Food/Bear Barrel: Overnight Placement? - Part 9: Solo 4-day canoe trip, Spring 2018
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ก.ค. 2024
- Part 9, of this 4-day solo canoe trip series, first canoe trip of spring, 2018: I show where I place my food/bear barrel, relative to the tent location, and discuss reasons why I place it so that I can see it and hear if an animal may be messing with it. Hanging food barrels or packs from trees in this boreal forest is almost impossible, due to the branch structure of the spruce and pine here. White birch is about the only tree species here with an open enough branch structure to throw a weighted line over and hoist and suspend a food pack between two trees. There were no large enough white birch trees close enough to this campsite. On the treeless tundra further north in grizzly range, barrels always have to be on the ground anyways.
Keeping the food barrel absolutely clean and never touching it with food residue on my hands, is my way of reducing risk of a bear deciding it will try to open the food barrel. The barrel lid rim is plastic and a big bear could rip it open if it really wanted to. By keeping the barrel clean and with no food scent on the outside, that minimizes the risk.
More to come in this series!
The entire series will be linked in my playlist: "Solo Canoe 4-day Trip - Spring 2018", parts to be added as I get them done: • Back on the Water - Pa...
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Thank you for the video. I did not go through the comments so I might be writing something others have already contributed. I use the same system with two differences. I secure the barrel to a tree the way you do, with the clamp lever against the trunk of the tree, but I secure it very tightly, so that there is no way that by accident the bear opens the mechanism. Also, I secure the barrel farther from my tent because the more distance I keep between me and the bear the happier I am, but I put my (very well cleaned) pots on top of the barrel so that if the bear makes them fall I can hear that and scare the bear away. This said, If an ideal tree is in the area, I still hang the barrel high using the PCT method.
great set of tips and justification sounds good to me :)
This topic has taken me for an absolute whirl. What you do here is now what I implement. I bring a ratchet straps with some mule tape. And strap it to a tree.
I take my harness off as it's extremely easy (thought being that if he wants to pull and tear my harness it is not there to be damaged). I also put my paddles in a cross formation on top of the barrel (only works when winds are not high, unless you can configure them not to accidentally fall). 1 to potentially scare him away as paddles fall. 2 as an audible alarm for myself. I've heard people putting pots and pans on top too as an alarm but if they have a smell it's defeating the purpose.
Also people never prepare food or gut fish on top of your barrel lid, you're just asking for it at that point.
Awesome video.
Great tips Hoop. Thanks for sharing.Nate
Thanks again Nate!
"clean in quotes" I like that. Great video, thanks for sharing
Thanks Jennifer! I clean my cook pot with soap and hot water, and rinse, and still I can smell the residual food smell on it. So if I can smell it, a bear can certainly smell it really well. So my cook pots and pans are packed in the barrel.
Thanks for another good video. Histirically I've been a farther away into the bush barrel stasher, but this makes alot of sense.
Thanks MB! The context of the local bear's "education" is also relevant. Where I was there, it was public land on an obscure back country route, in the middle of a vast area that very few people travel. So the local bears there likely have not discovered what is inside a properly packed barrel, and so they are not necessarily going to pay much attention to it. I have read about popular routes and busy Park campsites where all the local bears are well educated, and will deliberately go for barrels and any pack or cooler they can get access to. If a bear got a food reward from one barrel, that's bad news because the bear will remember that for life, and mother bears will teach their cubs to attack packs and barrels, and the cycle once started is hard to break.
We did this on a canoe trip in the Yukon, but I definitely learned a few additionals things from you here - thanks a lot! Tim
Hi Tim! My favourite canoe trips have been my sub-arctic and arctic "Barrenlands" (tundra) trips. Out on the barrens everything is on the ground, and I love the great views. (I need to get back north!). There its grizzly country, as I imagine it was on your Yukon trip. I use the same system of view-ability. Interestingly one morning on the Barrens I woke up, got dressed and stepped out of the tent, and there to my surprise was a grizzly just sitting there at about 30-40m, not threatening at all, just sitting. If my barrels (I had two 60L barrels) had food smells on them, I have always wondered if I might have had an "interesting" situation. :-) Griz was startled when I suddenly appeared from the tent, took off, end of story. It almost looked more startled than I was!
Awesome job loved the video. Thanks for sharing my friend
Thanks TBCL&M! :-)
I like that idea better than hanging the mess kit. I need to get a food barrel now.
