Over the years I have generally taken a conservative approach to avoid bears. Whenever possible I have cooked dinner on the trail before making camp, I try to stealth camp in places that bears don't habitually go, and for awhile my food was stored inside an OP bag (often inside a canister) 50-100 feet from where I sleep. I typically have not cooked under my shelter because I was concerned that food odor would be attached to my shelter. The only thing I don't typically do is strictly follow Philmont's requirement of having separate sleeping clothing to be sure there was no food odor on my sleeping clothing.

These steps have resulted in no bear visits when I have done all these things. But there are trips when I haven't been so careful and also wasn't bothered by bears. Maybe I have just been lucky. When I think about it, all but one of my bear encounters (which was on a trail in the late afternoon) have been when I was at a heavily used destinations with habitual bears. So I am wondering how much a difference these steps have made. Could it be as simple as avoid bear hangouts? What's the real risk of cooking in camp or under your shelter.

I have read that the bear nose is much more sensitive than a dogs. This makes me wonder about two things:

1) How far away can a bear detect food. If you are cooking with a slight wind, how close does a bear need to be to have a high likelihood of smelling your food.

2) If you have a food cache separate from a shelter than was cooked under can the bear tell the difference between the left over smell from earlier cooking and what is actual food that they might want to eat now.

Thoughts?

--Mark

Edited by verber on 11/07/2009 15:41:50 MST.

I also follow the guidelines you lay out and I have yet to have a visit by maurauding nighttime Sierra bears after dozens on trips between Yosemite and Sequoia. But my theory why I've been lucky is that I generally smell too bad even for a bear!

"These steps have resulted in no bear visits when I have done all these things. But there are trips when I haven't been so careful and also wasn't bothered by bears. Maybe I have just been lucky."

Mark,

Those precautions are good general practice. Lucky when you didn't follow them? Perhaps. But that also has a lot to do with where you were(lots of bears or few to none), wind direction, what you were cooking(highly odiferous vs low odor), how carefully you clean up, to name a few possibilities.

In addition to these precautions, another technique is to pack cold food for days when you know you're going to be in bear country in addition to eating early and moving on before camping. Also be sure to wash your hands thoroughly right after eating, before you have a chance to transfer odors to your clothes, pack, etc, and maybe not use toothpaste(if you normally do-I don't). Just some thoughts.

Edited by ouzel on 11/07/2009 18:06:14 MST.

Mark -

I think you are simply mitigating risk and in my mind that's a good thing.

I do not eat in my tent but I do eat a few hundred yards from my tent. I don't change my clothes after cooking because I don't want to carry extra clothes however I also think that a if a bear can smell cooking odors on my clothes it can also smell my human stench and hopefully won't bother me.

I think we have to plan (as you do) for bears that act in a manner that is consistent with that of most bears and just hope we don't run into a bad news bear. Like humans, there are bears that do not act within normal parameters, and these are the ones that worry me and you just can't prepare for those guys.

You just have to hope you never run into one of the bad-ass bears like this one . I remember this report as it was not far from where I live and I always think of these types of encounters when I hear somebody say that Black Bears are afraid of humans and will just run away if you make some noise. You can't plan for this kind of weird behavior but we do have to be as bear safe as we can to avoid unnecessary encounters.

Your precautions make sense in county where bears are habituated (read that "spoiled"). Except in the Smokies and Shenandoah, I have not had bear problems by following the simple expedient of cooking away from where I camp and hanging all food or using bear boxes when available. "Away" can mean a few yards. Bears that do not associate food with humans don't seem to try, but I would not keep food where I sleep in any case. I suppose I am saying, know the bears in your country. Sequestering food is always appropriate. Other measures are prudent if local bears are habituated to human food.

I heard that a bear can smell 6 times better than a blood hound dog and I saw a tv show where a blood hound tracked a person driving down a freeway to the exit they took. That tells me alot.

Except for the times when I camp in areas known to have bear problems, areas where canisters are required, or when camping in national parks, I never take any special precautions regarding food storage. Golden Manteled Ground Squirrels notwithstanding -the buggers ate a hole in my beloved Evolution 2P.

I have backpacked in the northern Sierra -Emigrant Wilderness to Mt. Shasta- for more than forty years and have only had bears in camp once. In 1995 I was leading a party of 14 along the PCT, south of Carson Pass at Lost Lakes. We saw the bears coming and secured our food, etc. The bears -two of them- prowled around camp all night but didn't disturb my sleep.

In my experience wild bears don't like people and will leave the area. In 1986, on a solo hike, three bears roamed the area around Lake Winifred -north of Desolation Wilderness- from sundown to sunup -growling occasionally- and never came into my camp.

At Miller Flat, on the Lost Coast, I personally watched bears ravage a camp where canisters were not used. We had canisters and left them out with our pots on top, as an alarm system, hoping to get some bear photos. The bears didn't disturb our set up. Some of us believe that the bears learned to recognize the canisters and don't bother to try getting food.

Whether you see them or not, the bears are everywhere. Be aware but don't be scared.