bears

The following section deals with black and brown bear encounters in the Alaskan wilderness. When it comes to "what-to-do-if-I-bump-into-a-bear" advice, you can't give one set of "what-to-dos" and expect it to fit all experiences. All that can be done is to acquaint the reader with basic bear behavior so he knows not only how to avoid an encounter, but also what to do if there is a bear encounter. Although each bear is different and reacts to your behavior in different ways, there is some commonality in bear behavior, and for the most part, the advice given below will work to your advantage in most cases.

Fortunately, the odds are that when traveling in bear country, the bear will hear you and get out of your way before you even know it is there. Or if you do see the bear, the only part you will see is its rearend as it runs in the other direction. Bear, for the most part, will flee rather than fight given the chance. So make sure you give the bear that opportunity.

Protecting Yourself By Being Prepared

As you prepare for your trip into the Alaskan wilderness, you have a few important questions to ask yourself: Am I going to be prepared for a possible bear encounter? And if I am, what will be my course of action and what protection will I take along on the trail?

I believe the best protection for a hiker in the Alaskan wilderness against bears is the human brain. As humans, we have the capability to think through problems before they happen. We can also prepare various courses of action before the event occurs. I suggest reading and talking to others who have experience in bear country. Find out what they suggest you do in various bear encounter situations and commit them to memory. Then spend some time developing bear encounter scenarios in your mind along with how you will respond to those scenarios. Preparation is the best defense you have going for you.

Along with preparing yourself mentally is the decision as to what you can do to deter an aggressive bear. Several options are available and can be used together or individually depending on the situation. You can depend on your wits, wear bear bells, carry pepper spray, or carry a firearm. You must decide for yourself the protection you will take. But since this is my book, you're stuck with hearing my opinion.

First of all, let me discuss each of the above items and my opinion of each:

--your wits--like I said earlier, your thinking skills are the best protection because you have the opportunity to make decisions that can save you in most situations. Problem? Sometimes it doesn't matter what decision you make, a bear can still threaten you with a charge. And sometimes the fear is so overwhelming, you cannot think.

--bear bells--these are great for lone hikers who don't want to spend their entire hike talking to themselves or making noise. The bells make a "metal on metal" sound that is annoying to bear (and to other hikers). This sound is supposed to warn bear of oncoming danger so they will clear out of the way before the hiker even knows a bear is around. Problem? The bear can't hear the bells while the hiker is sleeping in his tent or preparing his meals at the campsite and is therefore not deterred. Another problem is based on current research and written about in "Backpacker Magazine". It has been found that when a bear hears sounds natural to its environment (breaking branches, etc.), it ignores these sounds. When a bear hears sounds unfamiliar to it (bells jingling), it has a tendency to investigate the sound. Therefore, although the sound of bear bells lets the bear know you are there, you may be inviting it to investigate what the sound is.

--pepper spray--this is an excellent option if the bear is within 30 feet of you, there are no branches or brush, and the wind is not blowing in any direction except toward the bear. It is also a good deterrent if you are in your tent in the evening or early morning because it is easy to reach and get in position (never spray it inside the tent) to fire at the bear. Pepper spray also saves the life of the bear by temporarily burning it's eyes, mouth, and nose. Problem? Wind direction, brush, temporary effect (the bear may return), and small range it is usable in.

--firearms--this is the protection used by many, many Alaskans. With the right type of firearm, when a bear is too close for comfort, a warning shot can be fired to frighten the bear away. A bullet from a gun is not so dependent on wind and the range is much greater than the 30 feet you have with pepper spray. Problem? A wounded bear is worse than an unwounded bear. The wrong caliber of gun or type of gun can get you killed because the bullet is not big enough to kill the bear. Some people get a false sense of security just by carrying a gun and many people, in a frightening situation, shoot at a bear before there is danger of being attacked. Also, a gun can become jammed at the wrong time and finally, when in a frightening encounter with a bear, it is easy to forget everything--including how to shoot a gun.

My suggestions? Here they are. I always travel in a small group (I'm am definitely not a lone hiker), I carry pepper spray, and I carry a 12-gauge shotgun that can pump out 6 shells as fast as I can pump the shells into the chamber.