Great video, thanks!
Thanks Sam! My advice for buying a harness is don't skimp on quality. Barrels are awkwardly shaped, and a good padded harness that is comfortable is well worth the price. Although the little 30L barrels do not get very heavy. However a 60L barrel can weigh 50 pounds or more when packed efficiently with dried food. Wet food could be even heavier, and a good harness for a big barrel is essential. Also check the O-ring on the inside of the lid. I have seen damaged O-rings on new barrels for sale in the store.
Great system! Thanks for sharing brother
Blessings
Bcb
Thanks BCB!
Good stuff here my friend. In my travels in the woods (over half a century) we've always been very careful to keep bears out of our food. Success, so far. I wish I could say the same about raccoons. Those sneaky little devils have gotten the best of us once or twice camping along the wild Pacific ocean over here in Washington State.
Thanks Jeff! I am lucky that where I canoe, it is north of racoon range. In my youth I lived and canoed further south, and the raccoons were indeed devils. In the old days when everyone traveled with shotguns and rifles, and harvested wild food as they camped, raccoons in camp were never a problem, or never stayed a problem, because they were harvested, and then eaten by people or fed to the dogs! :-)
Totally agree. Great system that's been perfected with many years of trial and experience.
Thanks C! One of these days on a short trip I am going to try the Ursac and see what happens. Might be easier to portage when T'd up on the big Ostrom portage pack. Nice thing about the barrel though is that it protects my SAT phone from being banged around, so I am hesitant to go the Ursac method when canoeing.
I have an Ursack Hoop. On my last trip a demon possessed eastern gray squirrel chewed a hole through it (bet that gave him sore jaws). He did'n't quite get through the vacuum packed dehydrated food he came into contact with but the $110 kevlar sack has been compromised and a bear could then more easily get his claws in there and really make a mess. Trying to think of a way to repair it that would be secure but haven't been inspired yet. That squirrel was more trouble than I've ever had with a wild animal in all my travels lol. Think I'll be headed back to my 30L blue barrel unless I can figure something out.
I know those red squirrels are evil. Had a nice MEC daypack shredded by a red squirrel years ago. I am surprised the squirrel got through that kevlar. I guess their teeth have a fine enough edge to part the fibers, whereas a bear has bigger blunter teeth. I wonder if you sent it back to Ursac, they might send you a replacement for free?
Doh! I meant red squirrel lol. I was piping mad about that hole but in the end had to make peace offerings with the little bugger so he wouldn't keep scolding me so often. Kept him happy for several hours at a shot lol. Hey that's a great idea, I'll make an inquiry and the worst they can say is no! Thanks for the suggestion!
Hey Hoop, another informative video to show people that there are different ways to do things. Most of the time I do like you keep my food container within sight relatively close. The only place I've ever had problems with bears was on the south shore of Lake Superior in pictured rocks National Lakeshore. They didn't get my food but they sure tried getting to my backpack which was hung on a pole supplied by the park service. So I did not consider them totally wild bears. Being down here in the states I too have a bear bangers but mine comes in the form of a pistol. I've never had to fire to scare a bear off. Not yet at least. I hope I didn't curse myself :)
Hi Lawrence! I have heard that the park-supplied poles or hanging devices actually attract bears to try and circumvent them. Once conditioned that a pack might contain food, even if it does not, they will focus on the hanging device. That is one of the arguments for stashing packs off in the bush somewhere at random. My gear pack is on the ground near my tent, so I always worry about it, but so far no critter has bothered it - I keep absolutely no food in it. Toothpaste I store in my food barrel as well. So I like to think that my gear pack does not smell of anything worth investigating. A curious bear will of course chew on all sorts of stuff, but being that close to my tent, I plan to scare it away. My bear bangers are pen-launched cartridge type, and they are handy.
Good points made here. The northern spruce forest has its own demands from other landscapes. And use or make the container brightly colored so you can find it if it does get carried off a ways into the bush! A black container can "hide" pretty good.
Thanks RBP! The bright colors are essential here in my opinion. The bush is incredibly thick and green. brown and black. A black or camo barrel would disappear not too far away. For whitewater trips where there may be an inadvertent wipe-out and swim, retrieving floating packs downstream is made much easier with the bright colors. :-)
Owesome vids !
Thank you Trailtraveller!
