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Posted: 2/19/2017 10:22:39 PM EDT
Hey guys random question .
While in bear country ( I know bears are rare) but are they generally afraid of a bonfire?  Would keeping one going all night give a decent certainty that they would come near the camp?   Or are they smart enough to simply walk around fires?
Link Posted: 2/19/2017 10:44:35 PM EDT
[#1]
They get used to fires having scraps around them real quick. They loose their fear of fires. Keep your campsite clean and hang up all food high and they will not bother you. My wife and I were sleeping in a small tent in Montana and a bear was outside our tent sniffing and pushing in on it, he stunk really bad and it was pretty scary for my wife. A little yelling and he cleared out. Had the same thing happen to me and my son in Yellowstone with wolves, a whole pack came through and one pissed on our tent.
Link Posted: 2/19/2017 11:04:49 PM EDT
[Last Edit: 50-140] [#2]
A clean camp will be more of a bear deterrence than a fire.


ETA.  I've always maintained that every bear is different and that the only predictable thing is they are totally unpredictable; case in point.

        4 of us were fishing reds at the mouth of the Newhalen river on lake Llimana Alaska.  We flew over and started drinking, cooked steaks in a
        cast iron pan got totally drunk, retired to our tents and left the camp a total shithouse.
 
        The next morning we cleaned up, washed the pans, put food away then walked down the trail and slaughtered reds.  Just when we  got             to camp, we saw a Brown bear sow  and cub leaving, the camp was trashed, the two 58 qt coolers torn apart, bear teeth imprints all                  through them, the food was torn up, and what was left was bear slimed.
 
       In short, bears paid no attention to a camp with steak remnants left in the pan, food everywhere and later trashed a clean camp.
Link Posted: 2/19/2017 11:54:46 PM EDT
[Last Edit: its2234me] [#3]
All true. I've never really understood the comfort thing associated with campfires. It seems to me they just ruin your night vision and mask noises that might be important to you. If you need warmth that's a different story but otherwise I have always gone without. I do my cooking with a stove way away from the campsite and then it all gets stowed appropriately for the night. I've had a number of critters walk right through camp with a campfire going like they owned the place - probably because they own the place. And bears are not particularly rare here, it's pretty common to see them if you play in the outdoors here. Fortunately it is less common to have a face to face. Probably safer than East St. Louis at least.
Link Posted: 4/24/2017 12:52:31 PM EDT
[#4]
my answer would be yes, even tiger are afraid of fire.
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