Bear question?

Question

how can i keep them away while im hiking? im going on a hike 2morrow and ill be w/ like 4 others but w/out bear spray how can i keep em away??

Answer 1

Bears do not bother people on the trail. They will see you long before you see them. My advise is to make sure your food is properly stowed - especially at the trailhead. If there are no bear boxes; then you should store all excess food and smellables in a bear canister.

Answer 2

Bear attacks are about as rare as lightning strikes.  You are more likely to be injured or killed in a car accident driving to and from the trailhead.  Bears will rarely attack a group of three or more, you will be in a group of five, I wouldn't worry as long as your group uses common sense and doesn't try to play with any bear cubs or investigate an animal carcass that a bear has been feeding off of.

Of course, to have the advantage of the safety in numbers that being in a group provides - you MUST stay fairly close to each other.  If you hike ahead of everyone else or fall far behind, you will lose the safety of being part of a group.  But even if you hiked alone you still wouldn't be likely to bothered a bear.

If you are really unlucky and a bear does come at you, what you should do in response depends on whether its a black bear or a grizzly.

If a black bear charges you and you are unarmed, you should stand calmly.  This is because most black bear charges are made by the bear as a "bluff" and if you neither threaten the bear nor run, it will likely go away.  If you run you will excite its predatory instinct and it will run you down.  If the black bear actually attacks you, you need to fight for your life - hit it or stab it with anything you have, ie., knife, rock.  Some people without guns or spray have succesfully defended themselves from being eaten by a black bear.

If a grizzly bear charges you and you are unarmed, you should drop to the ground and "play dead".  This way, if the bear was charging you because you surprised it or otherwise made it feel threatened, the bear will realize you are not a threat and go away.  If a grizzly bear actually begins to feed on you, you can try to fight it off, but unless you have a weapon, your only hope is that someone else nearby comes to your aid.

A fun movie to watch if you are interested in bear v. human interactions is the Herzog documentary "Grizzly Man" about Timothy Treadwell.  Mr. Treadwell also wrote a book he had published prior to his being kiled and eaten by a grizzly in Alaska.  When Mr. Treadwell first began to spend his summers camping out with the wild grizzlies, he carried spray and used it once to ward off a charge by a sub-adult.  Unfortunately, he later grew so confident after spending several summers with the bears that he quit carrying spray.  He and his girlfriend were killed and eaten.  His girfriend attempted to stop the bear's attack by hitting it in the head with a frying pan to no avail.

Personally, I would never voluntarily travel in "bear country" without some sort of defensive item.

Answer 3

no food is the only way to go,i have seen them eat stuff cooking on a grill,while it was cooking,

that is all they are after is food,

make noise and no food ,no problem