Good philosophy-I am a recent convert to the Ursack coming from hanging my food bag and never going back
Hi Doug! I hear very good things about the Ursack. I have a new, unused Ursack at home that I have never tried. I need to give it a field test. The nice thing about the barrel is that its good impact-free and dry transport container for my Sat phone, and extra bear spray canister (I carry two canisters now). I could use a pelican case for the sat phone, I should look into that and compare weight and bulk trade-offs.
You are on the right track. I would say you are correct on all points/observations. This strategy have worked for me and some of my friends at one time. We stored our food supply at approx the same distance from the tents as you did. Bear comes at night, fiddles with the food box, friend grabs shotgun and fires a few shells up in the air. Bear takes off into the brush. Since then I (almost) always store my food like that. I never store food in the tent or where I sleep. I will also attach an empty mess kit or metal cup to the food storage so it will make noise and wake me up.
Calling bears for "critters" is new to me :) Well done friend.
Thanks Lars! When I canoe in the arctic tundra where there are grizzly bears, (have not been up there for several years), I carry a 12g 3D printer, since the water is huge and there are less portages to deal with, and the extra weight and bulk is not that much of a problem to carry. I sleep better with the 3D printer. But in my Boreal trips there are miserable portages, and the bulk and weight add up over many portages. I have had good luck with the pen launched bear bangers so far in the Boreal with the black bears.
I still hang mine 100 feet away from camp. never give it much thought.Thanks for sharing.
Hi Douglas! If it works, keep on doing it! :-) The most important thing is to not give the bears a food reward. I have read that in some popular camping areas in the south, bears now know what a blue barrel is now, and they attack it on sight. If that learning spreads to the north, I don't know what I will do, as we don't have trees that are feasible to hang stuff from. Black spruce and most jack pine branches just won't work.
Thanks for the interesting approach. Brian 78. Shipping out this week-end for 4 nights.
Thanks Brian! Good luck on the trip!
I do the same thing bro, we don't even hang anymore in the ADKs bears got'em all figured out anyway. So leave on the ground tie them up and there ya have it, good stuff
Hi Brian! One of these days I want to try the Ursac. Tie it to a tree and see what happens. On long trips (like 3 weeks or more), I would need several Usacs, so might as well have a barrel instead. The barrel never decreases in size though as the food is eaten. :-)
Yeah I have not looked into them, I was talking to Rangers upstate they have a video of a bear actually sitting on one and popping it open! Not sure if it was defective or an older model but I certainly would not mind carrying something that gets smaller over time!
Wintertrekker I tried an Ursack this past March. Some racoons enjoyed chewing some pepperettes through it. Yuck! I don't relish racoon saliva mixed with my food, so I am back to hanging food (backpacking) or a food barrel (canoeing) .
Good to see another video from you sir, always appreciate seeing them. I was watching a documentary yesterday that was filmed in the Rocky Mountains. One of the things that blew me away was how sensitive a bear’s sense of smell is. Are you going to post more of them during this trip? Thanks for the vid.
Thanks Gregory! Most people are familiar with how sensitive a good tracking dog's nose is. A good tracking dog can distinguish an individual's scent from the bottom of their shoes, and literally a few molecules of scent left on shrubs or branches from clothing. Bears have equal if not even better scent capabilities. If you touch the outside of the barrel with food smells on your hands, the bear will smell that, and could get curious as to what is inside. So knowing that, I am extremely careful in the food handling and washing hands before packing up the barrel. I filmed a ton of footage in this trip, so more to come in this series. :-)
That's fantastic news. I have always had the greatest respect for nature. It has always amazed me, with the way the animals behave in "their world" the wild. It's their world that we share with them. So many humans never even give them a second thought about anything. Good to hear from you. Greg Edwards p/s (I found a solo canoe!)
I haven't camped in bear country in 6-7 years. I used to put some cheap Christmas bells on my barrels to help let me know if I had visitors.
Hi Abe. The bells are a good idea. I have pretty good hearing, but I am getting older, so I might add a bell to my food barrel. Also thinking of trying the Ursac one day, where a bell might be useful.
What do you use for your barrel “lock” pin? Is yours custom made? I’ve been struggling to find something that is small enough to fit. Best I’ve come up with so far is a metal shower curtain hook, spray painted orange so I don’t lose it on the ground. I like how yours is attached.
