Being safe in bear country

Bear attacks are rare and bear encounters are not. Almost every bad outcome traces back to the same root cause: a bear that learned humans mean food. Store food properly and you are protecting the bear at least as much as yourself, because a habituated bear is usually a destroyed bear.

Food storage, which is the whole game

• Everything with a scent goes in storage, not just food. Toothpaste, sunscreen, lip balm, rubbish, the clothes you cooked in, dog food.
• Use the metal locker at the campsite if there is one. That is what it is for.
• In the backcountry, use an approved bear canister where required, and many parks now require one specifically rather than accepting a hang.
• If hanging is permitted, get it at least 4 metres up and 2 metres out from the trunk. A poorly hung bag is a piñata. Bears climb trees, so make sure it is hard for them to access.
• Cook and eat well away from where you sleep, ideally 70 metres or more, and never eat in the tent.

Bear spray

Bear spray is far more effective than a firearm in documented encounters, and it is what park staff carry. It only works if it is on your body.

1. 1 Carry it on a hip or chest holster, never inside the pack. You will not have time to take a pack off.
2. 2 Practice the draw and the safety clip at home until it is automatic.
3. 3 Deploy at around 8 metres, aiming slightly downward so the bear runs into the cloud.
4. 4 Spray in short bursts and be ready to keep going. Then leave the area, because the residue can actually attract bears later.
5. 5 Check the expiry date, and remember you cannot fly with it. Buy or rent at your destination.

If you meet one

• Do not run. Running triggers a chase response, you are not faster than a bear.
• Identify it if you can. Black bears have no shoulder hump and a straight face profile. Grizzlies have a pronounced shoulder hump and a dished face.
• Talk calmly, look large, back away slowly. Most encounters end here.
• A standing bear is curious, not aggressive. It is trying to see and smell you better.
• If a grizzly makes contact, play dead: face down, hands behind the neck, legs apart, pack on. Stay down until it is well gone.
• If a black bear attacks, or any bear enters your tent at night, fight back. That is predatory behaviour and it is the one case where playing dead is wrong.
• Never get between a mother and her cubs, and never approach for a photograph.

Things people believe that are not right

• Bear bells do not work well. Your voice does, especially near loud water and on blind corners.
• Bears are not only a dawn and dusk problem. They forage all day.
• Playing dead is not universal advice. It is for defensive grizzly contact only.
• A car is storage, but a soft-top or a car with food visible is not. Many parks require a hard locker regardless.