Cliff Jacobson gave an entertaining but somewhat frustrating presentation on "bear-proofing your camp" at Canoecopia this weekend.  He's a GREAT speaker, but he spent 90% of his time making 2 points: bears are smart and bears climb trees: these are two important premises to remember when bearproofing your camp, but I was hoping for a few more specific recommendations!  With only 5 minutes left he said, "I don't hang my food pack, I hide it; and I control the odor of my food..." Then the lights came up and the show was over   

He gave several book references:
Bear Attacks -- Their Causes and Avoidance (Herrero)
Bear Encounter Survival Guide (Shelton)
Expedition Canoeing (Jacobson)

Has anyone read these?  Do they contain the specifics that were missing at the lecture? 

We had a bear in our camp last year on Polly L...first time in 20 years.  It was actually kind of exciting, but it made me more curious to know what to do and what NOT to do.

prouboy

OLDSALT-this is what I do 2....But I vacuum bag rather than ziplocks and the food pack has two plastic liners bags-wet food is a drag. The garbage is kept to a minimum and double bagged in extra ziplocks and plastic bags-dry garbage is e-zer, and EVERYTHING is packed out. I also use the pot alarm technique (one can use beaners and pots even when hanging foodpacks) or stash the pack under the canoe. I also ask for the problem bear reports, so I know what I am walking into, forest service and outfitters that covering your entry point is a good place to start. I hang the food when I have a heads up that there is a Bear that has been habituated I also do not leave my food pack and such unattended, even on the portages, if I have a report. Polly is notorious, actually the lady chain....Heads up on the busy routes/lakes. On the busy lakes I hang the pack and am very aware of my personal goals, do not contribute/create a problem bear. I am sure that there is much info on the levels of aggression regarding Black Bears and all of the "dos and donts", dont forget that an understanding of their biology is very helpful too. I have had Bears in camp, portages, and encountered them on backpacking trips, I think the most important things is to keep your head.......DAAAH!  and we are the culprits in the creation of problem Bears. Use your ears and eyes and noses on the portages and when cooking.....I have headded a couple of bear experiences off just by being familiar(accidentally) with what smacking bear lips sound like! I wonder if there any audio tapes of black bears-how about the bear center as a resource?- isn't there one in Ely or is that Hovland? Heard the bear noises on the Kelso Mountain portage once and smelled the odor of rotten food the food pack did not leave my side nor did my 4 year old and a week latter we saw the bear on the return trip swimming across Zeineth(are island camps bear free u be the judge). I have also had a BIG BEAR in camp on Beth, saw him skirt the camp during the baking of a pan of brownies the food pack was spread over a 100 ft2 area and my 2 yrs old was watching the fire.....needless to said I got a lot of looks the next morning-I assume that was from all of the big noise and yelling I did when I walked the Bear out of camp-The big boy was not real fast on his departure-that made me mad and the noise reflected that-But I knew what I was walking into as I had been warned from the folks at Sawbill that there was a problem bear on the Lady chain-latter that summer there were packs being taken of the portages by what I assume to be the same BIG BEAR, great potential for the bear hunters as this guy was the biggest black I have ever seen including the trips to Ontario. I got to know the bear aggression sounds, sort off the same sound as the sucking sound that is made when walking through deep mud, on a superior hiking trail trip when my group came across a sow with cubs on one memorial day weekend-I needed to retie the boots and when I came across them they were snapping flash pictures of the sow-25 yds off the trail-and the two tiny cubs that were in a tree-needless to say I got them moving again and left the moma  and baby bears in peace. Well, I guess those are my stories and input....be responsible and educate yourselves. Dont forget about wannagans and other "bear proof" food containers-I also use nalgene jars when I pack the food......Here is another ? Does one respond to big cats the same as bears-there are differences and they should be discussed.....PREPARATION for all of the POSSIBILITIES!

Puckster wrote on Mar 16^th, 2009 at 3:05am:

Bears spend even more time on the ground than in trees...so I like to hang my food pack.  They also enjoy swimming so island sites are not sure to keep them away either.

Go snow dog!

db wrote on Mar 21^st, 2009 at 7:05am:


And consider this. A bloodhound is able to track a human being by sensing the trail of sloughed dead skin cells left behind even a fast running person. If you have any allusions of "smell proofing" your food, camp or even your tracks forget it. If a bear comes into your camp it will know what you had for dinner, and if you opened your food box in camp mr. bear probably knows what meals you have planned for the rest of your trip. Being opportunistic he probably evaluates the strength of the smells and then determines if it is worth the effort to try and capitalize on it based on past experiences. Keep the smells to a minimum and keep the food relatively inaccessible and you might win the game most of the time.