Popup truck camper with soft sides

[Ecrtwright1]

Can pop up truck campers with soft sides be safely used in Alaska and other wild country? Thinking about bears, big cats, raccoons, etc. Any experienced input appreciated.

[s1214]

silversand wrote:

Don't think a raccoon would be an issue, too low to the ground for one and timid.

...we've had bear on our property eating...berries. Also, have had racoon walk over the hood of the 2500HD with camper popped up (and climb up to the top of our two 4 foot high garbage bins-- the bins locked). All the wile, our Outfitter pop-up was popped-up and parked on our mountain home "campsite". Also, had on 3 occasions, fisher cats fighting it out in our forest less that ~10 feet from our camper at ~2 AM trying to decide which one will decimate our neighbor's 5 chickens-- well, they killed them all that evening just 700 feet away....while we were overnighting in the camper.

Our Outfitter stays popped-up nearly permanently over our 3 months of summer (that's all the time we get above freezing here: 3 months a year), on our property parked in our private forest campsite. Never had a squirrel, fisher cat, racoon, bear or any other wild animal with teeth and claws tear through the soft side. Oh, also, we have bobcat, lynx, coyote, and on one occasion, a mountain lion (the mountain lion tore a local horse to shreds a few years ago).

We live fairly close to the Green Mountains (a few minutes drive) and huge Maine North Woods (close to 4 million acres of unfragmented forest) and are just about as wild as you can get, here on our property campsite, in the Northeast... Quebec.

Here in the Green Mountains I have pictures of a bear and cub walking ten feet from my popped up camper. They never even batted an eye towards it.

[silversand]

Don't think a raccoon would be an issue, too low to the ground for one and timid.

...we've had bear on our property eating...berries. Also, have had racoon walk over the hood of the 2500HD with camper popped up (and climb up to the top of our two 4 foot high garbage bins-- the bins locked). All the wile, our Outfitter pop-up was popped-up and parked on our mountain home "campsite". Also, had on 3 occasions, fisher cats fighting it out in our forest less that ~10 feet from our camper at ~2 AM trying to decide which one will decimate our neighbor's 5 chickens-- well, they killed them all that evening just 700 feet away....while we were overnighting in the camper.

Our Outfitter stays popped-up nearly permanently over our 3 months of summer (that's all the time we get above freezing here: 3 months a year), on our property parked in our private forest campsite. Never had a squirrel, fisher cat, racoon, bear or any other wild animal with teeth and claws tear through the soft side. Oh, also, we have bobcat, lynx, coyote, and on one occasion, a mountain lion (the mountain lion tore a local horse to shreds a few years ago).

We live fairly close to the Green Mountains (a few minutes drive) and huge Maine North Woods (close to 4 million acres of unfragmented forest) and are just about as wild as you can get, here on our property campsite, in the Northeast... Quebec.

[Nemo667]

No worries with pop-up truck campers. Camp with confidence and enjoy Alaska!

[jaycocreek]

Ecrtwright1 wrote:
Can pop up truck campers with soft sides be safely used in Alaska and other wild country? Thinking about bears, big cats, raccoons, etc. Any experienced input appreciated.

I think the bottom line here is,yes it can period!

I follow a couple Alaska hunting forums almost daily in search of the perfect .375 H&H load for mine..In doing so I see a bunch of hunting stories about bears/guides and camping in bear territory etc etc.

Most if not all interior hunts are done with tents in AK and on Kodiak Island..They know how to take care of a camp and rarely ever have bear problems with there tents and bears...Sometimes like fishing some chose to use portable electric fences around there tents and even there air planes...

The one time a bear tore up a camper here in Idaho it was a TC the guy had just cooked up a bunch of bacon before he left on his horses in pursuit of elk..The bear tried to go in the roof vent tearing it to shreds and the roof but didn't make it..Later hair samples showed it to be a grizzly..

I wouldn't hesitate to use a popup in bear country knowing the do's and don't..

[Geewizard]

jaycocreek wrote:
I wouldn't worry about it..If you booked a bear or sheep hunt in AK,you most likely would stay in a tent.

It appears your in most danger here in the lower 48 than AK when visiting parks.

