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    NOLS Bear Essentials: Hiking and Camping in Bear Country
    NOLS Bear Essentials: Hiking and Camping in Bear Country
    NOLS Bear Essentials: Hiking and Camping in Bear Country
    Ebook95 pages59 minutes

    NOLS Bear Essentials: Hiking and Camping in Bear Country

    By John Gookin and Tom Reed

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    About this ebook

    Seven common bear encounters and how to survive them. Best ways to identify grizzlies and black bears. Learn essential info on bear behavior at different times of year and in different habitats.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStackpole Books
    Release dateJun 14, 2009
    ISBN9780811741170
    NOLS Bear Essentials: Hiking and Camping in Bear Country

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      Book preview

      NOLS Bear Essentials - John Gookin

      NOLS

      Bear Essentials

      Copyright © 2009 National Outdoor Leadership School

      Published by

      STACKPOLE BOOKS

      5067 Ritter Road

      Mechanicsburg, PA 17055

      www.stackpolebooks.com

      All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Stackpole Books, 5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania 17055.

      First edition

      Cover design by Caroline Stover

      Cover photograph courtesy of Thomas D. Mangelsen, www.mangelsen.com

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data for the Print Edition

      Reed, Tom, 1961–

      NOLS Bear Essentials : hiking and camping in bear country / John Gookin and Tom Reed. John Gookin and Tom Reed. — 1st ed.

      p. cm.

      Includes index.

      ISBN-13: 978-0-8117-3549-0 (alk. paper)

      ISBN-10: 0-8117-3549-4 (alk. paper)

      1. Black bear—Behavior. 2. Grizzly bear—Behavior. 3. Camping—Safety measures. 4. Hiking—Safety measures. 5. Bear attacks—North America—Prevention. 6. Outdoor recreation—North America—Safety measures. I. Gookin, John. II. Title.

      QL737.C27R44 2009

      796.5028’9—dc22

      2008051645

      eBook ISBN: 978-0-8117-4117-0

      QED stands for Quality, Excellence and Design. The QED seal of approval shown here verifies that this eBook has passed a rigorous quality assurance process and will render well in most eBook reading platforms.

      For more information please click here.

      NOLS

      Bear Essentials

      Hiking and Camping

      in Bear Country

      John Gookin

      and Tom Reed

      STACKPOLE
      BOOKS

      The print edition of this title was manufactured to FSC and Rainforest Alliance standards using paper from responsible sources and sustainable practices.

      Contents

      Acknowledgments

      Introduction

      CHAPTER 1

      Bear Habitat & Identification

      CHAPTER 2

      Bear Behavior

      CHAPTER 3

      Bear Awareness & Avoidance

      CHAPTER 4

      Food Storage

      CHAPTER 5

      Fishing & Hunting in Bear Country

      CHAPTER 6

      Bear Confrontations

      CHAPTER 7

      Leave No Trace & Bear Camping Essentials

      About the Authors

      Additional Resources

      Index

      THIS BOOK cannot and does not alert you to all the hazards of the mountains. It is a learning tool and should be read and studied as a supplemental source only. It is not a substitute for professional instruction, an experienced mentor, or, most importantly, the wilderness experience itself. If you decide to participate in the activities described in this book, the risk and responsibility for the outcome are solely yours. No one associated with the publication of this book, including NOLS, John Gookin, and Tom Reed, accepts responsibility for any injury or property damage that may result from participation in such activities.

      Acknowledgments

      Sincere thanks to our colleagues in the field of bear management for their help in reviewing the text of this book. Any errors in combining their various expert opinions are ours, not theirs.

      Tom Smith, Brigham Young University, Bear Researcher

      Brian Debolt, Wyoming Game & Fish, Bear Management Officer

      Mark Bruscino, Wyoming Game & Fish, Bear Management Officer

      Bill Stiver, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Wildlife Biologist

      Victoria Serer, Yosemite National Park, Bear Manager

      Ben Tabor, New York Department of Environmental Conservation, Wildlife Technician

      Introduction

      Welcome to bear country! Bears are clever, powerful, and magnificent animals. Like people, each bear is unique, so the advice in this book is general in nature and can’t prepare you for every behavior of every bear. Since 1965, NOLS has camped in bear country for over three million nights with only one injury directly caused by a bear, so the practices used by NOLS to camp and hike in bear country are based on significant experience. We also stay in touch with some of the world’s top bear scientists and have taken a leadership role in developing techniques that help us coexist with wild bears. But even with this cumulative expertise, we still consider ourselves to be constant students of bear behavior.

      Our most important attitude is one best explained by the Koyukon people of Alaska. Anthropologist Richard Nelson’s book Make Prayers to the Raven: A Koyukon View of the Northern Forest portrays the Koyukon people living harmoniously with bears for thousands of years. We are visiting bears in their home, and if we learn about bears and respect them in their natural habitat, our two species can coexist.

      Your decision to camp in bear country comes with responsibilities to camp and hike in ways that respect the natural activities of bears. This isn’t as complicated as it might seem. It takes a little knowledge about bears and a lot of self-discipline. Campers who respect the natural habits of bears can usually coexist with bears with few problems. Keep the following points in mind:

      A fed bear is a dead bear. Bears that receive food from humans, intentionally or not, develop dangerous unnatural habits and are often destroyed. In some areas, wildlife managers try moving them away from human activity first,

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