Date:         Sun, 13 Feb 2011 09:16:38 -0800
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: camping amidst bears, safety question
Comments: To: Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca>
In-Reply-To:  <94D9AAEF-F553-4B61-9DF1-ABDBADE81CB6@shaw.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

  I too have been aided by dogs along in the back country.  When hiking in
the Absoroka range, on the east side of the Paradise Valley north of
Yellowstone, our two Chesapeake retrievers got very very spooky
acting....they came in close to us, back hair standing up sharply and tails
straight up with interest and aggression...We crested a rise and found fresh
steaming bear scat beside the trail...This is the spot where the Park
Service 're-locates' problem bears out of Yellowstone.  We decided to
reverse our direction on the trail to avoid a possible (probable?)
confrontation with what may have been a problem grizzly....Our dogs are
quite familiar with regular black and brown bears and do not fear
them....but their behavior on this occasion was different, more
intense...And, the season was late fall, when bears are pretty active trying
to bulk up for winter...
  Don Hanson

On Sat, Feb 12, 2011 at 7:03 PM, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:

> We bring our dogs camping, one is 76 lbs, the other 100 lbs. I would
> say they are farm dogs.
>
> One time, in the Cariboo region of BC, isolated campsite, they were
> with us as we rode mtn bikes along trail. We suddenly came upon ( and
> that is a problem with bike riding in that kind of area, you move fast
> and relatively quietly) a sow black bear and 2 cubs. I mean we came
> over a short rise and there they were, about 20 ft away. The dogs went
> after the mother and chased her away, the cubs went up a tree, and we
> rode on quickly to a vacant hunting cabin where we thought we could
> find refuge.
>
> The dogs came back unharmed after about 30 min or so.
>
> I wouldn't make a habit of this though.
>
>
> In the fall when I go fishing on west coast rivers I leave the dogs at
> home as there are lots of bears on the streams. But on the whole I
> feel safer with the dogs with me. And I feel ok when they go along the
> river (not in fall) with my son and friend as they go fishing.
>
> On the whole, I like having them along camping, but mostly we don't
> camp in organized sites.
>
> alistair
>
>
>