Here is my justification for the above. I carry pepper spray because I like having something to use instantly at my disposal--especially at night. A gun is a little hard to swing around inside a tent. I also like having the pepper spray with me on the trail just in case I surprise a bear at close range. I also like to carry a 12-gauge shotgun. Some hikers would rather carry a pistol because of the ease in carrying it, but the only time I believe it is appropriate to shoot a bear, is if it is charging and 30 feet or less from me. This means that I will get in a chest or head shot (a small target). And I know I could not possibly hold a pistol steady and land a bullet where it needs to in order to put a bear down. A shotgun loaded with alternating slugs and 00 buckshot gives me a lot of punch from the slug and a bit of spread from the buckshot.

Some Thoughts On Pepper Spray

Pepper spray, I believe, is an excellent bear deterrent. Its effects are temporary, and if it is carried on the hip belt of a pack, it is easily accessible. It also has a sufficient spread making a bear a target anyone can hit. According to current research on the affects of pepper spray, even in a worst case scenario, a brown bear with cubs, it appears to be 80-90 percent effective.

Remember, pepper spray will only work if it is easily accessible. It won't do any good if it is in the bottom of your pack. Keep it buckled to your backpack hip belt facing forward. When it is necessary to use, you probably won't have time to take it out of the holster, so practice flipping off the safety cap and firing it from the holster position (don't worry, a little practice will still leave you with plenty of spray). While you are practicing the firing of the pepper spray, it is a good idea to walk through the cloud to get an idea of the impact it has (remove contacts first) because if you do have to use the spray on a bear, you will undoubtedly end up breathing some of the spray yourself.

It is also important to carry the right kind of pepper spray. It must have at least 1% of capsaicin and related capsaicinoids. A 12-ounce can must contain at least 225 grams of spray and the distance should extend at least 25 feet. And finally, if it doesn't cost around $40 for a 12-ounce can, it's probably the wrong stuff. You get what you pay for, so expect to pay a great deal for the spray.

Avoiding On-The-Trail-Encounters

--Do not hike in the early morning or evening hours. Bear are active in the evenings, throughout the night, and into the early morning. Your chances of running into one on the trail are therefore increased.

--After observing fresh bear scat or when hiking in dense brush, on hilly trails, or on trails with blind curves, make noise by singing or talking loud.

--Stay away from bear habitat areas such as stream bottoms, avalanche chutes, and thick berry patches and cow parsnip.

--If you smell something dead, a bear probably has already smelled it and taken guard over it. Back away. Another sign of a dead animal are carrion birds such as: ravens, magpies, and eagles in the area.

--One of the best ways, I believe, to avoid a bear encounter is to travel in a group. A lone hiker travels more quietly and has a difficult time maintaining a conversation with himself and soon grows tired of talking to no one.

--Above all, use as many senses as possible and stay alert. Listen, maintain a sense of mental alertness, keep your eyes open, and avoid the "staring at the ground in front of you" trap. Always be on the lookout for any sign that a bear is near.

Setting Up Your Camp In Bear Country

--When searching for a campsite, stay away from animal trails, stream banks, lakeshores, or bear food sources. Scan the area for bear sign such as bear scat, or rubbing posts. One way that I suggest scanning the area is to stand where you want to make camp and start walking in outward concentric circles until you are about 200 feet from your beginning point. This way you are searching the entire area in a 200-foot radius.

--Sleep in a tent. Even though you know the tent is just a thin wall of nylon, a bear is not aware of this. To a bear, it is a real barrier.

--The goal of bear proofing your camp is to minimize food odors that might attract a bear. Since it is impossible to get rid of all food odors, I make sure that my cooking and food storage areas are at least 300 feet away from my sleeping area. I realize that this is inconvenient, but I would rather hear a bear getting into my foodstuffs 300 feet away than right next to my tent.

--Make sure the food storage and cooking areas are downwind from your sleeping area

--Keep all odor producing items in double zip-loc bags. These odor producing items include: leftover food and food containers, soap, deodorant, feminine products, toothpaste, and foodstuffs. Store these items in your bear bag at night.

