Comments on: Thoughts on “Bearanoia”

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 08:47:35 +0000

Another big reason is the complete lack of a consensus from the experts on what to do about bears. The rangers tell you one thing, one experienced hiker will tell you another, and a different veteran hiker will claim something else. Meanwhile you’ll hear something entirely different come from a wildlife biologist and yet another approach from an Alaskan outdoorsman. It’s worse than the contradicting ideas about nutrition coming from health experts (Tony Robbins’ cardiologist is now saying tomatoes and cashews are poison! Lol!).

Mags, you need round everyone up to draft some kind of accord. Everyone sign the thing and lets be done with it.

By: New Hiker Common Sense FAQ – Bounding Upwards

New Hiker Common Sense FAQ – Bounding Upwards — Fri, 08 Mar 2019 16:54:22 +0000

[…] Should I worry about bears? No. Don’t worry, just have a healthy respect. See this great article by PMags. […]

By: New Hiker Common Sense FAQ – Bounding Upwards

New Hiker Common Sense FAQ – Bounding Upwards — Fri, 08 Mar 2019 14:09:52 +0000

[…] Should I worry about bears? No. Don’t worry, just have a healthy respect. See this great article by PMags. […]

By: StephanP

StephanP — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 04:25:27 +0000

Good article.
My Bearanoia story happened to me in Alaska.
As a little background, I grew up backpacking Northern California. Especially the upper Yosemite wilderness so I learned the standard precautions but even though I saw bears I never had a problem with them. Since then I’ve backpacked extensively in NM. CO. WY and MT. Montana was my first time in Grizzly country (first time with bells too) but I never saw one.
Two years ago I took a trip to the Kenai peninsula to visit friends that had a house there. They essentially wouldn’t let me hike alone and unarmed. I heard many bear horror stories from them.
Later in the trip I went to Denali. To camp in Denali wilderness you have to take a “Bear Aware” class. There I learned the last time a bear killed a human was 2012. Unfortunately when they found his remains they also found his camera. He came within 40 yards of the bear and the bear was noted to be increasingly agitated as he got closer. People get attacked more often by Moose than by bear. My AK friends had severe Bearanoia.
I’ll continue to hike in all country taking normal precautions and sleeping well.

By: Another Kevin

Another Kevin — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 20:39:04 +0000

General rule: If it’s something that gets played up on the national news, or goes viral on social media, it’s not something to worry about. Those things are newsworthy or viral because they freaking never happen.

My biggest safety concerns Out There are ones we all know sensible precautions about. Traffic accidents. Falls. Drowning. Disease (particularly insect- and water-borne). Medical emergency (I ain’t getting any younger…). Hypothermia. Dehydration.

Bears enter the equation only that I know that if I leave food unattended with the rest of my gear, everything might well get shredded while Bruin is looking for more. Which amplifies a bunch of the above risks, by trashing the safety equipment.

When I was younger, I was comfortable sleeping with food. Now, it’s too much of a PITA. It’s a rare night that I don’t have to get up once or twice, and leaving food unattended with the rest of my gear is asking for trouble. But bringing my food bag with me to drain the kidneys or comply with Deuteronomy 23:13 is generally even more inconvenient than getting a line up a tree or humping a canister.

By: John Goering

John Goering — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 17:51:05 +0000

Bearanoia perhaps. But some of this, at least in my small corner of the world, is due to grizzles expanding their range far beyond the immediate confines of Yellowstone Park. My wife and I have bumped into them in SW Montana well removed from the Park. Bear spray in now just another piece of the “kit” not only for backpacking/hiking but also on our daily ranch activities.

I totally agree that black bears are not really a problem unless habituated to human debris. Over the decades I’ve had a half dozen face to face (read 10′) encounters with them and all ended well for all parties involved.

Life is nothing a statistician could not provide probabilities for all aspects of. The probability of being killed/mauled by a bear no doubt ranks far below a poor choice of a stream crossing, being munched in a talus slope, an un-arrested trip on a snow/ice field, the drive to the trailhead, and a large number of other possibilities.

Should bears be ignored? Again, depends on where you are but not in my neck of the woods. A bear spray canister is really cheap insurance. Just know how to use it and hope you actually have time to deploy it (it is totally worthless in your pack—).

By: PaulW

PaulW — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 15:05:44 +0000

“why are people so full of concern for bears vs. previous years?”… A huge part, I believe, is media, and especially social media. With the click of a button, we can spread our fears around the world in a matter of seconds. Fear spreads like a virus. And fear sells; just look at most of what’s on the news. If the news were to publish a list of all those hikers and backpackers who were NOT harassed or attacked by bears on any given day, no one would give them a second thought 🙂 In over 40 years of backpacking, the only critters that have caused me any grief were rodents, moose, and off-leash domestic dogs. I’m much more afraid of the carte blanche regulations you mentioned than I am of wild animals.

By: Gary Marshall

Gary Marshall — Sun, 03 Mar 2019 06:41:15 +0000

Hello all,
I’m heading to the Appalachian Trail right now. I’ve sectioned hiked a bit already but plan to complete it this year. I spent time on the reservation in browning Montana and gathered medicinals up in medicine lake in glacier national park. Bears yeah every day and night coming into the canoground up there. Finding improperly stowed foodstuff yes, some campers made it all to easy to follow the scent. I can remember being awakened by screaming campers and flashlight beans when I stayed up there. Watched them circle in a distance when the wind and cold cane in early evening and cooled the air like turning on air conditioning in your car. They knew where to not hint for food but find food. He’s my brother the bear. I’m in his backyard, mine may have a fence around it to keep things out but his is wide open and feeding him while you photographs only allows him/ her to assimilate foodstuff with humans. I’m not loooking to be profiled by them due to your stopping your car to feed him and photograph him then drive away. Now he just might expect the same easy meal from me. I carry no whistle, no spray but most of all no headphones while I listen to songs and not listen girvwhT night just be tending to cubs around the bend. Be aware!!!

By: John

John — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 01:44:28 +0000

Beary nice arctosicle. I’ve found out over the years,like you said, that campin in an area away from where Clueless leave a lot of trace others have camped leaves ya a lot more bear free. I’m one who carries Th bear spray around in hand mostly due to not everyone being bear aware…
Thanks for continuing the wise posts and gear reviews…next time I’m in Moab, meet me at Th brewery durin happy hour and Th first beer is on me!

John

By: Chris Hillier

Chris Hillier — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 14:13:52 +0000

Thought-provoking writing, PMags. Good job.

For me, it’s always been about ‘possibility vs probability’. Is it ‘possible’ that I could be attacked by a bear? Certainly. Is it ‘probable’? No.

I’m way more concerned about the ‘probability’ of things like vascular disease and cancer than I am of being attacked by a bear!