Kriesis

Hello everyone.

I'm going on my first black bear hunt this September. However, I'm diabetic, so I need to take some extra snacks into the woods incase of a low sugar. Should I be worried about taking sweets with me--stuff like powerbars and jerky? Or if I put them into a zip-lock bag inside my day-pack, will that be scent free enough?

Thanks for any suggestions

TerryM

I would think that your own smell would overpower the smell of your snacks ( which are probably sealed packages). If you left your snacks in a pack away from you maybe but not if its physically with you. And hey if a bear comes in shoot him

Smithbros.1

I have hunted black bear with my father since I was a kid. Black Bear are very weary around a bait site, It is very important to get as scent free as possible. Try a shower before you hunt along with some scent blocker. We use annise oil in spray bottle for cover scent on our boots we have never had any problems with bears coming into our stands. Bears are afriad of you but,Be prepared on a bait site a bear will usually come to the edge of the bait and stand there staring at you with them beady black eyes that seem to look right through you, Give them a minute they will settle down and openup bait then they are less spooky. Good Luck

ColoradoElk

Hi Kriesis:

I would not worry too much about black bears. If you take normal precautions, e.g. hanging food and not soaking yourself in bacon grease, you should be just fine. I think blackies are more wary of us than we think, and most get away from us before we know they are there. TerryM is right on with his last comment. In CO we can get a bear tag to go along with any big game tag. In any event, I had a "bear encounter" with a blackie about two weeks ago. I was bringing some supplies up to my camp, walked around a tree and there was Mr. or Mrs. Blackie. The bear took off so darn fast, if he wanted you for lunch, I don't think there is much you could do about it.

Good luck,
CE

thndrchiken

I wouldn't worry about it.Itemslike the powerbars and the such are vacuum sealed to extend the shelf life. I'd be more concerned with how much noise you make unwrapping it. I always take jerky out on a hunt, just love the stuff, if you can't reseal the bag put it in a ziplock. I also bring cookies or pretzels for carbs and usually have an MRE in my pack.

Nicholal

when we go in the bush hunting in stands or blinds, we always unwrap our chocolate bars and place them in a Zip-lock bag. This reduces the noise from the wrapper. Dont be worried about taking the food up the tree with ya!!..just the noise it's going to make eating it....

AL

Kriesis

Thanks for all the advice. I think I may unwrap the bars from their noisy wrappers and just use a zip-lock--but I would rather make noise and get something to eat (in case of an emergency) than go into some kind of diabetic coma and fall out of the tree!

Western MA Hunter

I take anything that is in a noisy wrapper like a power bar and open before you hunt and put it in zip lock bags in the inside pocket of my scent blocker jacket. I wouldn't worry about the scent but rather the noise... The bears seem to be used to the sweet smell of the bait, so I wouldn't worry about anything. Just do like the others said and be as scent free as possible and take the normal necessary precautions.

WARedBear

Yes, unwrap everything noisy and put them in zip lock bags, the ones with the zippers are great. My partner and I started hunting bears, I was an avid bow hunter and understood quiet, being still, and scent free, he was a gun hunter, didn't understand being quiet or being still, camo, and the list goes on. He would bring a full lunch wrapped in tin foil and sandwiches in tupperware, and snacks in noisy wrappers. It was Snap, Crackle and Pop like the ceral guys were in the stand with us. It took me two years to get him camoed up (birthday presents of camo), quited down to a muffle, and still. We ended up with bears coming in. I agree with all of the scent free, noise free, motion free advise and practice it myself on every hunt. But I have had times to where we fed bears syrup from the stand, talked, shined lights on them (we were treed by eight bears around the stand for two hours after dark, two night running), and we have had bears jolt at the slightest movement. All in a days hunt.

Grendle

Please don't try this in North Carolina, even entering into the woods (State and National Parks)DURING Bear season WITH any of the following will get you arrested, (Actually handcuffed), it's in the news a few times a year.


Chocolate
Sugar Or bags of SUgar
ANY kind of Jam or Jelly or Honey, even little packets, ( people spread or drop these like a breadcrumb trail)
Any kind of Molasses or Syrup


I know it sounds wierd but this is my first year going BB hunting and I have seen every year when I deer hunting rangers actually stopping people as they walked into the woods and going through their packs, right there on the spot. They have big signs up during bear season in NC letting people know all that stuff is illegal in the woods.