We use the same technique to store our barrel on trips. (E Manitoba & NW Ontario)
Hey Hoop, myself I still use the
30 liter barrel but I’ve seen some stuff on the Earth Bag. I think it’s the name nothing like a bear barrel.
I think its made out of Kevlar. You just tie it to the bottom of a tree,
in view.
Hi Gregory! I have not heard about the Earth Bag, but it sounds similar to the "Ursac" which is also a kevlar bag for packing food that is tied to a tree. The Ursac marketing says its bear proof when tied correctly to a tree. I have an Ursac but never tried it. Its not nearly the volume of that 30L barrel. Nice thing about the barrel is that I can carry other stuff in there like my Sat Phone, and second can of bear spray, and it protects it from being banged around and from getting wet. In canoe tripping everything gets wet eventually unless dry bagged, and even then dry bags leak sometimes.
Hey Hoop, what do you think of adding a couple of bells on your line that secures the barrel to the tree. Might be just enough noise to wake you up. Thanks for the video. ATB
Hi BW76! The bells are a good idea. I sleep very light so I like to think I would hear any commotion, but the bells would be good insurance.
Hi Hoop, thx for the barrel tips. Don't kniw uf it's off topic, but i still use a CCS food pack.I keep it about fifty yards out of camp untied and close to the water if posdible. We are BWCA trippers abd have not had any issues. Do you have any thoughts on this? Also, I'm still having problems getting motifications. I have been subbed and hit the bell three years back./openboat42
Hi Steve! If what you are doing with your food pack is working, keep doing it! I have heard and read that bears in popular areas figure out what the common food pack placement is, and cause trouble. So if your method is not common, you might be avoiding the bears. i think the biggest issue by far is food smell prevention. That requires sealed food packages, and food handling protocols. All my food is dry except for nalgenes of olive oil, so I don't have anything spoiling, leaking and causing food smells to permeate a pack. I used to carry dry salami and pepperettes, but I found in the heat of the barrel they smelled up the barrel real bad and permeated all the packaging (mostly zip lock bags), and I just stopped bringing aromatic food like that.
Good info.Just curious, why no dog.Bear discussion regarding safety in camps wouldn't be complete with out a chapter on dogs.
Hi TT! I am not a dog person, so never had a pet dog of my own. I have traveled with a buddy who brings his dog, and its always been fine. I have read alot of stuff about dogs on trips regarding bears. There are many accounts of dog harassing bear, then having a change of heart and running back into camp towards human master with the bear in hot pursuit! :-) Also heard anecdotes of opposite, where big dog held its ground and discouraged the bear. The human back-up behind the dog is no-doubt affecting the bear's decision to back off. A large bear could easily dispatch a single dog if it really wanted to. I have read anecdotes of a pack of wolves killing bears. I am sure there is an evolutionary a-priory battle between bears and wolves. A big vicious dog no doubt makes a bear think twice.
Should it hang so the bears can play tether ball?😁 hope you have a great weekend.
Hahaha! Thanks Abe!
Do you do the same when winter camping?
Isa there a reason that you put the pine burrows around the barrel. If you said in the video I missed it
Hi Michael. The downed small spruce was a natural blowdown, ripped out by a big tree to the right just off frame. That small tree was growing in the turf over the root mat of the larger, and when it went down, the turf over top and the entire small tree got flung sideways. Its was just there by accident.
There is no way a bear will not know that there is food in that barrel if he gets close to it. In my area, and probably in yours, the popularity of bow hunting has made barrels full of food a fact of life in the bush. It has also taught bears to slap the barrel so that some food gets spilled out from the hunter created holes. This learned behaviour has even rendered some bear cable traps, such as the M-15, less effective. Even a 75 pound bear can tote that full barrel far enough away that you will never find it. Good idea on the tieing. 1/8 cable would be better, though. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for that info Mushercdn. I know what you mean about bear bait stations. I see the blue and white barrels being used for bait containers in the bush around here. They are mostly associated with trails off a road system. Out there where I was, I was several km's from any roads and any outfitters, so there were no bait stations nearby to educate a bear. That was true backcountry past the portage. I know a bear can haul away a big barrel. I am betting on the smell being near zero, so that the bear, if educated, would try to mess with it right there, and I would have a chance at defending it. I know the rubber O-ring inside the barrel lid will absorb odor, and its only a friction seal on the barrel rim, so I know that some smell could leak out. Before every trip I wash the O-ring and entire barrel thoroughly. I like that cable idea, will look into that.
