bivy elk hunting and bear issues?

[Shawn Ryan]

Jake T,  Assuming you were serious:  No.  Bear spray does not work like citronella.  It has been known to attract bears when sprayed as you suggest.  The label on the UDAP brand warns against doing as you suggest.  You need the spray to get into their eyes and mucous membranes.  Sitting on leaves only smells like food.

[Mountainwalker]

Check the National Park Service website for some good information on making camp.  Below is what I do.
1. Food and all sented items are stored in a food canister (Bear Vault 350) (do a search for BV350).
2. Cook 100ft from the food storage site and 100ft from where I sleep (think of a triangle).
3. Leave no food behind, cook only what I eat and keep my trash in the BV350.

If you hang your food, string a rope between two trees with a pulley in the middle.  This allows you to easily pull you food up with another rope (use low stretch rope, parachute cord is ok for 20lbs but it has too much stretch once the weight gets beyond that).  The storage sack should be 10ft from either tree and 12ft off the ground.  I quit doing this because I am usually above the tree line and once you get into the subalpine region the trees may be old but they aren't big.  Benefits of a food canister, you can use it as a seat when eating and you can utilize all daylight hours, little critters can't get into it and you don't have to search for trees.  The big down side is learning to pack your backpack, it is a room hog.  A personal note here,  I have never run across someones food hung correctly.  A rope over a high limb is incorrect.

As stated in a earlier post, bear spay is for the bears respiratory system not the ground and vegitation.  If you are nervous about bears get some and carry it on your waste belt, no good carried in your pack if you were to need it.  If I were in BC, Alaska or the Northern Cascades I would carry it.  If I were to stay in any drive in camping areas were bears have been sited I would carry it (city dwellers attract bears with their messy camp sites).  If I lived in the foot hills of the Cascades I would have it (i.e. North Bend).  I hunt and hike the Olympic Peninsula,  I am comfortable not carrying it and sleeping under a tarp.

Remember, all scented item go into the food canister.

[Kowsrule30]

what about bear spray?  could you spray around your camp as a sort of barrier to keep things away?  like one of those candles that keeps mosquitoes at bay?

would bear spray last long enough?

Piss would be better. If you are totally freaked out by bears, keep in mind they absolutely do not like people. I have seen a bunch an many up close, all of them, aside from park bears, have run from me like I was the devil himself. Just don't leave food laying around your camp....you will be fine.

Totally agree that piss works..... Dad had an elk down and it was getting dark.... We gutted it and skinned what we could..... Pissed a circle around the elk and left my lucky hat on it's leg..... Came back first thing in the am.... A bear took the gut pile and ate it ten feet from the elk..... Didn't touch the elk or enter the ring of piss...

[boneaddict]

I repeat.....I think I have a different definition of bivy camping than the rest of you.   

[kalamasasquatch]

i think i have to agree with bone, when i say bivy hunt i am talking about living out of a back pack and nothing else. my pack weighs in at 45lbs or so. I am so weight conscious that i cut the handle of my tooth brush and sleep with out a tent. the idea of carrying bear canisters and ropes and pulleys sound like an awful lot of extra weight. i think peeing around my tent an leaving out smelly sweaty cloths may be my method. but i do think i am going to carry a side arm for the first time ever. and with that i will now go start a new thread about what to carry.

[actionshooter]

I repeat.....I think I have a different definition of bivy camping than the rest of you.   

Are you talking about this kind of Bivy, or do I still have too much stuff. 

[rosscrazyelk]

I have never had problems with bears. Only mice like Bone said, Until this weekend.. Had a bear come in and take my Mre out of camp about 2 am.. I am gonna hang it for now on. I was up off the PCT At basin lake

[kalamasasquatch]

I repeat.....I think I have a different definition of bivy camping than the rest of you.   

Are you talking about this kind of Bivy, or do I still have too much stuff. 

your getting close. i dont do the tarp thing tho.

I have never had problems with bears. Only mice like Bone said, Until this weekend.. Had a bear come in and take my Mre out of camp about 2 am.. I am gonna hang it for now on. I was up off the PCT At basin lake

see just when i think i have this thing figured out then i hear this.....

[boneaddict]

Close actionshooter, and looks like Kalama and I are on the same page. 

[high country]

I repeat.....I think I have a different definition of bivy camping than the rest of you.   

I am sure of it. I take a megalight at a 2lb penalty. you take 43lbs of lenses.

[pianoman9701]

I repeat.....I think I have a different definition of bivy camping than the rest of you.   

Are you talking about this kind of Bivy, or do I still have too much stuff. 

I thought you said bivy camping, not a vacation at a resort!

[boneaddict]

Tell me about it high country.  I'm about to do the grind and I want to pack my camera.   Uggggh

[Snapshot]

I repeat.....I think I have a different definition of bivy camping than the rest of you.   

I am sure of it. I take a megalight at a 2lb penalty. you take 43lbs of lenses.

That's funny!

[actionshooter]

Close actionshooter, and looks like Kalama and I are on the same page. 

Ouch! tough crowd, let me know what I have to do to join the club. 

[bradslam]

Here are a couple of photos of my setup to hang my food while backpacking. The pulley is a Harken 404. It weighs .33 oz and has a maximum working load of 250 lbs. They can be found for around $10 at West Marine or other stores that carry sailboat rigging. The total weight with cord is 6 oz. In addition to my food, I also will hang my backpack because I don't like it when mice chew on it.