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  1. #1

    Exclamation It only took about 27 years

    For a bear to get my food bag. Happened at Hidden Pond last Sat. This bear came in about midnight and went to everyone's campsites. Don't know if anyone else lost their food but mine, hung about 14' up and 6' from the trunk was purloined when the bear climbed up and broke the branch off an couple of feet out. It even left a present. This bear knows what it's doing and I suspect it is going to be a problem out there for the near future. I'll find out for sure next Sat.


    foodb.JPGbranch.JPGpresent.JPG

  2. #2
    Registered User
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    Well if nothing else you had the age old question answered!!!


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  3. #3
    Registered User
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    06-25-2015
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    Wow.


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  4. #4
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    02-01-2016
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    Chattanooga, Tennessee
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    Pretty wild, martinb. Literally.

    I have hung bear bags, but I just bought a bear canister for those places that require them (and out of a gut sense that they're going to be required in more and more places going forward, much as I wish nothing heavier and more rigid than the Ursack would be required). When I get a chance to use it, my main reservation will be, "if a bear comes to play with it, how will I find it?" I then wondered if it might be the one good use for a bear bell, to know when it's being batted about. Then I thought, what would I do if I heard the bell? Chase the bear off, and then what? Stay up all night?

    Clearly the solution is to combine hiking and fasting.

  5. #5
    Registered User SoaknWet's Avatar
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    10-14-2017
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    Washington,Pa
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    Be thankful you had the good sense to hang your! Things could have been ugly if you had laid it outside your tent or worst yet chose to sleep with it. Something in that bag attracted the bear they don't normally hunt for food looking up. 27 years of good luck definitely out weights 1 night of bad luck!

  6. #6

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    I don't think anyone else hung their food. The main camp area, by a big fire pit, had about 12-15 people camped out and I think the bear was scared off there by numbers. I was camped about 75-100 yds away. I always hang cause you never know when this sort of bear is going to show up. I think he's done this a few times before.

    Food bag items that perished: three turkey jerky sticks (my breakfast), one old nut/fruit bar, toothpaste, and instant coffee. Who knew bears liked coffee?

  7. #7
    Registered User
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    07-21-2014
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    Sometimes our best precautions still result in a problem. I am just wondering. It seems the branch you used was dead and therefore easier to snap.


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  8. #8

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by martinb View Post
    For a bear to get my food bag. Happened at Hidden Pond last Sat. This bear came in about midnight and went to everyone's campsites. Don't know if anyone else lost their food but mine, hung about 14' up and 6' from the trunk was purloined when the bear climbed up and broke the branch off an couple of feet out. It even left a present. This bear knows what it's doing and I suspect it is going to be a problem out there for the near future. I'll find out for sure next Sat.


    foodb.JPGbranch.JPGpresent.JPG
    Looks like a good hang too. One I would have been happy with...

  9. #9

    Default

    Never underestimate the sweet tooth of a bear, prolly thought it a bee hive.

  10. #10

    Default

    Time to start a new streak.

  11. #11
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    02-14-2017
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    Pasadena, Maryland
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    Doesn’t look like it, but we’re you using an Opsak inside the bear bag?

  12. #12

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Singto View Post
    Time to start a new streak.
    Time since last trail place accident-
    2 Days

  13. #13

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Heliotrope View Post
    Sometimes our best precautions still result in a problem. I am just wondering. It seems the branch you used was dead and therefore easier to snap.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    My hang MO includes pulling on the rope after it goes over to test for snappage. The branch passed the test. Granted, I wasn't pulling on it with 100+lbs of force.

  14. #14

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by hipbone View Post
    Looks like a good hang too. One I would have been happy with...
    I was happy with it. The bear knew what it was doing.

  15. #15

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by TX Aggie View Post
    Doesn’t look like it, but we’re you using an Opsak inside the bear bag?
    Nope. I've never used them. I did order a bare boxer contender, I'm done with tree branches.

  16. #16

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rocketsocks View Post
    Time since last trail place accident-
    2 Days
    Safe until this Sat., at least *whew*

  17. #17
    Registered User
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    Was out at HP a few weekends ago. The place was a zoo, as always...every site was taken by nightfall. We didn't see any wildlife but we found some VERY fresh bear scat in our campsite and hiking back we ran into some hikers who said they'd seen a bear on trail a few minutes before we got there. We did not hang but looking back, I regret not doing so. I think the popularity of HP plays into the increase in activity in that area. I'm planning a thru of ONF over Spring Break and I think I will probably skip camping at HP and just resupply water there and maybe camp further north towards Pat's Island.
    "I am learning nothing in this trivial world of [humans]. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news." --John Muir

  18. #18
    Registered User
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    I’ve never seen so much bear crap in my life....the trail between Hopkins prairie and juniper was loaded a few weeks back when we passed thru! I guess the bear hunt didn’t thin them out too much...


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  19. #19
    Registered User
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    03-31-2016
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    Mount Dora, FL
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    Quote Originally Posted by Time Zone View Post
    Pretty wild, martinb. Literally.

    I have hung bear bags, but I just bought a bear canister for those places that require them (and out of a gut sense that they're going to be required in more and more places going forward, much as I wish nothing heavier and more rigid than the Ursack would be required). When I get a chance to use it, my main reservation will be, "if a bear comes to play with it, how will I find it?" I then wondered if it might be the one good use for a bear bell, to know when it's being batted about. Then I thought, what would I do if I heard the bell? Chase the bear off, and then what? Stay up all night?

    Clearly the solution is to combine hiking and fasting.
    I've shared this before, a friend of mine who lives on the edge of the Ocala Natl Forest had a bear getting into his trash cans regularly. He caught the bear in the act one night, and threw a pack of firecrackers at it - and didn't have trouble with bears getting into his trashcans again for MONTHS.

    So, in a crowded camping area where discharging a firearm wouldn't be the safest option, perhaps keep a pack of firecrackers and a lighter handy. I've read that it's not always a great idea to try to take food from a bear; once it's theirs it's theirs... so challenging one that is eating "your" food may not be advisable, but throwing a bunch of noisemakers near it... why not?

  20. #20

    Default

    Bear can came today. Going to try and get out there Sat. I thought about firecrackers but it's pretty dry out there and pine needles will go up very easily. Week before last I was camped over by Crooked pond and there was a bigger pile of bear poop over there, too. HP likely has a "problem" bear.


    can.JPG

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