I'd be interested to hear from guys who have deployed lightweight electric fencing while backpack hunting in bear country. I'm on the cusp of drawing a great elk tag in Wy. Hopefully it will be this year but I'm 2 under max in points so it will depend on point creep. Ive decided on one of the NW units that are grizz infested. I plan to backpack hunt to try and get away from others as best as I can. I'm considering the one from UDAP that only weighs 3.7 pounds. I'm not overly afraid of bears but I certainly respect them and want to be able to sleep soundly at night without worrying about one sniffing around in my camp. Id appreciate any info or experience that anyone has on the subject. Thanks much
Portable Bear Fence in Grizz country?
- Thread starter jaeger63
- Start date
Colorado Cowboy
Super Moderator
JimP
Administrator
I have a friend who tried a electric wire fence around his trailer where there are quite a few bears in western Colorado. He went into his trailer one weekend and found the fence torn to pieces with bear tracks around the remains.
All he could figure was that a bear got zapped and then got pissed off and tore the fence up.
All he could figure was that a bear got zapped and then got pissed off and tore the fence up.
I have one but have not used it yet. A number of guides I know do use them, so far none of them have been eaten by a bear! The guys I have talked to about them say that they work and have zapped bears but I think the general consensus is that you just may sleep a little better with it set up!
My theory is that the bears that come around at night are more curious than malicious. I have on a few occasions crawled out of my tent in the morning and had bear tracks all around it. As long as you're using good "camping in bear country" protocols, you should be fine. I got my fence to set up around my airplane. Bears can do a lot of damage to an airplane just by being curious.
My theory is that the bears that come around at night are more curious than malicious. I have on a few occasions crawled out of my tent in the morning and had bear tracks all around it. As long as you're using good "camping in bear country" protocols, you should be fine. I got my fence to set up around my airplane. Bears can do a lot of damage to an airplane just by being curious.
tim
Veteran member
If you are backpack hunting, you will have to make multiple trips to the carcass. Every trip to the carcass is where the danger would be, not neccarily when you are sleeping, but when you are packing meat out or going back to get another load and the bear is on the carcass. That is one reason they recommend stock in that area, so you can get the carcass out quickly.
I have had one follow before and it is spooky.
I have had one follow before and it is spooky.
Colorado Cowboy
Super Moderator
A few years back I was on a guided elk hunt to Thorofare in the Teton Wilderness. There were lots of Grizzlies in the area and we saw then almost every day hunting. The outfitter had basically 4 lines of defense. The outer one was the stock. They made lots of noise if a bear came around at night. the next was wire stretched with lots of cans that would make noise when moved. The next was an electrified livestock wire and the last was camp dogs. It seemed like every night we would get some kind of disturbance from bears. None ever came into camp that we knew of.
Slugz
Veteran member
I was literally " on the fence" about our bear defense plan for our upcoming caribou hunt. After watching a video of a brown bear run down a caribou and the speed he carried for such a long distance....Im rethinking it all again.
Now it seems like.
1) clean camp/ living in bear country rules
2) meat away from camp
3) bear fence around camp
4) side arm on me at all times
Is the way I'm leaning for peace of mind but really still havent decided yet.
Now it seems like.
1) clean camp/ living in bear country rules
2) meat away from camp
3) bear fence around camp
4) side arm on me at all times
Is the way I'm leaning for peace of mind but really still havent decided yet.
Last edited:
Slugz
Veteran member
To answer the OPs question.
Never before when hunting for bear defense but many times for portable horse corrals and live stock rotation. Biggest key is keeping the lines clean. No vegetation touching to ground it out.
Freezing precipitation will mess em up also so something like a small bag or covering over the box holding the batteries keeps them out of the elements.
Never before when hunting for bear defense but many times for portable horse corrals and live stock rotation. Biggest key is keeping the lines clean. No vegetation touching to ground it out.
Freezing precipitation will mess em up also so something like a small bag or covering over the box holding the batteries keeps them out of the elements.
lol. so now you not only have a bear sniffing around ,you have an angry bear. shocking!
memtb
Active Member
I can offer a the little personal (indirectly) experience that I’ve had! About 12 or so years ago I was sheep hunting sheep in the Sunlight Basin area of Wyoming. We had our camper set-up near a couple of other campers, parked near the confluence of Little Sunlight Creek and Sunlight Creek. Every night for over a week we had a visit from a sow grizzly with 3 large cubs. They checked out our camp area pretty good, before going to a ranch a mile or so away, were they proceeded to break into the feed room for an evening meal. The G&F started attempting to stop them with an electric fence. Apparently, it didn’t slow them. After several nights of failures, the G&F then camped-out for 2 or 3 nights shooting the beats with rubber bullets, after they had come thru the fencing. The G&F finially trapped the family and relocated them.
