Bears (Butte: camping, dangerous, safety)

[tableguy8]

How dangerous is it to be camping in the bush. I have no intentions on approaching bears, and will be sure to arm myself. What kind of precautions would you recommend me take. Thanks.

[Rance]

Sleep with your food?

[cobolt]

He means DON'T eat where you sleep!!!

[warptman]

I thought the bears were in bars in Butte Montana?

[stiffnecked]

Try to avoid sleeping in trees. Don't eat in your tent. And above all don't hike through the woods with an MP3 player blaring into your eardrums.

[Metlakatla]

I think it depends on where you're planning to camp; different strategies for different types of bears. Depends on the time of year, too.

[RayinAK]

This is what F&G and other Government agencies tell you to do in bear country:
Brown Bear Projects at the Alaska Science Center
Now, while you are at this link, don't look too much into the page relating to "Bear/Human confrontations for the past 100 years in Alaska' because it will get you a little scared. Just read the "bear safety" articles

The bottom line is that most times safety is increased from camping alone to camping with a group of people.

[Arcticthaw]

If your going to arm yourself, please be sure your confident, competent, and know the correct place to put your shots. If you fail to do these, at least file the front site off. This way it wont hurt as much!

Reality is you only get one shot, the first shot is normally the only effective shot so take your time.

[Glitch]

Keep a clean camp, wash your pots/pans and plates when you are finished using them. No food where you sleep. Place your camp cooking fire at least 50 feet away from your sleeping tent. Hang any food you aren't using between two trees at least 15 feet above the ground and at least 50 feet from your camp.

When hiking, make noise and pay attention to your surroundings. Most bear attacks occur when both the human and the bear encounter each other by surprise. Never run from a bear, it will trigger their chase instinct. Back away slowly, talking to the bear in a calm voice, and let it know you are human. Bears have terrible eye-sight, but they can smell really well. So it may take a bear a little while to figure out what you are.

These tips will help minimize the risk of an unwanted bear encounter. A good 12-guage pump shotgun loaded with 00-buck and/or .65 cal. slugs is a last resort. As Arcticthaw suggested, take your camp gun to the range and practice in order to become confident and competent in placing your shots. It is always better to have a weapon and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

Enjoy your stay in the Alaskan bush.

[User 2]

Nine out of ten folks won't ever take the necessary time or invest the needed energy to become proficient with a firearm and of the few that will, there's even less that will be capable of acting responsibly once confronted with a bear.

My advice is leave the gun at home.

Telling a bunch of nimrods to 'place their shots' only leads to wounded bears that needn't have been shot in the first place.

Learn how to camp, and how to travel safely in the bush, and you won't need a gun.
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