears, the problems stopping a bear in full charge and the speed of bear. Grizzlies top out a 35 MPH and blacks at 30 MPH, sprinting and have known to keep near that up for 30 minutes to an hour, now that is in thier prime and fully fed. Some estimates have Grizzles and Blacks covering 100m in 8 to 9 seconds from a standing start for reference.

There is a reason 12 gauges with bear slugs and large caliber carbines are preferred, and even then you get maybe 2 to 3 shots off at best. My personal just so I know is 2 aimed rounds from my 12 gauge pump, if I am in a ready position. A third is possible but the muzzle is pretty much inside the bear at that point

 

[Scott_3ba81a]

"But I wouldn't want to scare you." That's my favorite quote from you, Rob! You make a lot of good points, and if you're overlanding alone, situational awareness is paramount! I am new to overlanding but not to camping in the woods with bears. I have never encountered or seen one, and I will do fine never seeing one, except from a great distance.