Secure your food and gear in bear country behind the protective wires of an electric bear fence. If a bear gets in, it'll be a shock!
Keeping grizzly or black bears from your gear and food stores when you're in backcountry populated by bears is a concern to every outdoorsman. One way to combat their depredations is to make wise use of an electric bear fence.
A bear fence is another tool available to the outdoorsman to deter bears from basically entering an area that the fence encircles, with a shock of electricity. The shock that a marauding bear receives can be around 8,000 volts. That should be enough to discourage all but the most determined thieving bear.
Here's basically how you set up a fence, in about a minute-and-a-half's worth of viewing.
More permanent electric fences have been employed to effectively deter bears from livestock, fish cleaning sites, apiaries, trash areas, remote cabins and lodges, and more.
The beauty of these types of backcountry bear fences is that they don't weigh very much, are portable and can be quickly set up just about anywhere.
But bear in mind (can't help all of the puns), no bear deterrent is 100% effective all the time. A bear fence should be viewed as another layer of protection. You should still practice good, clean camp management when in bear country.
Avoiding attracting bears in the first place is always the best option. But a determined bear can still break through a fence and get to your cache.
And of course you can combine the age-old technique of hanging your food bag in a tree, with a bear fence around it, for double the security.
It's certainly worth investigating the option of bringing a bear fence with you into the wilderness to protect your food - and your kill, should you be fortunate enough to harvest an elk or deer.
There are many manufacturers of electric bear fences and they generally run anywhere from a couple hundred to around four-hundred dollars.
Like what you see here? You can read more great articles by David Smith at his facebook page, Stumpjack Outdoors.
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