Interesting chart but not totally applicable to TCers.
Some of you may not know all the AK areas listed. You can't take your TC to:

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Glacier Bay NP and Reserve
Katmai NP
Aniakchak National Preserve
Gates of the Arctic NP
Noatak National Preserve

Why? No roads.

[jimh406]

As they say, I hope you filed the sights off that 460.

[SidecarFlip]

Been wanting to go on a bear hunt. I want a standing mount in the greatroom. What I bought my 460 wheelgun for. Bears and Moose.

[brholt]

Outside the Northeast entrance to Yellowstone in the National Forest:

Soda Butte Campground
Colter Campground

Both are had side only. There may be others.

[Kayteg1]

Years ago I took motorhome to Sequoia Park and not knowing better, choose nice spot in corner of campground.
I BBQ chicken legs for lunch and set them on wood table campground provided.
When my family was slow to sit at the table, the black bear from other side beat them to it.
At the time video cameras where huge, so I grab mine from motorhome and start filming. But when bear got ready to leave us with no lunch, I drop the camera and
- start yelling >>> no reaction'
- grab wood sticks and start throwing at bear >>> no reaction'
... small rocks >>> no reaction
finally I grab rock like 2-3" dia and couple of those finally scared bear away.
It was like 60-80 lb bear.
Later on I follow where he went and he was sleeping on tilted tree about 100' from our site.
At the time my youngest son was about 2 yo, so I went to report the incident to Rangers. They ask me:
-did the bear had tag in his ear
-yes it did
-throw sticks to scare it away
-I did for no help
-throw small rocks at it
-I did for no help.
-there is no more we can help you.
Later the night, when we were enjoying campfire, other campers walking on the driveway turned around asking us calmly "do you know there is a bear behind you?"
Following morning the first thing I did was sticking my head outside the window and at the very moment there was a bear sticking his head at my bumper.

[jimh406]

As others have noted, Yellowstone does have one campground that requires hardsided campers with no tents. Unclear if it is for Grizzlies or not. It’s my least favorite, so there’s that.

A popup is certainly safer than a tent. Also, as noted, you should take care of how you get rid of smells. There are bear boxes at Yellowstone and other bear country parks, but you should watch leaving grills out, dog food etc. There’s probably a checklist of what not to do at the National Park sites which includes not letting your dog roam free in a bear area.

Grizzlies/brown bears are certainly more dangerous than black bears considering they are normally at least twice the size. There are more attacks in the lower 48 because there are way more people.

[RickW]

About a year ago, camping in the Eastern Sierra, a female black bear (known to rangers) visited the campground after dark. People started yelling, banging pots, jumping in their cars, setting off car alarms, etc. :E

The bear came up to my popup TC and took a dump by the right rear tire.

I'm sure it was a message that my ol' softside was no match for her and, if she wanted to, she would have gotten in bed with me.

What did I do? :h

I put on my noise cancelling earphones and went back to sleep.

[bjohns]

I think you will find it depends on the local situation and interpretation. We've hosted a campground where all types of campers and tents were allowed, until the time when a grizzly was hanging around in the campground. Then only hard sided campers were allowed and even pop-up truck campers were not allowed. There are some campgrounds where soft sided campers of any type are banned all the time. I think you shouldn't worry too much about it and just enjoy your camper wherever you want to take it. Observe rules about bear attractants and safety, and if you find a campground that bans your type of camper, find another campground or boondock it. Keep in mind, they do not enforce bans on soft-sided campers unless there is a credible threat. You have to consider the local situation, but the chance encounter with a bear should not be enough to deter you if that is the type of camper you choose.

[jaycocreek]

I wouldn't worry about it..If you booked a bear or sheep hunt in AK,you most likely would stay in a tent.

It appears your in most danger here in the lower 48 than AK when visiting parks.

[Geewizard]

Grit dog wrote:
Only anemules in AK that aren’t down here that would be of concern are brown bear and grizz and of course there’s some grizz out west here.
No differnet than camping in the back country in the L48. Heck, a bear could rip through your camper in Alabama or Florida.

I disagree. Lots of difference between bears in AK and bears in the Lower 48. Most bear encounters in the Lower 48 are due to the bears being habituated to humans and their food. Not so in AK. I am always more concerned with bears in the Lower 48.