How real is the threat of bears when camping in and around Alaska / Labrador and what are some handy tips in warding them off. I thought about rigging simple military style trip alarms (made with string and a noise device) around my tent and bike. Bear spray is a must, but any other suggestions?
You really don`t have to worry about it if you stay at campgrounds. The campgrounds have bearproof containers where you keep your food, hygenic toiletries (toothpaste), and anything that smells. If you don`t stay at campgrounds then you better carry a bear container and hang it from a tree with a rope and far away from your campsite. I forget the exact rules, but at least 20 ft high and 10ft. out on a branch. You also should cook and eat away from your campsite also. The trip alarms , I`ve done it before. The only thing it will do for you is give you a little peice of mind while your trying to sleep but will give you a heart attack when the local chipmunk wants to play with it. Bearspray is good for the last resort only. Bottom line is that bears are more afraid of you than you are of them. Has long has you don`t have anything that smells inside your tent you`ll be fine. Be careful not to place your tent on an animal trail either. Bears shouldn`t be your biggest worry BTW. It`s Moose you need to watch out for. I was even told not to go tent camping with members of the opposite sex when your in bear country. Again, you should try and stay at campgrounds, it`s much safer that way. Oh, I almost forgot. You should try and cover your motorcycle seat with something. Those chipmunks find seats tasty. I have seen this happen one time. You should ask this question on the Great White North regional forum.
Thanks for the info. You're now the second person whose warned me about the moose. I guess the question becomes, what do I do about a moose? Campsites are definitely the safest, but I guess I was referring to nights where I end up camping in the wilderness. I read a funny interpretation about bear spray on one of these posts. The guy who posted was actually going to spray it on himself as a last resort. It sounds crazy, but it makes a lot of sense. The bear wouldn't want to attack something it can't stand smelling. Here's another idea - Bear spray is the same as OC spray, or mace, or crushed red pepper oil. My dad used to take powdered red pepper and put it places he didn't want dogs or animals getting into. The animals would smell it and they would immediately be put off, and start sneezing too. But this theory might apply to a campground, too. If you make a little circle of this stuff around your campsite, you might put off any animal that decides to come in for a smell. I don't know, just a thought.
THAT`S A BIG NO-NO. Do not spray yourself, your surrounding area, or anything else. Bear spray gives a smell! Bears will come to investigate that smell. Has I said, Bear spray is good for the last resort only. And make sure your up wind (or hope you are). Your into one uncormfortable night if you spray yourself. Then when that "last resort" comes your bearspray is empty. You can`t even throw a rock up there in the far north without hitting a campground. So no worry`s about not finding one. There`s nothing you can do about a Moose. Just go slow and hope one doesn`t run out in front of you. Them Moose are mean as hell. They would rather stomp your head in than look at you. I got attacked by three of them all in a ten minute period- Welcome to Alaska!
The guy was a bozo!! If you have ever been within 2 ft of bear spray, you will automatically start coughing, your eyes will tear & it will be hard to breathe. Keep your food up in between 2 trees (most campsites have a pole for this) Do not!! cook aromatic foods, try & stick with dry camp food. Clean up your camp of cooking utensils, clothes, etc. Grizzlys will generally leave you alone unless they feel you are a threat. Play Dead!! with the Grizzly. Black bears on the other hand are a completely different animal. The black bear will attack, sometimes for no reason. Make yourself as big as possible & if they attack, FIGHT THEM OFF!! with whatever tactics you can. Never get in between any bear & it's cub. In saying all that....Bears are only a threat if you are stupid. I have also never been confronted by a moose & I have spent most of my life in that type of country. Have fun & as a last case defense for bears....when they open their mouth to bite you, grab the tounge; I was told this paralyses them. kidding, but if it works, let me know....
I'm no expert but what I've read, it's the aerosol form of pepper spray directly in the eyes/nose that drives them off. I read that bears in Yellowstone learned to turn their heads and elsewhere bears come back to lick the spray off whatever it got on. Sounds like it is a last resort defense after you've shit yourself at the imminent prospect of being eaten. The sprays have a range of 30ft. or so but you have to be fairly accurate and have the balls to wait until it is almost on you. You can't be just spraying it around your campsite like it's Glade air freshener after you just farted. Just what I read anyway...