Good Thinkin I M O, Hoop Stay Safe & Be Well, ATB Ter God Bless
Thanks Terry!
At least your food stuff shouldn't be kept in your tent like I did as a novice wild camper when I was younger. I keep it away now but also add some other items close as well, so I can be warned if an animal tries to rip me off.
But, what do you do with the trash? Like used zip bags of food?
Hi TNO! Anything not food but with a food-like scent, like toothpaste, should also not be in the tent. I keep the toothpaste in the food barrel as well. I generate very little trash. My home-made dried food is packed in ziplocks, so the ziplocks are flattened and come home in the barrel. I do have some store-bought dried food like Knor mixes in paper/foil pouches, and they fold down easy into a ziplock. Anything easily burnable I burn in the fire, but on this trip I could not have a fire because of the fire ban that was on.
👍👍
Thanks Mike!
Wintertrekker, have you ever had a visitior and how do you handle it, I know you said bear banger but could you give a how to in that situation.. thanks.
Hi NewLife! I have scared black bears away on a few occasions with bear bangers. Most time yelling and an aggressive posture and waving of arms will work. But sometimes the bear ignores that, especially at night, but the bangers seem to work. Shoot the bangers straight up in the air, NOT at the bear or near any trees. The charge is a mini rocket explosive that shoots about 40 yards before exploding ,and you don't want it bouncing off a tree and coming back at you!!! :-) Straight up will make a clear boom in every direction, and its very loud. I have several expired cartridges. One of these days I need to make a video as a demo to fire them off and show the technique. :-)
I thank you but excuse my wimpiness but I can`t wrap my head around what it takes to do this.. Be well.
Can you recommend a trusted brand of bear bangers?
Hi ADKHM! I only see one brand sold in the stores around here, which I buy. The brand is Tru Flare, link here: www.truflare.ca/ They have worked well for me. Incredible "boom". Their website is not good, can't find the bear bangers on it, but that is what is in the stores here.
Putting it between the water and your tent only gives the bear 3 ways to run one being towards you
Less of an issue in less traveled camps like your Crown land. More of an issue in US side.
I sprits all my stuff with teatree oil
Thanks for that idea RB100! I will have to look into teatree oil properties. One of the natural scent covers I use on my hands, after washing them, is crushed sweetgale leaves, which have a lemony citrus scent. Sweetgale grows on the shore in most boreal lakes, so its almost always available. I was there in spring before the sweetgale leaves leafed out, so I used labrador tea leaves (which are evergreen so they are always available), crushed and wiped on my hands. Lab tea is not as pungent a scent as sweetgale, but I am hoping it helps mask some of my scent. Can't hurt anyway. :-)
Ya, I make lab tea when I am in the Marathon area. Never heard of sweetgale. I will have to ask some of the elders here. I just smoke myself by the fire and impregnate my clothes. I am pretty minimal when i travel in the bush. After all my people have passed the skills down for millennia. You are a great statesman of the woods brother!
Have you considered carrying a small bottle of bleach to spray the outside of your barrel, or even a rag to wipe down the barrel, or maybe attaching a small pouch on the outside with mothballs in it.....Here both those seem to work on small critters to deter their interest. I suspect a hungry bear would over look most things to fill its belly. Here I had trouble with coyotes, so I hung bags of my human waste every 25-50 yards, troubles stopped.
Hi Richard. I will pass on the bags of human waste! :-) Not doing that! But for bleach and mothballs, that is interesting, I never considered that. I do keep the outside of my barrel food-scent free because I never touch it with any food smells on my hands. In fact I wash my hands before packing it up after a meal. In summer I also grab some nearby sweetgale leaves and crush them in my hands to mask my scent. Sweetgale has lemony smelling leaves and is ubiquitous on most boreal lake lake shores, so its almost always available in summer. In spring before sweetgale is leafed out, I grab some labrador tea shrub leaves (evergreen, always available), and crush them in my hands with water before closing up the barrel. Lab tea is less lemony, but it still has a natural odor that hopefully will lessen my scent. So far my system works (never had a barrel attacked by a bear). The bleach is problematic to carry because of my fear of leakage in a pack which could be catastrophic to gear. But mothballs would be easy and safe to carry, so I will give that some thought.
I'm just glad I cannot smell as good as animals. That could get very disgusting 😩💩🐷