Gas grill storage in bear country

Store it under the neighbors camper.

I'm glad to read these comments. I had the same concern, and actually I wouldn't take my Weber Q or my little Smoky Joe with me when I was going to bear country, out of worry that I'd cause a problem. I guess I'll stop worrying about that so much and take a grill along next time.

I too live and camp in bear country and use my grill all of the time and never put it away. Reason is..if the bear wanted the grill, I do not want it tearing open the storage area to get at it. I usually leave it some distance away from the truck and as of yet..no problems.


Gary Haupt

Sold the place in God's Country (AK) last fall. :(

Until we did, we had (in the preceding 24 months):

- 6 or so instances of Black Bears using our deck as a shortcut from the creek to the vacant area running through the subdivision;
- 2 or so instances of Brown Bears running through
- 1 (very memorable) instance where Momma bear killed a moose calf in the yard and decided that our driveway looked like a dining room table, so she drug the calf into the driveway (blocking it for an hour or so) and had breakfast with her two cubs.

Relevance? We had a gas grill and a real grill (stick-burner) on the aforementioned back deck. I always made a point to burn either grill hot for 30 minutes or so after cooking for ease of cleaning

....and we never had a bear problem. We typically covered the grills with a rain cover.

I live in bear country. And hunt in bear country. Grills and meats aren't nearly the problem that sweet smelling stuff is.

It's your garbage bag they'll hit first. As mentioned above, I've left grills and BBQs out without ever a problem. Had a couple of bears in camp over the years. They left the grill alone and went after garbage.

I've always wondered why they don't want to lick up the grease, but they don't seem to want it. Makes ya wonder what you're eating when a bear won't touch it.

I would leave the grill out. Burning off after cooking is good idea. Packing it back away may tempt the bear to tear into the container to check out any odors.

Open the lid, put a saucer of ammonia on the grill and close it. Problem solved....Dennis

Ask the local ranger or camp host. If in doubt, put it in a bear box that most campgrounds provide. If you are doing dispersed camping, leave it out and open as someone suggested.

You might end up with a......

Some campgrounds in bear country won't allow grills to be left outside.

I would guess most RVers store their grills in the basement of their RV and there are no problems with the bear smelling it and trying to get in. Same as in vehicles, although in some national parks, particularly Yosemite, if a bear even 'sees' the grill inside the car it has happened that it broke into the vehicle.

Perhaps after storing the grill in your Rubbermaid, spray the outside of the container with some offensive stuff like ant spray or OFF. Perhaps this would deter them. Or...just store it and hope for the best. :) Good luck!