The moral of the story: If they are motivated to go beyond the fence......they will! memtb
The moral of the story: If they are motivated to go beyond the fence......they will! memtb
JimP
Administrator
I remember when I first started to hunt the Utah Book Cliffs years ago before it was a draw hunt. In one canyon we came upon a tent camp that must of had a couple hundred beer can rattles hanging around the tent on strings. There was no way that a bear or much else larger than a insect could get inside of that perimeter without someone hearing the cans rattling.
That year in a weeks time hunting the Books we counted over 40 different bears that we saw in the area. Then in preceding years that we hunted it we always saw quite a few bears as we were trying to bag our deer. At times it was quite erey hiking around in the thick oaks or pines.
That year in a weeks time hunting the Books we counted over 40 different bears that we saw in the area. Then in preceding years that we hunted it we always saw quite a few bears as we were trying to bag our deer. At times it was quite erey hiking around in the thick oaks or pines.
alaska2go
Active Member
Bears are more curious when they are sniffing around your camp. We used the electric fence in the Cold Bay area and it worked great. The big bears would come around and they would sniff the wires & realized it wasn't for them.
I think the biggest difference between bears in AK & the lower 48 is bears are hunted in Alaska and not down here. The bears down here do not see us as much of threat as they do up in AK. They still are dangerous in AK but they know they can get their butt shot off. WY, MT etc the bears haven't experience a "bear hunter" and have no fear of humans.
We have had bears come around camp at night trying to steal our moose meat but only 2 have made it out alive. And it was the older willy bears that made it. The younger more desperate bears in my experience are the ones that are bold.
Make no mistake they are FAST, powerful, silent, and temperamental. A big 9' bear will sneak in on you and will never know until he wants you to know. And then it could be too late. As you probably have read stories or heard them while guys are gutting or packing out animals and BAM there is a griz.
Probably the most hair raising experience was cleaning moose in tight timber w/ my son. He was 13 and he is suppose to watch, listen, and notify me if anything & I mean anything seemed out of place. I ain't going to lie I was nervous the whole time I was working on that moose.
I will say this, hunting in griz country is exhilarating ! Your senses really come alive . Your life depends on those senses. You will NOT wonder aimlessly through the woods knowing there is something out there that can eat ya ..
So inclusion we have had bear fences work, I know of guys that say the fence works, but we all still slept w/ a gun.
I think the biggest difference between bears in AK & the lower 48 is bears are hunted in Alaska and not down here. The bears down here do not see us as much of threat as they do up in AK. They still are dangerous in AK but they know they can get their butt shot off. WY, MT etc the bears haven't experience a "bear hunter" and have no fear of humans.
We have had bears come around camp at night trying to steal our moose meat but only 2 have made it out alive. And it was the older willy bears that made it. The younger more desperate bears in my experience are the ones that are bold.
Make no mistake they are FAST, powerful, silent, and temperamental. A big 9' bear will sneak in on you and will never know until he wants you to know. And then it could be too late. As you probably have read stories or heard them while guys are gutting or packing out animals and BAM there is a griz.
Probably the most hair raising experience was cleaning moose in tight timber w/ my son. He was 13 and he is suppose to watch, listen, and notify me if anything & I mean anything seemed out of place. I ain't going to lie I was nervous the whole time I was working on that moose.
I will say this, hunting in griz country is exhilarating ! Your senses really come alive . Your life depends on those senses. You will NOT wonder aimlessly through the woods knowing there is something out there that can eat ya ..
So inclusion we have had bear fences work, I know of guys that say the fence works, but we all still slept w/ a gun.
JimP
Administrator
When I was up in British Colombia on my grizzly hunt I shot a black bear and as will usually happen that bear made it to the trees. My guide asked me how I felt about the shot and I said that it felt good and that I saw the bear hunch up before he took off. While we were sitting there he asked me how I wanted to handle tracking it into the trees. I looked at my watch and it was about 6 o' clock and I asked him how about waiting 30 minutes, he replied that after 30 minutes that he would even walk into the trees with me. When I went into the trees I had every sense that I have on hipper drive. My guide went in above me and as we walked through those trees I wondered if I was thinking right. I got to a large rock ledge that went up above me and turned around and headed out. The next day when we went back we found the bear laying at the bottom of the ledge. He had fallen off of the top of it but I couldn't see it 10' away. That really got me to thinking.