--Change out of the clothes that you prepared your meal in and hang in the bear bag.

--Dig a sump hole to dispose of water from cooking cleanup.

--When camping in a treed area, bear bagging is a smart idea to keep bear from gaining access to your food. Find a tree 300 feet downwind from your camp and hang your bag with your food at least 10 feet above the ground and at least 4 feet from the trunk of the tree. If you are above tree line, hang the bag over a cliff. If none of the above is available, you really have no other alternative than to use a bear proof canister or leave your food on the ground 300 feet from your tent. If I must leave my food on the ground, I usually put pans and other noisemakers around so I will awaken if a bear is getting into my stuff.

When You Spot A Bear

When hiking in Alaska, you are bound to spot a bear in your travels, perhaps at a distance of 150 yards or so. Chances are, the bear doesn't know you are there. If it did, it would most likely be gone. So what do you do? At this point, you start to make choices. Some experts say to start making noise to make the bear aware of your presence giving the bear the opportunity to smell and see your humanness so he can leave the area in plenty of time. I disagree. I say if the bear does not know you are there, keep it that way. If you must go around it, give the bear a wide berth and quickly and quietly slip around it downwind and be on your way. It is a good idea to keep an eye on the bear to see where it goes so another encounter doesn't happen. Why do you want to keep the bear from knowing you are there? Because if the bear knows you are there, the bear becomes the one making the decision as to what will happen next. And its decision may not be to run away. It may be curious and start toward you or it may even be threatened by your presence and charge. If you can avoid it, don't put the bear in the decision making position.

If the bear does know you are there, make a large detour around the bear upwind. Since the bear already knows you are there, it is important to let it know you are human by letting it smell you, hear you, and see you (there is some argument as to how good of vision a bear has--some say it is poor, some say it is as good as a humans, I take the second opinion if only because it makes me more cautious). It is also important for you to let the bear know you are non-threatening and getting out of the way. If the bear is feeding on a carcass, leave the area immediately by returning the way you came. This should also be your reaction if a cub is seen. Nearly three-fourths of aggressive brown bear encounters involved a mother with cubs.

How far should you stay from a bear? Well, the closer you are to a bear the higher the odds there will be an encounter. It is necessary to watch the bear and see whether the bear is nervous in your presence. I have been around many bear, and most of the time they will make it very obvious when you are making them nervous. They will start to slowly walk away and will keep turning around to look at you in order to increase the distance between you and them. They will sometimes turn sideways pretending not to pay any attention to you in order to express its dominance. At this time they are looking for a way out and are reluctant to charge. If you continue to approach them, they will usually run away. This is absolutely the most stupid decision you can make. Never approach a bear. By approaching the bear, you are threatening it and jeopardizing your safety. If the bear feels threatened, it will look directly at you, put his ears back, and may bark, woof, or make moaning sounds. If the bear clacks its jaws and teeth together, gives a series of woof, or both, it is highly agitated and quite likely to charge. If the bear approaches on all four legs, this is also an aggressive approach. Remember, the greater the distance between you and the bear, the more options you and the bear have to avoid an encounter.

If the encounter is with a black bear without cubs, attempt to chase it off with mild aggressionyell, shout, throw something, or bang metal objects together. Do not be timid. DO NOT respond this way if it is a brown bear, or a sow with cubs.

So, how close is too close? If you see a bear for the first time and it is closer than 100 yards, you should be concerned. According to Stephen Herero, professor of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary, Alberta, author of Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance, "90 percent of all recorded aggressive encounters between hikers and bears occurred when the hiker was unaware of the bear until it was within 55 yards of the bear." The surprise was most likely mutual, since most bears would have left the area had they known humans were present.

So, What Do You Do In A Sudden Encounter At Close Range?

--Stop. Stay calm and quiet. Make no sudden movements. Don't run or turn your back. Running can trigger a chase-and-attack response in the bear.

--Break eye contact. Direct eye contact is recognized as an aggressive gesture in the animal world.

--Speak to the bear in a quiet monotone voice. What you are trying to do is let the bear know through your attitude and posture that you are no threat and would like to get away if possible.

