Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Bears @ the Portal

So...quick question. With the consistent bear activity, I am just curious why the campers at the portal are not encouraged to defend the bear boxes and/or spray the bears to discourage their activities if necessary. We should not be allowing the bears to get comfortable taking our food. Allowing that to happen will lead to aggressive bears and potentially dangerous encounters. I am all for having bears in the area, they are beautiful animals. That being said, I think we need to do our part to change their behavior. If you ask anyone who has spent time around bears, they will tell you that being submissive is not the correct human behavior.

It's a joke right?So say Martha at 103 pounds decides yogi ain't gettin the food ,she jumps on the table pulls out the large can of Pam since she has a little trouble seeing rips the safety wrap off with her new new teeth ..... Notice the problems , Next table Mike is 13, he brought his 308, his mom says Mike if you hear anything tonight just shoot.

OK Alfred your night in the box when the bears come jump out and scare the crap out of them.

If anyone has spent time around bears you should understand the very simple solution is proper food storage.

Nope, bear safety is not a joking matter. It's obvious by your answer that you don't want to have an honest conversation, and that's ok. I completely agree that proper food storage is the most important step. I was referring to those particular cases mentioned on this board when the bears take food from a bear box that is in the process of being used while open. Proper, responsible, use of bear spray can be very effective. For the record, I never mentioned anything about shooting anything that makes a noise or standing guard all night in front of the bear box, let's not be ridiculous.

My goal was just to start a conversation not an argument.

I will try to be diplomatic as possible here.... but I think Doug's response is due to your apparent lack of first hand experience with bears and their abilities. Pepper spray is good, but you have to be close enough to get yourself mauled. It is a personal emergency tool, not one that you would voluntarily put yourself in harm's way to implement.

I realize this doesn't apply at the Portal, but here in Virginia there is still a hunting season for Black Bear.
2 years ago, a friend's father in law shot one that weighed over 800 pounds (Black Bears can get big). People run them with packs of hounds (still legal here). They don't usually get too comfortable around people and aren't the sort of nuisance they are out there.
This never happened to me, but having all your gear ripped apart for a tube of toothpaste sure is a buzzkill.

The Season is open right now in CA... it's less than fifty bucks for a tag... this year the limit is 1700... 300+ of the 1700 have been taken so far... you have to turn in the skull of any bear you shoot here.

Picking a bear off in the WPR canyon would be too easy, so if isn't off limits, it should be...

Fake News will have you believe that the bears in CA are a threat to your life, so I think most people get scared when they see one, instead of just running it off...

Chase them off and don't let have access to easy pickens...

Hi Richard - long time, no see. Orizaba I think. I was near you just 2 weeks ago, Miter Basin

Having personally had bears shy away on several occasions, and also having had them rip my sleeping mat, pack, and tent door and other occasions, (while doing things right), I'd rather not take any chances.