Bears in and around WY Elk units 61-63

[wapitibob]

My concern is about Bears in the 60's units. I will archery hunt then rifle. Is mt house good enough to keep the bears from locating and trashing my camp? I'm not going to buy a pistol for one hunt so spray will have to do. I know to hang the game bags a few hundred yards from the carcass and in the semi open. Other than not packing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in my pockets do I really need to do anything but be a little attentive to the surroundings up there?

Bob

 

[Ethan S.]

You shouldn't have any trouble with em if you are smart about it. Usually once they figure out they can't get any food from your camp they will move on. I have set trail cams under meat poles and the first night meat is there a bear will usually vist, but once they figure out they can't get it they don't come back. When you are not in camp and at night just make sure to hang all your food, or put it in a bear box if available.

 

[frans]

Montain House in itself is not going to keep the bears away. A few things come to mind when it comes to camping in bear country.

Location:
Although you can encounter bears everywhere they generally travel where effort is less, or the chance of finding food is better. So do not camp right next to established trails, human or wildlife. Do not camp near vegetation that might attract bears (berries). Do not camp immediately next to a creek, as that appears to be a favoured travel route for bears as well. Think twice about using established camp sites, because you do bot know what previous users have been up to.

Keep a clean camp:
Game bags far away from your camp, yes, that makes sense, but also hang ALL your food and smelly things far away and (hopefully) out of reach. I say hopefully, because very often I can't find any tree or other structure that is really suitable. That includes things like toothpaste, apparently bears like that too. That also includes your empty mountain house packages, wrappers, etc. Don't burn your empties or left-overs in your camp fire, they will smell it. I've done it, and have found that something had dug through my campfire and located the alu remains, when I returned at night. I go as far as to not brush my teeth next to my tent but walk a little ways away. It would also try to get blood-covered clothes outside of my tent and away for the night.

Maybe this sounds extreme, but it's kinda useless to do only half of these things. Once you get used to it, it just becomes second nature.
Have fun out there!

Frans