--Look for signs of agitation and aggression. A bear that stands on its back legs is merely trying to smell what you are. It is not necessarily a sign of aggression. A threatened bear may lower its head and swing it from side to side and may "pop" its teeth together and make "woofing" sounds. It may also slap its paws on the ground. Also, check the position of the bear's ears. The more flattened to the top of the head, the more agitated the bear is.

--Get out your pepper spray or firearm.

--If possible, back away from the bear slowly. Stop if this seems to further agitate the bear.

If A Bear Walks Toward You

An approaching bear, even if only curious is a dangerous bear.

--Back away out of its path. If you and the bear are on a trail, get off the trail. The bear may only want to get by and you are in its way. If the bear continues to advance toward you, stop.

--Drop a non-food item on the ground as you back away and out of the path of the bear. This may take its mind off of you giving you a chance to put more distance between you and it.

--Climb a tree. Do this only if you have time and can climb at least 15 feet up the tree. A bear can run 44 feet per second. If the bear starts his charge 100' away from you, you only have about 3 seconds to climb the tree. This is not much time to climb.

If The Bear Charges

--Stand your ground. Most charges are "bluff charges" and the bear will usually stop several yards before reaching you. He may do this many times. If he does, continue to stand your ground. Granted, standing there while an 800-pound animal with fangs, claws, and fur runs at you is next to impossible, but it is your only chance for survival.

Many people disagree with my response to a charging bear, but so be it. In my opinion, if a bear charges you and you have a firearm available and ready, shoot the bear on the initial charge. Don't shoot to scare the bear, shoot to kill the bear. I suggest kneeling down and shooting. The reason for kneeling is to make the shot a straight shot. When a bear is coming at you and you are aiming down at it, your aim can very easily be off. Whereas if you are at eye level with the bear, you are shooting straight on. I also suggest unloading the gun on the bear. Don't shoot once and then stop to see what the bear is going to do. Keep shooting the bear until you are sure it is dead. DO NOT APPROACH A BEAR THAT APPEARS TO BE DEAD. Many times the bear is not dead and you will be the victim of a mauling. Make sure it is dead. Yes, I know, I know, many people feel that this is the wrong approach to a bear charge. Well, my way of thinking is this, I do not want to shoot a bear and will avoid it if possible, but I also will not put my life, or those with me, in danger because I want to give the bear a chance to "bluff charge". If it is between me and those around me, or the bear, it will be the bear.

If the bear comes within 15 to 20 feet and you are using pepper spray:

--Start with short bursts. If the bear keeps coming, empty the can.

--Back away quickly leaving the area. The effects of the spray are only temporary.

If The Bear Makes Physical Contact

--Play dead. Only play dead after the bear has made contact. If you drop to the ground any sooner, you could turn a bluff charge into a mauling. Lay face down with legs spread slightly apart with hands clasped behind the neck. Oftentimes a brown bear will try to roll the victim over. If this happens, let the bear roll you over and continue rolling until you are again on your stomach.

--Remain silent and passive, even if the bear bites and claws you. Most bear will leave the area once they realize you are no longer a threat to them. Remain quiet and motionless until you are sure the bear is gone. Then leave the area quickly.

--If the bear mauls you continuously, the final strategy is to fight back. This may be your only option. Aim for the eyes, and nose.

--If the bear is a black bear, do not play dead, fight it off aggressively.

I say again, these are my ideas as well as others who have dealt extensively with brown bear. When in bear country, your response to an encounter can save or take your life.

You are responsible for your own life, and if you want to hike in the Alaska Wilderness with no bear protection, that is your decision--though, a stupid decision. But please, as an adult, don't travel with children with no protection because you are responsible for their safety.

Basic Brown Bear Information

Here is some information on brown bear that is interesting to know and good to be familiar with.

--Mating is in late May to early July

--Females don't get pregnant until November when the egg attaches to the uterus depending on the mother's ability to nourish the baby

--Young are born in late January on into February

--Males emerge from dens in March with females without cubs coming next, and last the mothers with cubs

--Adult males will kill and eat cubs if given the chance

--Females will die for their young

--One-half of a bear's diet is grasses and berries

--A bear can run up to 35 mph (44 feet per second)

--Males weigh up to 1500 pounds and females up to 750 pounds

--Cubs stay with their mothers 2-3 years

--Siblings may stay together throughout the first summer away from their mothers

--Less than 1/2 of cubs born survive until adulthood

--Bears usually don't mate until they are 4-5 years old

--Only during the brief mating season do male and females tolerate being around each other.

