Nighttime Bear Advice

imported
#1 
									Will a bear leave if you make a lot of noise and yell?  Two nights ago I was under the stars near Beahms Gap. I woke to hear something near my hanging food bag. I laid there and eventually it left. The next night I woke again. Not able to get my food, the animal then started coming towards me.  It kept coming after I yelled. I flipped on my light to see a large deer. The deer came back twice that night. Should you challenge an bear at night or just keep quiet?

									_Stewie_
#2 
									Bears do not like loud noises, so make a lot of them.

Of course, do not approach bears!!!

									_just hikin'_
#3 
									...is you in your mummy. Gulp! Of course this all begs the question, does Stewie taste like chicken?



									_Postcard_
#4 
									Yell at every last noise in the night.  If a bear is sloping you out, best to scare him quick before he doesn't consider you a threat.  I get out of my tent and yell.  I gave heart attacks to dozens of deer already.  You probably will never have beer trouble at night, but don't just lay there.  Be proactive getting that guy out of camp.

									_guino_
#5 
									Flip on your light first. Don't yell if it's a deer. DO yell if it's a bear and isn't already on top of you. That said, most bears that wander into camp are conditioned to human presence (sights, sounds, smells) and, by default, are less likely to scare off easily. On a popular trail like the AT, a bear in camp would be less of a happenstance encounter (for hiker or bear) and is probably evidence that you're camped along his nightly 'marauding route.' He wants your food and your food alone. He probably also knows you don't pose a serious threat, regardless of your antics. Ergo, there's a good chance of a stalemate, if you're vigilant, protect your food, and make a nuisance of yourself throughout the night in order to prevent him moving in close enough to overcome whatever natural instinct of avoidance remains. Don't expect to see the last of him until morning, regardless of how fast the rump may appear to bound away from your headlamp's gloaming. Usually the safest bet is to admit defeat early, at the first sign of a bear's stubbornness, and move on a mile or two in search of another camp.

									_blisterfree_
#6 
									Incidentally, one of the downsides to bear-bagging is that, while it might prevent the bear from getting your food, it won't keep the bear from trying. And he has all night to go at it. Meanwhile, you're probably not sleeping much. Of course, hanging food often fails as well, and more often than not unless it's done correctly. AT shelters with food hangers are engineered to be fruitless for the bear's pillaging ways, and the bear knows this and learns to avoid these. Not so with the random camp in the woods, to which the bear will tend to follow his nose and test your methods against his ursine ingenuity, motivated by the memory of lazy campers and easy spoils that preceded you.

Of course, no one is advocating sleeping with your food. It’s just that the alternatives are often no better. The best bet is to avoid an encounter in the first place by: not cooking in camp, storing your food in a way that minimizes odors, and avoiding well established sites in favor of stealth camping in pristine spots well back from the trail and well away from shelters. (If not using the shelters.)

I’m actually not sure how much of a bear problem exists on the AT these days, outside of the occasional ‘hot spots.’ In any case, the same also goes for mice. Either choose the hardened arrangements at the shelters, or camp well away from them in areas that aren’t on their maps. And yes, both the mice and bears have (mental) maps and will hang near the easy spoils once they’re ruined for them.

									_blisterfree_
#7 
									its not worth the loss of sleep to be constantly vigilant about your food.  Spend some extra time hanging your food and hope for the best.  If the bear does get your food, its not worth trying to get it back.  Ear plugs are the best solution.

I’ve only had a bear get at my food once, and thats because I forgot some chocolate covered coffee beans in my backpack side pocket. Generally speaking mice and other critters are a much bigger problem.

									_jalan_
#8 
									If you are awake when a bear comes a calling, make lots of noise, shine your light, bangs some pans.  Don't ever make a move towards the bear.  If he has you food he might try to defend his "kill".  I would also make sure you are a reasonable distance away when you make your noise.  A started bear might react by wrong the wrong way (ie towarsd you).

Also, you won’t know if the bear has cubs and where they might be.

That said, most of the bears along the AT, to my experiences, are cowards and will run at the first sign of a human.

									_jalan_
#9 
									A number of bears along the AT have learned to shake the cables for hanging food hard enough to burst open the food bags. The forest service has a publication on dealing with black bears that states "hanging your food only delays the inevitable".

									_sunshine_