Yep GA bears are nailing food bags

[Lyte-w8-hyker]

Now I'm kinda worried, I've used the pct method for a long time but more for racoons than bears in SW Arkansas. Does this include the entire GA section or mainly the 5 mile bear canister area

[1234]

Why don't they just install bear cables like they do in the smokies??

All the Georgia shelters have very nice cable systems, but the bears know where they are and I have watched one mosey up to the cable and stand up and hit the cables. Sure enough one food bag bounced off the hook. Perhaps replace the open hooks with ones that have a spring lever that closes. Or post a sign, oh my another sign, that explains how to "wrap" your food bag around the hook so it is not so easy to come off the hook.

[Bucketfoot]

GA. bear hunters where are you? In Pennsylvania this problem would have been taken care of last November. I'm also one of those that likes to keep my food next to me in the tent I would be leary of doing this in the Smokies or the Blood Mtn. area though. I will be hiking through the Blood Mtn area this spring and I for sure do not plan on camping or staying at a shelter there. Bears that have lost their fear of humans are more dangerous. Just what is a PCT style food bag hang?

[jeffmeh]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgBLDMuPuvE

PCT Method

[The Wizard]

Is it legal to shoot the bears?

[wornoutboots]

I talked to little bear at Soruck this year & he said a bear tore a hole in a tent at Watauga Lake shelter in the night & grabbed a food bag right out of it. He said they were terrified & hiked back to the car shortly afterwards & the bear folllwed them all the way to the car. If you sleep with your food, you have bigger stones than I!

[STICK]

I always use a carabiner to also clip my food bag to the cable system. This way if the bag gets knocked off of the hook then the carabiner will still catch the bag and hold it in place.

This is also one reason why I would like to leave a little earlier in the year than most of the other thru's...maybe the bears would not be as stirred up earlier since enough hikers haven't come thru yet...so maybe like mid February...

[bflorac]

I have had first hand experience with a bear that had no fear of humans. He would actually come running toward you. Scares **** out of you! We slept in shelter with cage on it (otherwise I would have hiked another 10 miles down the trail). He sat 10' outside the shelter all night watching us. I even hit him with a 4" rock he just looked at me. We slid out in the AM when he had wondered off for a short duration. Of course he got used to someone feed him at the shelter which is a really BAD idea. Rangers have indicated that hikers have put food in the shelter and actually trapped the bears inside. Also a stupid idea. So, there are bears like this out there like this. I am 100% sure that if I had my food in a tent, he would have had no issue in tearing it open and taking the food. I also know someone who had there food taken by a bear as they put it down and stepped over to unhook the bear cable. I always hang my food (and garbage), away from my camping place (or shelter) with few exceptions. I have also been known to hang my entire pack if there are known bears in the area. I have never heard of anyone being attacked while the bear knocked there food off the cable. My safety comes first. I can get new food. For anyone to suggest a different solution other than hanging is just bad advice (unless you hang a real bear canister).

While you are at it, keep your pack clean and open all pockets to keep mice from eating thru.

[Big Dawg]

I talked to little bear at Soruck this year & he said a bear tore a hole in a tent at Watauga Lake shelter in the night & grabbed a food bag right out of it. He said they were terrified & hiked back to the car shortly afterwards & the bear folllwed them all the way to the car. If you sleep with your food, you have bigger stones than I!

From what I remember about this story, the area was a problem b/c of dumpsters or trash cans in the area, w/ trash strewn around. The area is close to a parking lot where daytime visitors aren't as careful w/ properly disposing of trash. Hence the bear is taking advantage of a badly managed trash area. I usually avoid these types of areas while camping, so as to not become a statistic.

and yes,,, my "stones" are rather large!!

[Dances with Mice]

First the bears on Springer learned that if they just kept hitting and batting the cable tie-out ends then often food will just fall out of the sky. A big problem, and I'm not kidding here, is that a lot of hikers will hang their food in plastic grocery store bags. Another is that they'll just loop the end of their drawstring cord over a hook. When the cable starts bouncing the food starts falling.

Then a couple years later the bears at Hawk Mtn started using the same technique. Same bears or bear family? Who knows, but I think that in winter when we believe they are hibernating they are actually in Florida attending bear conventions with seminars like "Defeating Cable Systems".