--Adult males can eat up to 30 salmon per day and gain 2-3 pounds per day

--By summer's end, cubs weigh 100-200 pounds

--The larger the ears, the younger the bear. As a bear matures, it grows into its ears

--To tell the difference between males and females, watch the urine stream. The female's stream goes behind the bear, while the male's does not. Also, a female's head is usually heart-shaped while the male's head is more of a square shape.

Bear Information

(from "Outwitting Bear" by Gary Brown)

"Bears are neither 'good' nor 'bad'. They simply are. They are bears." --Jack Samson

Bears are the only large omnivores on the planet--meaning that in addition to being big, they generally eat anything and everything. They all have basically the same shape, with heavily constructed, strong, and durable bodies. Enormous strength and power is displayed by their excellent digging skills, great speed and endurance, and the incredible ability to remove walls from buildings or, in the case of grizzly bears, to kill and carry away an adult elk.

Bears' necks and legs are short, with the front legs shorter than the hind legs.

The coastal brown bears are larger than the interior grizzlies.

Black Bear

Black bear have straight, roman noses, with short hooked claws (this makes it possible for them to climb trees). They have a brown nose and the average weight is 250 pounds. They live an average of 18 years.

Brown Bear

They have a dished-in face with a high brow, and short, round ears. The ears are larger on young bear and appear smaller on older bear as the bear "grows into" his ears.

They are enormous in size, with a strong build, great strength, thick head, and a large distinctive hump of fat and muscle over the shoulder. This extra muscle enables the brown bear to dig quickly into hillsides in search of ground squirrels, roots, etc. Their claws are straight, and quite long on the front paws. The straight claws and weight of the brown bear make it difficult for him to climb trees. Grizzly bear weigh an average of 490 pounds and live approximately 25 years.

A brown bear can kill a moose by a single blow to the neck with a powerful front leg, lift the animal in its mouth and drag it for great distances. For instance...a Kodiak brown bear carried a 1000 pound steer a half mile up an almost vertical mountain, much of the way through thick alder tangles.

Bear Behavior

The only certainty of a bear's behavior is unpredictability. Black bears are extremely clever, easily food-conditioned, and creatures of habit, but also adaptable, curious, and playful. Brown bears are generally shy and peaceful, secretive, and ferocious when provoked. Brown bears become extremely aggressive when threatened, while black bear are more intimidated by human in a similar situation. That is why, when encountering a brown bear the best policy is to be non-aggressive and play dead when contact is made. Whereas, when dealing with a black bear, the best action is to be aggressive and fight back in order to intimidate the bear.

Bears are highly intelligent. Some biologists believe that a brown bear can be ranked up there with primates, like monkeys and baboons. It matters not how intelligent you believe a bear is. You are safer to treat a bear as an intelligent creature.

Curiosity

Bears' curiosity may be attributed to many things, but often a potential meal is the source. They will inspect odors, objects, and sometimes noises to determine if the origin is edible or possibly a plaything, or for reasons we do not understand. Curiosity is often what brings a bear into the human world. Young brown bears are particularly curious, according to Herrero, and their curiosity is not yet tempered with a knowledge that humans can mean trouble.

Senses

Vision. It is reasonably good, possibly equal to humans. Their peripheral, color, and night vision are quite reliable. Bears approach objects due to their nearsightedness and stand upright to increase their sight distance.

Smell. Smell is the fundamental and most important sense a bear has. A bear's nose is its window into the world just as our eyes are. No other animal has greater acuity of smell. A bear has been known to detect a human scent more than fourteen hours after the person passed along a trail. Another bear was observed to travel upwind for more than three miles in a dircct line to a deer carcass.

Hearing. Bears' sense of hearing is more sensitive than that of humans and can detect normal human conversation at more than a quarter mile (400 yds)

Pain. Bear live a "world of constant pain".

