What are the proper precautions/protocols for storing food while car camping in an area with bears?
Anyone with experience in bear-populated areas, what's the best way to store food when your on the move with a car? Are some foods better than others? Wondering specifically about black bears in Northern California, but would things be different if you were in say Montana around the grizzlies?
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1 answer
I caution against storing the food in your car. Bears have been known to do serious damage to a car trying to get in. Hence
- Don't eat in the car - ever
- Do not store food or other items that "smell" open in you car
- While in transit, store items in sealed containers in your trunk
- If you are in designated car camping spots, check to see if they have designated secure storage bins.
- If there are no secure storage bins, use bear canisters
- Don't just use bear bags, most western states require canisters
- A bear can still roll your canister away so you make want to consider hanging it
- Keep your camp to the triangle method if possible (some car camping sites are too small). See this answer - https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/229/127
I have never found any research recommending one food over another for bear territory. Bears are prone to investigate anything that might be food so it's unlikely you can avoid bears purely by food choice.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4848. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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