Bear safety in RTT's and soft sided campers/tents

[Corey]

Kristian, do not spray the perimeter of your camp.
It has been mentioned here that spraying pepper on the ground will resort in yogi visiting you.

[mountainpete]

Is there issue with bringing bear spray across the Can/US border?

Never had an issue and I have notified the agent at the border.

[STREGA]

Corey, the Kel Tec looks bad arse. I currently have a Remington 870 home defense 12g, holds 6 rounds in mag and 1 in chamber, 18" barrel so its easy to swing in confined spaces and is very reliable.

I really don't want to shoot a bear so besides maintaining a clean camp, bear spray will be my first choice of defense with the shotgun as a backup if needed.

[Vince1]

Corey, the Kel Tec looks bad arse. I currently have a Remington 870 home defense 12g, holds 6 rounds in mag and 1 in chamber, 18" barrel so its easy to swing in confined spaces and is very reliable.

I really don't want to shoot a bear so besides maintaining a clean camp, bear spray will be my first choice of defense with the shotgun as a backup if needed.

To me, this is the most reasonable approach, and the one I also use. The one addition that I make, however, is that I typically camp with my dog. His advanced senses give me a little pre-warning which can buy precious time. Also, I can tell you from hunting in both Oregon and Colorado, bears don't like barking dogs very much (they're too much work for them I think).

[STREGA]

To me, this is the most reasonable approach, and the one I also use. The one addition that I make, however, is that I typically camp with my dog. His advanced senses give me a little pre-warning which can buy precious time. Also, I can tell you from hunting in both Oregon and Colorado, bears don't like barking dogs very much (they're too much work for them I think).

I forgot about the dog, even though he is a small guy his senses are good and always has my back.

[Corey]

What I like about that KSG is it can lay right beside me too when I am in the tent, it is so compact.
The only bad thing about that gun is its hidable size, I fear bank robbers/store stickups will be using that as their weapon of choice in the future.

[Corey]

Since this bear spray expires in four years, I think I am going to keep it in my FJ too.
It would be good for an attempted car jacking, or a raging road rager
My alarm has an anti car jacking built in that will disable my rig after so many feet if someone attempts to jack it from me, but the spray might come in handy too, and less lethal than me pulling my G36 out.

[austintaco]

soooooo...If you opt for bear spray, and a Bear approaches your campsite, what do you do after you spray the Bear? I watched that youtube video and he states to walk, not run, back the way you came, but if you are camping and at your site, do you jump in the truck and try to high tail it out of your location?

Since this is about Bears and RTT, what about all of your gear and stuff still at camp? When is it safe to go back and retrieve the yard sale and trail of stuff that you left in your wake?

[mountainpete]

soooooo...If you opt for bear spray, and a Bear approaches your campsite, what do you do after you spray the Bear? I watched that youtube video and he states to walk, not run, back the way you came, but if you are camping and at your site, do you jump in the truck and try to high tail it out of your location?

Since this is about Bears and RTT, what about all of your gear and stuff still at camp? When is it safe to go back and retrieve the yard sale and trail of stuff that you left in your wake?

1 - First check the wind. If you spray into the wind, you might get the bear but you will also be on the ground deciding if being mauled by the bear was a better or worse fate. I have inhaled high quality bear spray. It's beyond awful.

2 - Spray a short shot first. If that doesn't cause the bear to do a 180 you need to spray again with a 3 second spray.

3 - Always stay calm since you never know if there are other bears. Slowly walk back to your vehicle and get inside.

4 - If you left stuff in the camp area and you sprayed in the camp area, you may not be able to go back for 30 min if the air is very calm or heavily wooded. If the wind was in your favor and the bear ran away, you don't need to wait long before grabbing your stuff. The bear won't be back there for a while.

It's very possible to scare a bear out of camp and then stay in that location. Many black bears will be curious enough to come back though so caution is needed. In the end, follow your gut. If you feel like you need to move on (or anyone else in the camp does), just move on. It's not worth it to be worried all the time about another bear.

Pete

[johnnyrover]

Bear Spray was the most effective deterent we used for black, white and brown bears.(also can be effective on other animals as well)

For me and the groups I would lead, spray was a much easier tool to carry, train and use. When in Nunuvat and Northern Manitobo, someone in the party also carried a shotgun. We did have one guy who brought his own shotgun, and it never left his side. The poor guy was terrified of bears. He got over his fear a bit when we were walking the shoreline and came upon a male polar bear at about 50 yards. Thing is, he was afraid because he had no experience...

I have pictures of grizzly, wolf, and black bear scat left next to my tent overnight. Guess my snoring kept them away (or brought them in). Heck, I crawled out of my tent one night above treeline to take care of a full bladder. There was a bull moose at 20 feet. Thought I was done, he just stood there and watched. I finished, and then he wandered off.

Keep a clean tent, be respectuful of your surroundings, and enjoy ALL of the experience.