Hanging a bear bag

[BigBoxaJunk]

Going on my first backpacking trip into black bear country this weekend, in Red River Gorge, in Ky. We know we'll have to hang our food and food-smelling stuff in a bear bag when we camp, but I've never had to do it before.

I've seen a bunch of Youtube videos, and the actual hanging of the bag looks pretty simple. But like a lot of things, I'm wondering if there's anything more to it than what I've seen on the videos.

We plan to put all the food, any trash, toothpaste, and anything that could smell good to a bear in the bag, 10-12 feet high, 6 feet away from the nearest tree.

(Also, I will have my 9mm Shield with me.)

 

[KittySlayer]

Practice at home or in the local park several times before going. That way your neighbors can laugh at you while watching. Take an extra segment of line/rope in case your original hang rope gets hopelessly snagged you can use your replacement rope to hang your bag the next night.

 

[Thor]

Well, anything that smells good to a bear also includes you... Have fun!

 

[Topshot]

It's likely not an issue at RRG, but it was often a challenge finding a suitable tree where I've gone in the Rockies (e.g., aspens and firs are quite skinny). Once in an area where I knew bears were an issue I used the 2-tree method, but it's tough to do with just 50' of rope. I prefer to be above treeline a lot so I've ended up going with an Ursack so I don't have to bother anymore.

 

[Old Dog]

Based on the title I expected something else in this thread, you know- bear, bag, hanging- created quite a vision to begin with. That 9 mili-metric will just **** the bear off, better keep it back for the human predators.

 

[LeverGunFan]

If you can't locate a suitable tree or trees to hang your food, another option is to stash your food in a bear proof container and hide it a good distance from your camp.

 

[spencer rifle]

If you can't find a convenient branch long and strong enough, you might have to hang between two trees. If so, be sure to place a loop in the center and hang from the loop. We have seen bears climb the tree and push down on the rope end to get the food to slide toward them. When the mama bear failed at that, she sent the cubs up, they rope-walked (or rope-slung) their way out to our packs, and proceeded to rip them open and throw stuff down to mama. She ate 4 days worth of food, our film, and bit through our water bottles just in case. Next morning our packs were still hanging, but mostly empty. End of our trip.

 

[Dead Duck]

You can never have too many Claymores.

 

[usmcdjb]

Based on the title I expected something else in this thread, you know- bear, bag, hanging- created quite a vision to begin with. That 9 mili-metric will just **** the bear off, better keep it back for the human predators.

It's not for the bear. It's to shoot your partner in the foot to slow them down.

 

[seedubs1]

The trick is to find a good tree. I've had trouble doing that in the past. If you don't hang it high enough or far enough out, it's not going to do any good.

If you can manage it, a better way is to take a bear proof food canister. You put your food in it, and just leave it on the ground. Bears can't open it or get in it. Tons easier than hanging a bag from a tree.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

If you can't find a convenient branch long and strong enough, you might have to hang between two trees. If so, be sure to place a loop in the center and hang from the loop. We have seen bears climb the tree and push down on the rope end to get the food to slide toward them. When the mama bear failed at that, she sent the cubs up, they rope-walked (or rope-slung) their way out to our packs, and proceeded to rip them open and throw stuff down to mama. She ate 4 days worth of food, our film, and bit through our water bottles just in case. Next morning our packs were still hanging, but mostly empty. End of our trip.

That would surely suck to have bears destroy your stuff and end your trip like that. I have talked to several who have camped in Red River Gorge before, and none of them reported any problems with bears. Although, I have heard stories from people who've hiked and/or canoed in the Boundary Waters area on Lake of the Woods, in Minnesota/Ontario, where some of the bears have figured out how to spot the line, climb the tree, and drag it down.

I have seen videos, and I like the two-tree method, with the bag hanging from a knot in the middle so that it doesn't slide. That's probably what we'll do, if there aren't any trees with handy long limbs, and I do plan on taking a couple of extra lengths of para cord so that I have plenty.

 

[trailrider]

I think you just hang it by one of the straps. Hey this is better than the picture of "bare" bag I was going to post.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

The Red River Gorge hiking trip was very cool, despite the long sections of wet, muddy trail, and high water in the creeks we had to cross. It rained off and on most of the first day, but fortunately it had stopped by the time we set up camp. We hiked about 25 miles of trail over two days, including one that was very accurately named "Rough Trail". Over-all, the scenery was even more beautiful than I'd anticipated, and we definitely plan to go back to see more of it later in the summer, hopefully during warmer and drier weather.

There were mostly pine trees on the ridge where we camped, so we put the cord for the bear bag over forks in two saplings that were about 20 ft apart, with a loop and a caribiner in the middle. The bag hung about 9 ft up and almost 10 ft from each tree. A Park Ranger had said that the resident bear population was still fairly sparse in that area and sightings were pretty rare. He said they still push the use of bear bags to prevent habituation, and so far, haven't had any trouble (we saw no sign). One thing I did learn was to tie a loop near the end of the cord, and put that on the spike tip of a treking pole and use that to get the line over the fork you want. That was easier than trying to throw a weighted end through a "branchy" spot, hoping to get it where you want.


The only downer of the trip was getting back to the car right at dusk to discover that I'd lost my wallet somewhere in the miles of trail we'd walked that day. I'm still kicking myself for leaving it in my pocket, and not in my pack. It was not cool, getting home exhausted and sore, only to have to spend an hour and a half on the phone reporting lost credit/debit cards. On the drive home, my son was kidding me that a bear was probably pissed about not being able to get our food, so snuck into camp and lifted my wallet. He said I'd get home to find out that "someone" had ordered large amounts of honey and full picnic baskets on Amazon.

 

[WanderingSol07]

And having actually seen this, don't put your tents directly under the hanging bag!

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

And having actually seen this, don't put your tents directly under the hanging bag!

WOW, I've seen some things, but that would beat all.

On the morning of day two, we met a nice young Ranger on the trail, and he asked if we'd seen any trail problems or anything. We told him about a camp site we'd passed, where someone had apparently tried to burn their mylar food pouches in the fire, leaving burned plastic/foil remains, along with wet-wipes scattered around. I said I didn't understand people who did stuff like that, and he just looked at me and said: "Oh, man, that sounds like nothing, compared to what we get sometimes".

 

[Topshot]

"Oh, man, that sounds like nothing, compared to what we get sometimes".

I bet. Some people don't respect or care for the wilderness. When our Troop was on a short trip in the Deam Wilderness, I carried out more weight in trash that I found than my base weight. Thankfully, there happened to be a ranger at the tower lot when we hiked out so I didn't have to haul it home, too.

 

[trailrider]

Sounds like a great trip(other than losing your wallet. that sucks) Black bears really aren't a threat to people just their stuff when they're not around. Brown bears are a different story.

 

[Dead Duck]

Sounds like a great trip(other than losing your wallet. that sucks) Black bears really aren't a threat to people just their stuff when they're not around. Brown bears are a different story.

Racist!

***REPORTED***