Bears and garbage
Hi all We are taking our first trip to northern Canada and Alaska this year. We plan on doing some boondocking, not sure how much but we want to be prepared. I’ve seen and thought of several differen...
Forum Discussion
profdant139 wrote:
ppine, what do YOU do with your garbage when you are boondocking for several days in bear country? I'm open to suggestions -- I'm the guy in the photo!
A quick Google search shows that this is the preferred method when you absolutely have to have a place for garbage:
"Suspend food and garbage in duffel bags, stuff sacks, or sealed plastic bags at least 12-15 feet (3.6 - 4.5 meters) above the ground and at least 8 feet (2.4 meters) from the tree trunk. The bags should hang from a point where the tree can still support them but bear cubs and other critters will have difficulty reaching them. Make sure the bags cannot be reached from the ground, either."
So I am not the only fool who sets out bear bait, I guess. (This was published by Princeton University. You know how fierce the bears are in New Jersey, of course.)
We quit using that hanging method decades ago in Yosemite (pHD bears) because the bears would just climb the tree and take a casual swipe at the rope to snap/cut the rope. Bears would look for things hanging and spend whatever time it took to get at it. It was more disconcerting to have a bear 15-25 feet from camp working for an hour (and getting frustrated) to get at something hanging. Waiting for bears to leave the area sucks.
