Where do you store your food, Is it safe to store it in the car?

krax said:
I store food in the vehicle, but I don't cook directly out of the back so I'm not too worried about the scents. I keep my key fob nearby when I go to sleep. My theory is that if an animal is curious about the vehicle, a sudden noise/light from it would discourage the animal. Probably less effective on bears that are used to people.

I do hang a bear bag when backpacking.
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Hmm, good to know. I think that definitely helps make a difference, but it still makes me wonder since I doubt these storage systems are 100% sealed. Maybe it's just me over thinking it, but just a genuine question.


dblack said:
Very safe to leave the food in vehicle.

Having said that precautions still need to be made. Seal food in the cooler, in bags and dry boxes etc. Don't leave a dirty camp. Don't dump your food leavings around camp and don't dump dish soap, toothpaste etc close to sleeping quarters and they'll leave you alone.

Leave your garbage around camp and yogi will be sniffing around looking for more. He may smell the things in the car and be curious but it's unlikely.

If he starts knocking on the window you should have time to at least shine your flashlight in his eyes before he gets in. :-)
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Seal food in the cooler, but are these items/storage systems 100% sealed? I feel like while they do seal a good amount of scent, I'm worried animals can still smell it, since i've heard stories of people leaving unopened food attracting animals. Definitely, I don't dump anything around when I go out. I always have food stored in a bag hung on a tree, same with trash.
 
The only 100% effective solution is staying home. And where's the fun in that?

It's just risk mitigation really. Keep food as sealed as we can and take practical precautions. There will always be smells and trace but if we minimize the risks we should be ok.

I've only had 3 bear encounters in camp. 1 was a bunch of drunken fools left their food out. Yogi came in at night and ate a loaf of bread. He woke up a tent full of girls and Their screaming scared the crap out of that poor bear.

The second, I had everything put away and for some dumb reason left my dish soap out. Yogi came around and ate it. Oops.

The last was my neighbour leaving his bar-b-que out overnight. Yogi knocked it over and licked it clean.

The one that bugs me the most is that my parents insist on leaving their garbage outside overnight. Anytime I'm with them I take a sweep around after they've gone to bed and put the garbage bag in the bed of their truck (under the tonneau cover). They've never had an issue but it's still annoying.
 
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dblack said:
The only 100% effective solution is staying home. And where's the fun in that?

It's just risk mitigation really. Keep food as sealed as we can and take practical precautions. There will always be smells and trace but if we minimize the risks we should be ok.
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You have a point. I know there will always be smells/traces, but I just wondered what you guys did since it seems like there really isn't any minimization of risks if you left it in the fridge, from my point of view. Just an interesting thought that passed my mind when seeing some builds
 
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In my world you never leave food or anything that has an smell, like sunscreen in your vechile when in bear country. I have seen first hand what happens and each time, the vechile was not drivable after a bear encounter. That said, I wont leave anything a bear might recognize. Having a window ripped out overnight for leaving an empty grocery plastic bag on the back seat. That was a long drive home in 100 + degree weather.
 
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Gary Stevens said:
In my world you never leave food or anything that has an smell, like sunscreen in your vechile when in bear country. I have seen first hand what happens and each time, the vechile was not drivable after a bear encounter. That said, I wont leave anything a bear might recognize. Having a window ripped out overnight for leaving an empty grocery plastic bag on the back seat. That was a long drive home in 100 + degree weather.
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Ouch, couldn't even imagine driving home like that...
Yea, I may just go back to my normal roots and leave all food out of the car then.
 
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Gary Stevens said:
In my world you never leave food or anything that has an smell, like sunscreen in your vechile when in bear country. I have seen first hand what happens and each time, the vechile was not drivable after a bear encounter. That said, I wont leave anything a bear might recognize. Having a window ripped out overnight for leaving an empty grocery plastic bag on the back seat. That was a long drive home in 100 + degree weather.
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I second that.... My brother left snacks from the drive open in his backseat. The bear tore off the door handle, all the rubber gaskets around the car and finally broke window to get it... The door was bent enough that it couldn't be opened.

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So there are kind of a few different scenarios being discussed I think.

Let's say that you're going hiking. You drive to the trail head and set out from there on foot. I agree. Never leave food in an unattended vehicle.

Let's say that you're overlanding in your Skookum little rig with an rtt on the top. You fry up your grits for dinner, clean up and sit by the fire. Now your choices are:
1. String your 60qt yeti cooler 20' up into a tree 100yards from camp. If you can do it, it's a great solution.
2. Stuff the yeti cooler under the vehicle. Not a bad solution. But I don't like it. Too good and smelly, right on the ground at yogi eye level.
3. Throw the cooler in the back of the vehicle. If you have a hard cover on your truck it should be ok. If you have a soft tonneau cover, then it's not so good, and not advisable. If you have no cover but a raised rack that your rtt sits on, then it's the next best thing to useless for protection. If you have a hard cap or an enclosed SUV, then again it should be ok overnight in the cargo area.
4. Throw your cooler in the cab of a truck/front seat. Another good option. Easier than the tree. Better than a fabric tonneau cover and better than under the truck. Throw a blanket over it if you're thinking someone or something can identify it by sight.

