[Guest]

I was leaning towards Apache until I read the bear story :shock: : :shock: I usually camp at Apache on the north shore just east of the marina bye the big trees.Should I be concerned about the bears up there???? I know there are usually small rodents and such ruuning around after I hit the hay,but i don't know about a black bear hangin otside my tent. Maybe my wussy but should go to saguaro and get drowned by the 5 foot swells of the wakeboard boats in my little aluminum boat????Any suggetions??? :?:

 

[ned02]

Don't forget about the mountain lions, snakes and scorpions! lol If I had a choice I would go to apache,Just don't take any food into your tent and keep a 357 under your pillow.

 

[Delw]

Dont be scared of black bears in this state they are runts(most are) they scare off very easy....
A black bear generally dont attack unless you use a garlicscent or anasin LOL

No seriously they are nothing to be affraid of

Delw

 

[Lone Ranger]

How does one go camping and NOT keep food in your tent! You're not suggesting leaving the food outside of the tent, are you? I would think that food left outside would be fair game for the bears, raccoons and anything else that feeds at night. Am I wrong?

 

[Nummie]

Bears

I'd be much more concerned about the skunks than I would be about bears.

 

[Bayou]

Precisely, Howard - they'll feel outside the tent

 

[Lone Ranger]

Bayou, OK, so they'll feed outside the tent instead of inside. What happens if all the food's gone outside the tent and they're looking for dessert? Ever see a bear unzip a zipper on a tent? Or use their claws to make their own opening in a tent? :?

 

[Bayou]

Where there's no food there's no harm. Sorry about writing feel instead of food in the earlier post. The bear terror stories you hear about in AZ involve black bears. They are merely looking for food and won't bother people unless they lay between them and the food. Unfortunately, way too many bears around camp areas have become too dependant on people's crumbs left behind and rely less and less on natural means to fill their diet. I'd just about guarantee the stories you hear about the bears tearing into tents are the result of careless humans eating cheetos and the like in their tent. Next thing you know there's an all out hunt for that "man eating" black bear they want to put down!

 

[ned02]

Howard I believe that the few times a bear in AZ has attacked a human in a tent it was after the food or smell of food in the tent.I would prefer that it dine outside! if it then want's dessert I have a lead topped surprise for it.if you keep your food in coolers or something similar you won't have to worry about the small critters and a bear will get the food no matter what you do.In all the years I have camped in AZ I have only seen one bear,Jim and I did see 3 mountain lions at canyon about a year ago though.The skunk's and Racoons are more of a problem, though I will not interfere with a skunk.

 

[Bayou]

LOL! Lead-topping! :lol: Karen and I had a bear in our camp on the East Fork of the Black River a few years back. I threw our trout catch to him and that didn't even faze him. When he realized we weren't going to let him near our camp he just mozied on up a hill. We saw another off Highway 60 south of the Seneca Lake turnoff (desert region). We stopped took some great pictures that I have framed now.

 

[JasonD]

In June I was up at Big Lake and we had a bear tear through our trash looking for food. The funny thing is he stood on top of the cooler to get to the trash. Left a muddy print on the cooler but didn't bother it other than that. He didn't touch our tent. We saw him walking down the road on our way back to camp. If you're worried about leaving the food outside of the tent, put it in a vehicle.

 

[Delw]

Fox's and skunks bother me more than anybear. one reason most fox's and skunks carry rabbies and they are not affraid of people.
Ive been sleeping on the boat in the parkin lots and have had fox's walk right up on the sleeping bag.

Chances of having any bear problems are very few, in the last 30 years I only think there has been 2-3 attacks. But if you look at fox's you will see it happeneds almost 3-4 times a year. Not to mention bats.


Delw

 

[ned02]

nice going Del ,you just had to mention bats! now da will probably go buy a kevlar vest with garlic scent built in.lol