New to Tent Camping, Worried About Widlife Threat, Need Advice

[Mike]

Re: New to Tent Camping, Worried About Widlife Threat, Need Advice

Okay, stupid question here. I keep hearing about keeping food away from your campsite and not eating around your tent. My question is how far? I mean, usually your tent is right next to your campfire where you usually will fix all your meals. So, how far away from your tent should you stay with food? So do I have to walk into the woods to eat my food?

The folks who play it real safe like Hogsnapper suggest eating at a location remote from camp. That is probably good advice, but for me, not practical. The campfire and the table become the center of the camp so cooking and eating somewhere else would just be too much hassle.

I think the right way to go about it is to keep camp clean - and especially clean of all food including food spills if you can. After dinner, clean up - for me that means burning the paper plates and bowls. The cook pots should absolutely be cleaned away from camp. I put the cleaned cook tools and pots on top of the table and upside down.

I hang my food on the outskirts of camp and on the opposite side of camp from my tent. I imagine where I would like to have the food bag hanging in case a bear came into camp standing on it's hind legs trying to get a better wiff. I would like to be able to look outside the door of my tent and see the bear far enough away that it is not cause for alarm.

The biggest problem is always chipmunks who will drill holes in backpacks to get to half a peanut that escaped your gorp bag.

[sarahspins]

Re: New to Tent Camping, Worried About Widlife Threat, Need Advice

200' downwind from tent per the Backpacker's Field Manual. The main thing is if in bear country, you dont want any food smells on your tent. Same for any spilled foods or wash water on the ground as that could lead the critters right to your tent.

Most of this applies to backcountry camping - in a developed campground where you simply won't have that kind of space, it's important to be smart, but you don't necessarily need to go to the same extremes... 200' isn't practical if that 200' spans 4-6 campsites. For developed campgrounds, just not leaving food/coolers/cookware out (pack them in your car or use bear boxes if available) and not dumping grey water anywhere near your campsite is typically sufficient. If you can use a tablecloth to contain any spills and messes from cooking/eating that will help some too. Never eat or store food in your tent, even when you're not in bear country.

I've camped quite a bit in bear country and I've never seen a bear... so it's not as if it's a guarantee. You are much more likely to see smaller critters, which are also quite capable of causing damage to your gear.

[Brandon]

Re: New to Tent Camping, Worried About Widlife Threat, Need Advice

Thanks guys for all of the information. Maybe my thinking is all wrong but it just seems like such a hassle to have to hike into the woods (or even to another eating camp as Hogsnapper suggested) just to eat while camping. Maybe camping in bear country isn't for me after all. Just seems like a lot of work to go camping. Maybe I better rethink this whole thing.

[terasec]

Re: New to Tent Camping, Worried About Widlife Threat, Need Advice

i wouldnt be discouraged,
take it step by step,
start with car camping at a public campground, follow their rules,
and work your way up to back country camping,
can still hike the woods while returning to your your car camp site.
as for eating a distance from your camp,
while that would be best, not always practicle,
just be aware of bears and scents you do leave behind when cooking/eating, etc...
just use common sense.

[sarahspins]

Re: New to Tent Camping, Worried About Widlife Threat, Need Advice

Maybe my thinking is all wrong but it just seems like such a hassle to have to hike into the woods (or even to another eating camp as Hogsnapper suggested) just to eat while camping. Maybe camping in bear country isn't for me after all. Just seems like a lot of work to go camping. Maybe I better rethink this whole thing.

The only time that is appropriate is if you are backcountry camping.. in a developed campground no one around you will be moving away from their campsites, they'll all probably be preparing and eating food within 10 feet of their tents. Just don't leave food out, don't leave a mess in your campsite, don't eat in your tent and you really should be fine... it is that simple.

Camping in bear country is really more about utilizing common sense than being overly paranoid to the point where you choose to avoid those areas entirely. I've never in my life seen a bear outside of a zoo. My sister once saw one at our family's cabin in Colorado while she was staying there but I never have.. only prints and scat. Even where they are common you may never see one.

[Mike]

Re: New to Tent Camping, Worried About Widlife Threat, Need Advice

I suppose giving up is one way approach things. After all, think of all the television you would be missing if you went camping

Tell you what, though, why don't you spend a couple weekends looking for bear. Ya. No camping necessary. Just go for day hike looking for bear. You can even bait them (Camera shots only)

After you search in futility looking for bear, you might choose to camp with the hopes that you actually DO see a bear