Hunting is a problem on Blood because it's not a good place to hunt. Even during hunting season there can be a lot of people up there. And when the weather warms and the natural food supply gets more plentiful, the bears move off the mountain. By the time hunting season starts the bears aren't a problem because a lot of them have already started driving to Florida. Don't believe me? Watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COAUMy_5r0w

[Jim Adams]

There is no bear problem...there is a people problem. I have traveled by foot, canoe, bicycle and motorcycle and camped in bear country for 38 years and have NEVER had a bear encounter due to food related problems. People wouldn't think of going winter camping w/o a proper sleeping bag. People carry on huge and lengthly debates about light weight backpacking but yet no one ever worries about things like first aid, or wilderness living / survival. Either learn to do it right or don't go.....this is a people problem!

geek

[Razor]

Yes--- if you hang properly on the perfect limb there will not be a problem. In Georgia about 85-90 % of the bear hangs you see are not adequate. Between new hikers and lazy ones ,the bears are taught every year how to get easy food. This is why every one is presented the choice of walking through the 5 mile section or carrying the bear can. It is a simple choice that one can make. AS long as people teach animals there is a learning curve and the animals will be more aggressive. There is documentation that bears entered shelters last year and have escalated their behavior. The forest service is only trying to protect the idiots and those of us who would be the unfortunate first incident of a bear attack in Georgia . Walk the 5 mile section and man up!( or woman up).

[mad4scrapping]

When you say that the bear bags are often not hung properly, what does that mean? Does it mean that the bag is not hung high enough, or not hung far enough away from the tree trunk, or something else? I'm curious because I want to make sure I hang mine properly. I practice in my backyard, much to the amusement of my neighbors. But I don't care what they think anyway.

[Don H]

My food storage system works every time and has never been defeated.
Here's how I protect my food at night;
1. Take smelly pack in to tent.
2. Place food bag on to of smelly pack.
3. Place smelly clothes on top of food bag.

Note that this only works for hikers with some trail miles behind them, fresh smelling weekenders and section hikers should not attempt this.

[JAK]

My food storage system works every time and has never been defeated.
Here's how I protect my food at night;
1. Take smelly pack in to tent.
2. Place food bag on to of smelly pack.
3. Place smelly clothes on top of food bag.

Note that this only works for hikers with some trail miles behind them, fresh smelling weekenders and section hikers should not attempt this.

Also step 4, implied, but most important...
4. Place smelly hiker inside tent.

I support this method myself, for men, but not for children.
It allows us to sort of act as cathodic protection, if neccessary.

[colonel r]

I think we need a different approach. Instead of hanging food why not hang the bears, by the hind legs of course and release them the next AM. Finally find out how strong the Amsteel Blue really is.

Just saying.

[Two Speed]

. . . every one is presented the choice of walking through the 5 mile section or carrying the bear can . . .

Why do something simple like hiking through a 5 mile section when you can have endless drama instead?

Gotta admit I'm highly tempted to take a short hike into that area, eat the last of my food before going to bed and then sit up just to watch the fun.

[About_Time]

When you say that the bear bags are often not hung properly, what does that mean? Does it mean that the bag is not hung high enough, or not hung far enough away from the tree trunk, or something else? I'm curious because I want to make sure I hang mine properly. I practice in my backyard, much to the amusement of my neighbors. But I don't care what they think anyway.

Depending on where you read the recommendations you'll find 8-10 feet off the ground and 4-6 feet away from the tree. I found that the problem wasn't technique, but rather finding a proper branch. I'd recommend using the cables in shelters in Georgia. If the cables have only hooks then use a carabiner to connect to the cable above the hook.

When I couldn't find a proper branch, I'd end up sleeping with my food. That wasn't my preference, but simply giving it away with a bad hang seemed really stupid.

[Lone Wolf]

Why do something simple like hiking through a 5 mile section when you can have endless drama instead?

Gotta admit I'm highly tempted to take a short hike into that area, eat the last of my food before going to bed and then sit up just to watch the fun.

i'm gonna do the same but i'm gonna have a bucket of chicken and beer in my tent and watch

[flemdawg1]

The Blood Mtn Bear had learned how to defeat the bear cables and also knew how to climb out on the branch and pull up the bags (defeating the PCT method).

I simply hiked thru that area last April, staying at Neels Gap.