I'll have to read up again... play dead for grizzly, fight black bears. When do I bluff? Blacks only or both? Black bears are excellent climbers, grizzly less so. Oh this is so complicated, I'm staying home...
Haha, this is getting pretty funny. Okay, I didn't mean spray it on you like you would Axe body spray. I mean if the darn thing is chasing you. I don't know, it was just a funny blurb I read on someone else's post. About spreading pepper around the tent, I still think this would work. Screw it, I'm hooking up some claymores around my tent, anything gets close and they get a free ride to animal heaven.
I live in Iowa, never really lived in Moose Country. I guess some people have all the luck some don`t. I was almost cut down in Montana by a Moose one time. Then three of them in Alaska. I think I have hit order on me. What the hell did I do?:huh BTW, Moose by far kill more people than bears do.
Bears are conditioned to look for food where people are, in established camp sites. Don't cook where you will camp. Keep your food away from where you sleep. You ain't gonna see any bears unless you smear yourself with beacon fat.
Let me say first, all my info is based on research, I have never been attacked. However, I did the research prior to doing some solo hiking in Brown Bear country a few years ago. Just weeks before I left on the trip a man was attacked, killed and eaten by a mother Brown and her cubs in the area I was going to be hiking in. They caught and destroyed the bears a week or so before I left on my trip. I did in fact see both Blacks and my first ever Brown Bear in the wild on that trip. I had seen many a Black over the years, that was my first Grizzle in the wild, they are fuckn huge! Every bear gave me, not even the slightest bit of attention. I did round a blind corner on a trail and come upon a young couple and she was crying hysterically for just moments before a bear had bluff charged them when they surprised it as they were rounding the blind turn on the trail. My research a couple years indicated that although there is some truth to the above categorization between Brown and Black Bear attacks, the real indicator of what you should do in any given situation is really a response to what has led up to the attack. Some things I learned; Bear attacks are very very rare and if you are worried about them, stay outta the woods Food handling is critical to avoid an encounter in camp, read up on the dos and donts Do not run from a bear, do not climb trees to escape Any attack in camp at night, Brown or Black is a fight for your life Any bear, Black or Brown that has tracked you and attacks is a fight for your life. If you surprise a Brown Bear and they charge and attack, that is the play dead time. There are bunches more; but the bottom like, they are wild animals and therefore their exact reaction in any encounter cant be completely predicted.
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Considering how close Timothy Treadwell was to so many bears and how much interaction he had, I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did. But maybe that's what he was trying to show, that bears are not the mindless killers that so many people portray them to be. If I remember correctly, he was killed by a rogue bear that was overly aggressive. I think the best advice is to keep food away from the tent, carry bear spray in the event of an attack, and give bears plenty of place. I'd rather go out by a bear attack in the wild outdoors, than by a heart attack sitting in an office.
They say that brown bear scat can be easily identified by all of the little bells, plaid flannel, and pieces of pepper spray cans contained therein!
Half the fun is having some unknowns as part of the trip. In northern canada I have seen 10 bear and cub pairs in a day of riding back roads. I did not camp there. How much red pepper could you carry to put a circle around your camp every day? Buy a new tent and never cook or store food in it or brush your teeth around it. If you are traveling by motorized device travel till the campsite feels good. Another idea is to camp a ways away from the beer drinking fryed food eating camper. That way when you hear screams in the night you can hop on your bike in your skivvies and ride around for a while then come back to camp. I have lived in the hills of montana at a location called "bear gulch" and had more than a few close enconters. You would not belive how fast a black bear can move in the roughest terrain while carrying a 30 gallon garbage can. And guess what ...some of these bears are not intimidated by loud noises like close proximity gun shots. Think about those bicyclists that regulary ride the Dempster and the Haul road.
Correct me if I`m wrong, but don`t you have to stay awake in order to set off a claymore mine? A Claymore mine will do nothing but piss off a Grizzly.