Hibernation

A deep sleep that is used by bears to adapt to limited food sources. It is not a response to cold. Bears' metabolic rates and temperatures do not drop to the low levels of other animals, and bears may awaken during a warm period and move about outside the den, though usually remaining quite close. Black bears begin preparing their dens in September, entering late that month or in early October usually on a slope with a southern exposure. They rarely dig dens.

Brown bear begin preparing their dens during the same period as black bears, but enter two weeks later, and emerge a short time later than the black bear. Brown bear dens are usually on the north slopes and dug in dry earth, under large boulders or the root systems of trees.

Reproduction

Black bear sow has her first litter at 3-5 years old. A brown bear will have her first litter at 5 years. The black bear breeds during June or July and gives birth in January or February to two cubs. A brown bear mates in May or June and cubs are born in January or February.

Traveling

Bears travel constantly in search of food or a mate, or simply to investigate something that aroused their curiosity. No other four footed animal in all the world travels so far in its lifetime.

Bears attain speeds of 25-40 mph. They have been known to run without a break for 10 miles, and they run uphill, downhill, and sidehill with speed and agility. A sow and two cubs can travel more than twenty miles in mountainous terrain in one hour.

Bear Habitat

Bears have home ranges, but are not territorial. They do not defend a territory from other bears. They consume essentially anything and everything. Guided by their stomachs, these wanderers and opportunistic feeders are in a continual search for food, and they seldom feed very long in a single small area. Of all bear activities, the highest percentage of time is devoted to seeking food. Brown bear consume considerably more foliage and roots and significantly less fruits and seeds than black bear.

Bear are normally active both day and night. Because of human activity, many bear have become nocturnal. Bear movements are mostly predicated on their search for food, and therefore they are more active during periods of natural food shortages. Remember, bears are unpredictable individuals. There are always exceptions, and there is no such thing as a "typical" bear.

Bear Sign

Tracks are five toed. Brown bear tracks have toes closely together, foreclaw marks twice as long as the toe pads with tracks forming a relatively straight line. Black bear tracks have toes loosely spaced forming a curved arc, with claw mark length not more than toe pad length (if visible).

The key to successfully sharing bear country with those who were here first is prevention of conflicts. That translates into preparation, and taking actions to eliminate the causes of the potential conflictsmatching wits with bears. Prepare for the riskspersonal riskswhich are in no manner as great as the risk of traveling to and from home on the highways. Second, be willing to undertake careful planning and preparation for the specific actions necessary to coexist with bear. "You conquer fate by thought," as Thoreau said.

Conflicts with bears

An encounter may be a relatively close observation or meeting with a bearclose enough to be exciting, but not necessarily a conflict. A conflict is a serious situation, one caused by the behavior and requirements of each. What humans might consider unprovoked is always provoked as far as a bear is concerned. The reasons for its actions, though, are not always apparent to us. Every bear has a reason for attacking...there is no such thing as an unprovoked attack. (Larry Kaniut)

How do you feel when someone talks to you with his face only six inches away from yours? Uncomfortable? That person has invaded your critical space. Bears, like humans, have a critical space, an area around them in which they feel threatened when a human enter it. A bear's critical space my be five feet, twenty feet or a quarter mile. You can't begin to guess what a bear's space is. When a bear is approached too closely, whatever the distance, its reactions to the encroachment will depend on its individual temperament and mood at that moment. It may display a nonaggressive response or, in many such situations, an aggressive one. Whatever the reaction, it may not necessarily be due to surprise, as it may have been well aware of your presence for some time, but wasn't bothered until you violated its area of comfort.

There are basically five factors to a conflict. These factors can occur one at a time or any combination of several. The factors are:

·People surprise bears

·People enter into a bears' critical space

·People pose a threat to sows and their cubs

·People pose a threat to food sources a bear is guarding

·People are preyed upon by bears (rare)

Alertness is paramount while in bear country. Keep your head up, looking ahead and around you. Too often, people travel with their heads down, more concerned with where they place their feet than with what is around them. Remember, bears use human routes to get from place to place and a trail encounter is always possible.