As Stephen Colbert tells us, bears are the #1 threat to America, so I figured I would bring this one up again...
On one hand, I've always learned to do things a certain way to avoid bears - no cooking at your campsite, hang your stuff in bags, and so on and so forth...
Yet, I have seen lots of people on hammockforums using their hammocks as chairs to cook their dinners, keeping snacks in there with them. Is this simply a case of people being outside bear country and not having to worry? Am I being overly paranoid about bears?
I do most of my camping and hiking in the north georgia mountains, and while it's no bear haven, it sounds like there have been occasional potentially dangerous bear encounters around here, so I'd rather err on the side of caution.
I've considered picking up two of the small bearvaults, with the idea being that I could carry one or two depending on the amount of time i'm spending out. Most of my trips will tend to be weekend overnighters, and I'm not keen on carrying a huge bear canister for those trips.
I've also heard enough horror stories about bear bags that I'm leaning far away from them. Thats what we always used in scouts, but that was over 15 years ago so I suppose the bears have gotten smarter
I know there are some folks on here who do a lot of backpacking in my neck of the woods - what are your typical precautions for bears? If I do some short section hikes of the AT in the Chattahoochee Nat'l Forest, will I look like a tool getting all worked up over bears while everyone else doesn't worry? I've never actually seen any signs of bears in my limited hiking around Georgia, but I remember some scary encounters in the 'ole hunting cabin in Pennsylvania when I was a kid.
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