Again we're talking overnight while you're in the tent. Or if you wander off for a day hike during the day. The goal being to minimize scents and enticements to a bear coming into camp.

If you're hunting then the rules change. You've got fresh meat and smells all over the place. Get that 600lbs of moose meat a ways out of camp and in the trees off the ground.

So what do you think? Which would you choose? Or did I miss any options?
 
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So both times that I witnessed the aftermath of a bear going after food left in a vechile the following happened. Bear rips off passenger side door, door is on one hinge or on the ground. Bear rips out driver seat, completely out, along with steering wheel that must have gotten in the way. Bear rips out back seat, completely to get into trunk, where cooler is. Front passenger seat is ripped to shreads in the process. Various windows shattered. The amount of distruction was increadible. Outside of the car was dented badly where the bear made it first attack. It is not worth leaving food in the car, the bear will rip your car apart to get. You going shoo bear shoo will not get you anywhere. Don't think banging pots together will make a bit of difference with a hungry bear. The first time I saw was at a trail head, when the ranger showed up, the car was tower away with a ticket the Ranger wrote on it.
 
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Gary Stevens said:
So both times that I witnessed the aftermath of a bear going after food left in a vechile the following happened. Bear rips off passenger side door, door is on one hinge or on the ground. Bear rips out driver seat, completely out, along with steering wheel that must have gotten in the way. Bear rips out back seat, completely to get into trunk, where cooler is. Front passenger seat is ripped to shreads in the process. Various windows shattered. The amount of distruction was increadible. Outside of the car was dented badly where the bear made it first attack. It is not worth leaving food in the car, the bear will rip your car apart to get. You going shoo bear shoo will not get you anywhere. Don't think banging pots together will make a bit of difference with a hungry bear. The first time I saw was at a trail head, when the ranger showed up, the car was tower away with a ticket the Ranger wrote on it.
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Any solutions come to mind?
 
Can I add trash to this discussion as well? All the cool kids have Trasheroos, but hanging your trash on the back of your vehicle cant be a good idea.
 
The biggest thing to remember is you're in the woods. You're going to come across animals. While everyone has basically beaten a horse to death stating the same stuff over and over, a few threw in comments that I think need to be capitalized on. You will "Hopefully" wake up before it gets to bad. Bears hate, hate, hate, loud sudden noises. Airhorns, car alarms, can all be deterrents unless you are storing raw game meat you just shot. Then really good luck.

There is a good chance if you're keeping it in a cooler and in your vehicle or under your RTT in a truck bed. They're going to get your scent first. Unless this bear is starving theres a chance he will be sniffing and passing on through. In the event of an emergency do see the https://www.overlandbound.com/forums/threads/camping-with-firearms.1427/ thread.

REI did a fantastic article though on the food side of the house. https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/food-handling-storage.html

Hope I shared some insights.
 
I know there's always debate about whether or not a firearm is a good deterrent, and I want to stay mostly out of that. If you're trained and confident with a gun, by all means, use that for bear protection. For everyone else, including many gun owners like me who shoot infrequently and casually, I recommend sticking with bear spray. I think for most people (maybe not most people here, since there seem to be a lot of gun enthusiasts), it'll be much easier to deploy it effectively...
 
dblack said:
Any solutions come to mind?
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I use a trailer pin lock with my RTIC cooler. At worst if the bear rips it open I have less than a 200.00 loss unlike those that spent 600.00 foolish on that Yeti cooler that now the bear has taken into the rabbit hole. I also cable lock it to keep it in camp



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I'll echo some of what was said here. The times we've camped in bear country we haven't had any issues keeping the cooler/fridge and other food in the vehicle. However when we've left coolers outside we've had raccoons get into them.

Like @BillyBadly mentioned, if you're in bear country and are thinking you're going to be above the cooler/fridge I would have bear spray or a firearm (if comfortable) at the very least. I also wouldn't suggest going after the bear with the spray or firearm if you're already in a safe location. Losing the food and cooler/fridge is less expensive than your life.
 
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While we're on bears, has anybody had an encounter with bears while you had your dogs in camp with you?

Granted neither one of mine are the least bit dangerous, but they're both large dogs and one has a pretty intimidating bark if you don't know he's a big old baby. But is the scent from 2 dogs enough to keep away a bear? Or should I stick with 12 gauge slugs?

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Precautions are all good but in that case where you need to deal with a bear your best friend is a large can of bear spray. Personally I have never needed to deal with a bear that wasn't easily chased away but always have a non-lethal solution, forging bear is a lot different then an attacking bear where lethal solution might be the right action.
 
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