Bear Safety Tips

If you plan to go backpacking in any of the National Parks or National Forests in the United States or in Canada you are likely to be making plans to go backpacking in bear country.

These backpacking tips are not intended to scare you or discourage you from backpacking in such places. In fact, the opposite is true. Wilderness is where the bears live; and wilderness is where the best hiking and backpacking can be experienced.

Knowledge is your best defense against unpleasant encounters with bears. So here are a few cautions to be aware of.

Bear Safety Tips

1. Never feed bears or any other wild creatures. Most bears are happy to live and find their food the way their ancestors did before humans came on the scene. But, some bears have become habituated to human food and have, therefore, become a bit dangerous. Don’t invite these freeloaders to supper. They have, pretty much to the last one, very bad manners.

2. Never camp near a carcass. In so doing you may just be inviting yourself to supper with a bear. Even if you are invited to such a meal, turn down the invitation. Find a new place to sleep and dine at least a half-mile away.

3. Don’t camp in your kitchen. Do your cooking and eating several yards downwind of your tent.

4. Don’t set up a pantry in your bedroom. Never store any food in your tent. Bears have been known to rip tents apart to get at the food that they have come to love.

Let me tell you this. It’s a scary thing to have a bear trying to get into your tent – especially when you’re in it. I once came upon a lonely camp site in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that was torn to shreds. Bits of a sleeping bag, a tent and a backpack were strewn all about. Only a bear could have done what I witnessed. It was a chilling sight.

4. Don’t cook or eat in your bedroom. Never eat in your tent. Even if you remove all scraps and trash after cooking or eating in your tent, the smell of food will permeate yout tent and everything in it and create an open invitation for bears to come and investigate.

5. Don’t potty in your sleeping quarters. Establish your bathroom several yards from your tent – downwind.

6. Cache all food out of the reach of bears. Hikers and backpackers have become, by necessity, quite ingenious with respect to keeping their food safe from bears. Many methods exist and some work better than others.

In many places, especially in California, the bears have come pretty close to matching the ingenuity the hikers. I remember waking up one morning while backpacking in Yosemite with my father and my brothers to find the backpack of one of my brothers ripped open and devoid of food. Luckily we were on the last day of our multi-day hike.

7. Store any other items that have a scent away from your tent. This is as close as I come to poetry. The best practice is to seal things like lip balm, empty food wrappers, all trash (remember to pack it all out), used feminine napkins and sunscreen in plastic bags and store them with the food cache. Beware, even the clothes you cook your food in can attract bears.

8. Set up a food caching system well in advance of starting your hike. Develop your system of caching food before you start driving to the trailhead and test it out in your backyard.

One of the most reliable food caching systems is the bear proof canister. You can find them online by googling “bear canisters”. In some National Parks, Yosemite for one, these canisters are required. They will add a bit of weight to your backpack, but they will also give you a hefty dose of peace of mind.

If you are an ultralight backpacker, put together an ultralight bear bag system. Here is a bear bag post that will teach you the steps.