Those campers refer to that as a photo op.Originally Posted by wolfywolfy
One more time. You can’t fix stupid.
How many here have visited the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem? How many of you were privileged to view a grizzly or black bear? My wife and I spent a week in Yellowstone in May. We were fortunate enough to glimpse a grizzly about a half mile away with the aid of 10x50 binoculars. We also saw 3 black bears at much closer range. I don’t recall seeing any dogs, leashed or off leash, in the Park.
I still have to wonder why bears are a problem on the East and West coasts but not in the middle of the country?
Wayne
Sounds like classic " dog riles up bear and runs back to owner with bear in pursuit"
By "middle of the country" do you mean the Midwest states? If so, I can think of a simple answer: lack of bear population.
i think he means, in essence, the rockies. especially the northern half.
my answer would be lack of human population.
my further answer would be there are incidents there as well, they just dont get as much national attention and there have been none recently that are fresh in our minds. but they do happen.
fact of the matter is if this incident happened in montana none of us would be discussing it.
Ok that makes more sense. I guess by living in the Midwest, we usually think of our location as the "middle"
And I would agree with your assessment about the human population in the rockies.
Wonder how many non-"Allmighty" IGBC approved ursacks have to fail under proper use before Tom issues a recall on those bags? Seems a recall and replacement program would do more for the brand's public image and for the bears and humans who are relying on ursack to perform.
Certain regions of Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota have pretty healthy black bear populations. Unfortunately using unleashed dogs to chase/tree bears is part of some legal hunting practices.
I know all dog owners are not this irresponsible, but I'm not usually a fan of random dogs just running up to me while hiking. Never had an issue, but just wish their owners used more thought while out on the trail.
We camped at Pebble Creek Campground in the Lamar Valley for 3 nights. The day we arrived there were 2 black bears in the meadow about 100 yards from our camp. Use of the bear boxes was mandatory, leaving food in your vehicle was a no-no and the rangers would come through daily and talk to us about bears. They ticketed people who left food on the picnic tables and several times chased bison out of the campground by shooting them in the butt with a slingshot to encourage them to move along. We all carried bear spray with us. The rangers take bears very seriously in the park which I imagine is why more campers don't get in trouble. I lost count of the number of bears we saw driving around the park.
If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.
Don't know but I would guess this is another case of "my dog doesn't need a leash, its under verbal control"! Until it goes after a bear and shuts down a park.
I totally agree with you. The bears know where they are safe and where they shouldn’t be.
As for the sparse population in the Rockies...
Cramming 4+ million people into 3,500 sq miles from mid-May thru mid-September is pretty much full occupancy.
Wayne
its all relative. the city i work in is 300 square miles or so and has more than twice as many people living in it.
Yuck. My condolences!
How many bears?
Wayne
the bears are about 40 miles away
I agree 100% Chase that burly beast and spray the bajezzes out of him. Black bears are about possession as much as humans are. If they know you possess it they wont try but if they do don't be timid and cowardly. Spray him, throw big ass rocks, trekking poles have points too. These bears need to be scared of humans. The more they score in the vicinity of humans and no reaction from said human occurs the bear says to bear self; wimps! I'm taking your food; HA!
Secondly, stop camping near there! Seriously! Definition of insanity anyone?! Arrange your pass through there during the day and stay a few miles out. Plenty places to hang in the lower elevations folks. At 500 ish miles north of Springer you all should be able to pull 25 in a day to get far from there and be able to get the scenery in all the while avoiding big burly bear.
Bear;huh!
"I choose to carry very little, but that little is chosen with care." Earl V. Shaffer
There have been episodes in Rocky Mountain National Park with black bears. For instance with bear v tenter while tenter was sleeping. The population has increased over the past few decades. And then, of course, there are the mountain lions. I think it is always worthwhile to check into visitor centers as one arrives on new terrain to learn about the local wildlife. It is interesting, especially if there are reasons for concern.
You never know just what you can do until you realize you absolutely have to do it.
--Salaun
[QUOTE=AngryGerman;2212802]
Secondly, stop camping near there! Seriously! Definition of insanity anyone?! Arrange your pass through there during the day and stay a few miles out. Plenty places to hang in the lower elevations folks. At 500 ish miles north of Springer you all should be able to pull 25 in a day to get far from there and be able to get the scenery in all the while avoiding big burly bear.
[/QUOTE
Only one problem with that theory, the bears are everywhere in this neck-of-the-woods. The next shelter NOBO (Wise Shelter) started having visitors last Thursday night. Go 6 more miles to Old Orchard and there was bear activity 3-4 nights ago. Go another 1.5 miles to VA 603 and there are 3 bears hanging out around the horse camp. 5 miles further to Hurricane and it's the same story. IOW, you're not going to get away from them, so you better learn to live with them.
Issues at Wise and Old Orchard make sense since the AT basically almost wraps back on itself through this area, and those shelters aren't really that far apart as the crow flies. I'm a little surprised that the horse camp and Hurricane are also having problems though.
AT: 2007-2019 (45 sections)
JMT: 2013
We stopped at the horse camp on Sunday 6-17. Two different couples said that there were bears in the parking area on Saturday night. Later that day on our way up to Iron Mountain, we met a group of SOBO. They had stayed at Hurricane and said there was a bear hanging around but I'm not certain if that was first or second hand info. Either way, they are plentiful in this area.
This was taken 7 miles from the entrance into Grayson.
2 cubs up tree #2.jpg
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote