Boondocking in bear country?
I'm not too worried about bears in general. My new workplace is an hour drive on a logging road from the nearest main road. Not many go there, or pass through there, just enough to keep the logging ...
Forum Discussion
Does your work have garbage dumps? If so, bring your day/night's garbage to work each morning and dump it. That way you don't have a week's worth of garbage stinking up the camper. Or see if there is a dump in the vicinity and make a quick detour each day. The less garbage left in/near your camper, the better.
Food - keep things put away and out of sight. Cook smelly foods outside on the grill. Keep coolers out of sight (yes, bears know what a cooler is and will go for them even if there is no smell coming from the cooler).
Try the Opsak odor barrier bags - they really keep the smell in the bag (just remember that all that smell will come out full force when you open the bag). There are different sizes. You can use one for garbage (put a regular garbage bag inside the opsak and just pull that out when it's time to dump - reusing the opsak bag). You can use them for smellier foods or to seal open bags of chips, etc. They really do work well to contain smells.
Cooking - clean up immediately after eating. Don't leave pans to soak, etc.
Reduce your trash - use real plates and cups, etc., and wash them after each use instead of using paper plates. The less garbage produced, the less enticement for the bears.
Grill - use a scraper to scrape it after each grill session to remove any food residue. Then chain it to a tree away from your camper when not being used.
Dishwashing - wipe off food from plates/pans/etc., before washing. The less food particles going into the water means the less smell the water will have (and the less smell will be less attractive to bears).
Talk to other employees living in the area to see how they deal with the bears.
Food - keep things put away and out of sight. Cook smelly foods outside on the grill. Keep coolers out of sight (yes, bears know what a cooler is and will go for them even if there is no smell coming from the cooler).
Try the Opsak odor barrier bags - they really keep the smell in the bag (just remember that all that smell will come out full force when you open the bag). There are different sizes. You can use one for garbage (put a regular garbage bag inside the opsak and just pull that out when it's time to dump - reusing the opsak bag). You can use them for smellier foods or to seal open bags of chips, etc. They really do work well to contain smells.
Cooking - clean up immediately after eating. Don't leave pans to soak, etc.
Reduce your trash - use real plates and cups, etc., and wash them after each use instead of using paper plates. The less garbage produced, the less enticement for the bears.
Grill - use a scraper to scrape it after each grill session to remove any food residue. Then chain it to a tree away from your camper when not being used.
Dishwashing - wipe off food from plates/pans/etc., before washing. The less food particles going into the water means the less smell the water will have (and the less smell will be less attractive to bears).
Talk to other employees living in the area to see how they deal with the bears.
