I new I'd heard that funny before!!Originally Posted by Buffalo Skipper
When hiking in grizzly bear country, we tap our sticks loudly against rocks as we walk, and I sing or we sing out "Yo Bear" when we are on trails with limited visibility. I've been in Glacier twice shortly after hikers were killed by bears - so I don't care how foolish I sound singing. The only grizzlies we've seen on the trails in several thousand miles of hiking in Montana, Alaska and Canada were fairly far away. I know we've passed others, but they heard us coming and didn't stick around.
No. I can't get the bear to hold still long enough to put the bell collar around his neck.
The only thing a bear bell will keep away is your sanity. I hum or sing when hiking in grizzly country. And I have lively debates with Dewey Bear.
If people spent less time being offended and more time actually living, we'd all be a whole lot happier!
"....I know a girl with a 40" bust.... you aught to see her bend and thrust... low righty laya, lefty right-a laya...." Semper Fi big guy!!!
Thanks for the input, everyone.
Heres the deal:
Two grizzly and one black bear sightings in a week, albeit not while hiking. One grizzly was in my yard and on the street in front of the house. The other bears were seen from the road in GNP, one near Many Glacier and the other near Lake McDonald.
I bought bear spray and carry the holster on my waist belt.
My favorite hike from my house gains >3000' in elevation in an hour and a half of hiking. Frankly, singing, or even talking to myself, is not much of an option. Throat clearing and gasping are more like it. It's all wooded. Lots of switchbacks and blind areas.
Clicking my poles together every few minutes got really old.
I was looking for a way to automate the noise making process. Bells seem like the obvious solution.
Yesterday I jingled my way up the trail for the first time. It wasn't too annoying. The one animal I saw--a hare--looked up from his grazing and ran off in terror when I got about 8' away from him.
This weekend I'll go talk to the rangers at the nearby ranger station. My prediction is that their advice will be the party line: Never hike alone.
If not NOW, then WHEN?
ME>GA 2006
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=3277
Instagram hiking photos: five.leafed.clover
Black bears on the east coast have been conditioned to associate the sound of bells with food. Bells have been found in bear scat.
+1 on bear spray
Years ago I was visiting Glacier National park with some friends. We did lots of sight seeing over the course of a few days but kept putting off a day hike to the glaciers. On our last day, we finally made the trek to the large parking lot at the main glacier trail head fully expecting to begin our "all day epic hike." Surprise, Surprise, there were about a dozen rangers wearing fluorescent orange (if memory serves me well) jumpsuits and carrying shotguns at port arms who were sending everyone back to their cars and away from the trail head. The reason for the trail shutdown...a mommy bear and her two cubs were in the area and the park rangers did not want any problems.
Seeing as it was my last time to be able to talk to the rangers, I asked one of them about the effectiveness of "bear bells." With a straight face, the ranger went on to tell me that the bells were "VERY EFFECTIVE." "For example," said the ranger, "we get a report of a missing hiker or backpacker." "Well, the first thing we do is look in all of the recent bear scat/s!it and see if we can find any shiny new bear bells. If we find a new bear bell, we know that we are getting close to finding the missing hiker or backpacker."
All in all, it was a really funny story which gave everyone in our car a good laugh.
Your results might vary!
You May Be S l o w...But You Are Ahead Of Me!
I am very much a HYOH kinda guy. But I do laugh at bear bells.
Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.
if you got within 8 feet of a hare before it ran off youve proven how useless the bell is. thats what the rangers will tell you. along with get bear spray and if you do hike alone, make noise. maybe that means hiking slower so you arent out of breath, which is technically what most people would tell you you should be doing anyway, bear concerns or not.
theyre one of those things that seems smart and reasonable until you put a bit of thought into it (or in my case, someonw points out the obvious failing you never noticed yourself)
what i find funny isthe people who insist on using them even after theyve been told they are useless and why.
MANY recent bear attacks have shown the often uselessness of bear spray as well. Many of those attacked HAD bear spray but did not have the time to dispense.
In griz country, numbers are your friend. And your group should stay close together in heavy cover, and make noise, or the griz may only see a solo.
Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.
Best advice there is......
Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.
cite please
"It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss
I'm not going to take the time to look them up. They have been discussed on WB. Links were provided then. I know one was the NOLS disaster, where the kids got spread out.
Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.
but i think at least IF you get a chance to use it will work.
i dont know, the rangers in glacier all carry it, suggest hikers carry it and make noise, and say that bear bells dont do anything. i figure they know what theyre talking about, one would hope.
ive also heard theres never been a grizzly attack on a party of 6 or more people. but who wants to hike with 5 people? i was terrified my first day there, you get over it fast.
That's OK Chin I will do it for you, Unfortunately while researching another topic I found the "politics" of Guns vs Spray BS, on several hunter threads... there are several examples of hunters "protecting" themselves then serving "time" for shooting the king's... uhh government owned... bear.
I don't hunt ... so here is one example of many
http://www.centerforwildlifeinformat...bearspray.html
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
Bear spray is better than nothing, don't get me wrong.
In Griz Country, if you choose to hike solo, you better be quick with the trigger. History shows your lead time can be very short.
In Griz Country, if you are in a group, you need to stay close together in non-open areas. History shows that if your group gets split up, by only a little bit, it is no longer a group.
Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.
Getting back to the thread starter - bear bells to me are useless. I do own one with the magnet, I have never used it. To wear one - you would never see any wildlife if it is on. I hike alone too.
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
to me its become like worrying about dieing in a plain crash. once i was there and saw just how many solo hikers and small groups were out having a good time and not being instantly mauled the second they set foot in the woods i decided i wasnt likely to be killed by a grizzly bear. sure it happens, but to way less than 1% of people who go hiking out there. also most reported charges are bluff charges. and what percentage of people who are bluff charged do you think actually bother to report it? you could probably do everything wrong and your chances of being killed might tick up to 2 or 3 %. the snowfield i crossed in gunsight apss was probably far more dangerous.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
