Camping in Southwest Montana

[maninthemaze]

My brother and I are planning an elk hunt in Montana during the rifle season. We are planning on bringing our camper to set up as base camp and then backpacking in for a couple of days, return to camper for a day, then backpack in another direction, or move to different area. My question is, when camping in Southwest Montana Region 3, do you pack a portable bear fence, or just keep a really clean campsite with the normal "up the tree" food storage? Store the food "up the tree" but have a bear fence around the tent? No bear fence at all?

If you can't tell, walking and hunting in bear country doesn't bother me. Sleeping in a tent in bear country makes me nervous.

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[bhylton]

keep a clean campsite and hang your food. i would think its alot lot of a hassle to throw a peice of p-cord over a branch and hang food then pack a bear fence. Even if i was using a bear fence i would not be able to sleep without knowing my camp was clean and food/ toothpaste/ copenhagen ect was a ways away.

I would just pay attention to bear sign and pick a good campsite, hang food and have bear spray/ gun handy in the tent and take an Advil PM

 

[Gumbo]

Clean camp, hang food/toiletries away from site a hundred yards or so ON A GOOD TREE. Blackies are pretty good thieves IME. My friend from PA brought a fence for a couple trips, I wasn't impressed or convinced...and it didn't make me sleep any better. A blinking light isn't very reassuring, not nearly as much as a can of spray and a clean camp...and a pistol with tritium sights in griz country. But don't worry about it too much either, that will just detract from the experience. Just be mindful and don't take shortcuts on griz country safety.

 

[maninthemaze]

Thanks guys. I'll be discussing not using a bear fence with my brother, to see if he's ok not using one. It sounds like it's just added weight and expense.

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[missjordan]

Depends where you go in region 3, some places are heavy with bear activity and others aren't. The Centennial valley is chuck full of griz. I would think if you are hunting everywhere else but there you wouldn't need to pack a fence but still be mindful of keeping everything clean


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