that's what i was thinking, we do have a major bear problem. you can't even leave any foam/cushion type padding in your tree stand or the bears will tear it out over night. my uncle actually had a bear trailing him while he was dragging a deer out. the bear would try to stay just out of sight and follow him waiting for him to leave it. we also had a bear climb into the back of our truck and throw a cooler out that had fresh venison in it from a morning harvest. the bear ended up stealing a ham out of it.