No Birds but lots of bears

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Fox
Posts: 301
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2006 5:33 pm

No Birds but lots of bears

Post by Fox »

Well, went into camp to do some work and take advantage of thsi years Sept 19th grouse start date. I only kicked up one bird in about 5 hours of hiking, oh well, maybe in Oct.

Here is where things get interesting. We know the bears and wolves have been on the rise, and yes there is an Eastern Cougar hanging around, it has been seen by friends around the camp. Well this morning before sunrise I heard a something walking on our stairs that access the second story of our bunk house from outside, then I heard something on the porch. Thinking it was just my dad I did not worry about it, well he thought it was me and just went back to bed as well.
It was still quite early and I was cold so I got up to start a fire, I look outside and what do you know, our coolers have been toosed around. My dads cooler was on its side, and mine was in the yard. There was only a bag of tostitos in my cooler but the empty bag was in the middle of the yard and no trace of a chip. The track looks like a 2 year old bear, never thought my dry goods would give off enough smell but that is what happens.

I have never seen so much bear sign, and intimate sign, not just claw marks on the trees. There were tracks in the sand on the road and a nice big guy walked about 200 yards from the camp between 11am and 2pm.

Be careful with your food out there guys, I was not worried about something coming through the door but I really wanted to eat those chips.
VixChix
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Location: Southern Ontario

Post by VixChix »

Once many many years ago when I was young and camping with my family, my father left our cooler out overnight - it was put right between the van and the tent. Just before dawn my one brother and I were awakened to the sound of the cooler being bashed around. We were sleeping in the VW van while my other brother and my parents were in the tent. My Dad thought some hooligans from another site were goofing off so he stuck his head of of the tent and yelled "What's going on out there!" and came face-to-face with the big black bear. He quickly zipped the tent shut and told my mom and other brother to stay quiet.

In the meantime my brother and I watched the brazen bear drink from a milk carton (just like most guys do), he carried food around the tent and all over the site. He managed to stretch his breakfast out for about an hour. My brother and I were pretty terrified that this spoiled bear might decide to check out the tent too. Fortunately he didn't. Eventually he wandered off. I think my brother ("Stinky Buffalo" on the forum) still has that cooler. It's got teeth and claw marks all over it.

Now for camping in bear country ALL food goes into the car or gets well treed. Nothing edible ever comes into the tents with us. I don't even take gum or tooth paste into the tent. Bears are opportunists and I have too many nightmares about them.
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lscha
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Post by lscha »

VixChix wrote:
Now for camping in bear country ALL food goes into the car or gets well treed
You obviously don't sleep in the car anymore. :lol: :lol:
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Undertaker
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Post by Undertaker »

Well....not much bear encounter experience, save one really good one. He breathed in my face while I laid terrified in a hammock. 10 years old, camping in a park. After he left us he went right next door. I ran to Dad, in the camper, and we saw the ranger following him as he made his rounds.

But....don't keep your food in the car. Bad move. If he wants it, he will go right through the window. Not just that, your interior will never be right again, and he will scratch the paint. Even a box with just a few doughnuts is enough. Bears don't know it's just a half a bag of chips.

Nice you get to hunt with your Dad. My Dad loved hunting grouse.
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Fox
Posts: 301
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2006 5:33 pm

Post by Fox »

Dad works a lot, but I like being able to take him out now.

We actually had a laugh about it, he took my chips, ha ha ha.

We will pay a little more attention though now, and keep things sealed up inside.
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