Stealth camping and bears | GTAMotorcycle.com

Stealth camping and bears

timtune

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Most of our camping is stealth camping (vagrant or rough) and lately my buddies have taken to bringing and lighting fireworks before we bed down in order to scare off bears. Anybody know if this actually works?

One morning west of New Liskard we had a guy roll up in a Gator with pails of sweetened popcorn for baiting his bear hunting spots. When I asked if there were many bears around he responded "a healthy population". For this reason I hope the fireworks are a good idea.
 
Unless you can find the fireworks and light them off in the middle of the night while the bear is already in your camp and raiding your stuff (long after you've gone to sleep already) they're not going to do a whole lot IMHO aside from screaming to anyone within a several mile radius that you're there and they may want to come pay you a visit....ie, attracting unwanted attention. If you wake up and a bear is already there there are tactics to deal with that (Google them) and bear spray may be your best bet at that point. Bears are bull headed and not easily scared so firecrackers may just piss them off and end up in a charge.

Best way to avoid them to begin with is to not keep ANY food near your camp...not even a potato chip or an empty can/package from dinner - bears can smell it from a mile away and will beeline it to where their nose takes them which you do not want to be right into camp and up into your face. Your food MUST be outside of camp and placed in a method that bears can't access it - tying it in a bag and hanging it from a rope slung over a high tree branch works well enough to at least keep them from *getting* your food, but they are apt to still be attracted to it which is why it's important to keep it outside of camp.

bear-hang-400x379.jpg
 
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Umm, no. Don't leave food out and string some alarm locks up around the perimeter of your camp:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Hot-120dB-Bike-Cycling-Security-Loud-Siren-Alarm-Padlock-Anti-theft-Lock-/371587626570?hash=item568459364a:g:M6MAAOSwI3RW-0Em

Leave a lantern on and bring a hunting rifle if you're anywhere above Hwy 17. If you don't have a rifle, get some bear spray from Canadian Tire.
 
So you want to stealth camp by setting off fireworks?

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Not so much want as do. We're typically far enough from folks that the fireworks have never attracted attention.As for the food we're bad for leaving stuff out
 
So you want to stealth camp by setting off fireworks?
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Not so much want as do. We're typically far enough from folks that the fireworks have never attracted attention.As for the food we're bad for leaving stuff out

STEALTH
[video=youtube;G2y8Sx4B2Sk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk[/video]

 
.As for the food we're bad for leaving stuff out

You WILL have bear problems then. Don't go without a hefty rifle capable of dropping a bear.

Another concern with fireworks is fire - not going to be such a good idea if you start a forest fire.
 
If you are in a remote area, you want to hang your food as in the illustration.
I heard of a fellow who left his food in the saddlebags of his bike.
The bear laid waste to his ride trying to get at the food.
A good rule of thumb is that if you have no bars on your cell phone, there is no help available.
Take precautions.
 
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You WILL have bear problems then. Don't go without a hefty rifle capable of dropping a bear.

Four years of camping with never a bear seen says different... maybe the fireworks ARE working.
 
Perhaps that was just luck, and nothing to do with effectiveness of fireworks trick... I don't know...

Also, isn't bear spray more effective than firearm?
 
Maybe a rock is needed to keep bears and tigers away

[video=youtube;xSVqLHghLpw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSVqLHghLpw[/video]
 
Maybe a rock is needed to keep bears and tigers away

[video=youtube;xSVqLHghLpw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSVqLHghLpw[/video]
Matthew. I want to buy your rock.

With fireworks I'd be more worried about rudely awakened landowners with shotguns, I would think.
 
You WILL have bear problems then. Don't go without a hefty rifle capable of dropping a bear.

Another concern with fireworks is fire - not going to be such a good idea if you start a forest fire.

Wow just wow, so the answer to going in bear territory and not putting the slightest effort to avoid an encounter is to kill it? I really hope you don't own a gun and stay in motels. People have been doing just fine in Canadian and US national parks where firearms are prohibited.
 
Wow just wow, so the answer to going in bear territory and not putting the slightest effort to avoid an encounter is to kill it? I really hope you don't own a gun and stay in motels. People have been doing just fine in Canadian and US national parks where firearms are prohibited.

How about reading the rest of my responses before reacting to the last one which was reasonably tongue-in-cheek based on the fact that the OP asked for advice and then mostly just tossed it out the window.

And for the record, fireworks are prohibited in Canadian and US national parks as well, however you may also be surprised to learn that there are typically anti-bear/discouragement measures in place in most of them that cover designated camping areas, although being still being proactive campers as a detailed in earlier responses is still essential nonetheless.


Setting off a bunch of fireworks before you go to bed isn't how to be safe.
 
The National Park Rangers are advising hikers in Glacier National Park and other Rocky Mountain parks to be alert for bears and take extra precautions to avoid an encounter.
They advise park visitors to wear little bells on their clothes so they make noise when hiking. The bell noise allows bears to hear them coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidentally sneaking up on them. This might cause a bear to charge.
Visitors should also carry a pepper spray can just in case a bear is encountered. Spraying the pepper into the air will irritate the bear's sensitive nose and it will run away.
It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat.
Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur. Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.
 
The National Park Rangers are advising hikers in Glacier National Park and other Rocky Mountain parks to be alert for bears and take extra precautions to avoid an encounter.
They advise park visitors to wear little bells on their clothes so they make noise when hiking. The bell noise allows bears to hear them coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidentally sneaking up on them. This might cause a bear to charge.
Visitors should also carry a pepper spray can just in case a bear is encountered. Spraying the pepper into the air will irritate the bear's sensitive nose and it will run away.
It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat.
Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur. Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.

You did read it first, right?
 
Going to ride the Trans-Taiga this summer. Will vagrant camp as much as possible (yeah stealth camping isn't really what we do..). Will probably light off some fireworks and be just as careless with our food as we have in the past. I'll let you know how it turns out.
 

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