Hunting in grizzly country

A few questions about bear country from a newbie:

When hanging your food is something as simple as a game bag or dry bag acceptable? If using a bear canister or a Yeti cooler is it necessary to hang these also or are they scent proof?

If camping and sleeping in a truck would it be safe to leave the cooler in the truck if your sleeping in it too? If you were staying at the same location for the duration of the hunt would you consider it safe to cook and eat right at the truck or should you cook and eat your food at distance as if you’re staying in a tent?

Going on my first hunt in grizzly country in a few weeks and my buddy and I disagree about how cautious we need to be.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

I haven't hunted Griz country, but I've spent many, many nights in tents next to brown bears in Alaska.

guinness said:

When hanging your food is something as simple as a game bag or dry bag acceptable? If using a bear canister or a Yeti cooler is it necessary to hang these also or are they scent proof?

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Dry Bag - Absolutely (assuming we're talking rolltop waterproof bags), Game bag - No

We use bear barrels (really just a big metal version of the canisters) in AK and they are heavy enough to be impossible to hang even if there were trees to hang them in. Same with the Yeti. Anchor them together with cord (locking the yeti lid @ the lock points first) and ideally also tie off the bunch to a tree or rock. That way the bear needs to get everything/all of them and they've been known to just give up.

If camping and sleeping in a truck would it be safe to leave the cooler in the truck if your sleeping in it too?

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No. I don't even do this here in Black Bear country. 'Never sleep next to food' is a generally applicable statement.

If you were staying at the same location for the duration of the hunt would you consider it safe to cook and eat right at the truck or should you cook and eat your food at distance as if you’re staying in a tent?

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If you're sleeping in the truck cook away from it (and downwind). In AK - we'd go 50-100 yards (many of our river camps were located on bear trails by necessity), but not sure that distance is feasible or necessary in the mountains.

I haven't hunted in Grizzly country, but we have spent our fair share in black bear country. There has been a couple times guys have come back to their trucks from a day afield to find the topper ripped open and marks in the paint from the bear climbing in. Even though no food was inside the bear was curious to see where the smell was coming from.

Agreeing with Cedahm but a few finer points.
* any stout bag will do to hang food, but hang it high. They recommend 10 feet up and 4 feet out from the trunk of a tree. Flimsy cheesecloth game bag would be a poor choice.
* Yeti coolers and similar canisters considered 'bear resistant' are probably OK. Putting them in your rig is added insurance. I don't think they are entirely scent proof. You can check out the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee website for detailed list of storage systems considered bear resistant.
* I would sleep soundly if (for instance) my food was in the cab of my truck and I was sleeping in under a canopy in the bed of the truck. Bears do occasionally tear apart trucks, but not all that often.
* Agree it's generally a good idea to sleep away from your food and cooking area if sleeping in a tent. I think this is less problematic if you're in a hard-sided camper or truck.
* Check around your campsite for bear sign, and ask your local district ranger/game warden if there has been local bear trouble. Fundamentals stay the same, but it's just good information to have.
Bottom line is an enclosed truck is a pretty safe place to be when you are sleeping and a good place to store coolers and grub boxes. Keep a clean camp and you're fine. Probably.

If you're backpacking the only bag I will personally use is the Ursack Allwhite. It's by far the lightest IGBC approved bag that I'm aware of. If they're so thick that I'm not confident in that I'll buy a fence.
If not backpacking you got all kinds of options.

Hang food, or stash it away from your camp, and don't eat/cook in your tent. A bear can smell about 10,000x better than we can. No such thing as "scent" proof.

I worry more about running into a bear in the woods, or having one in camp when I'm gone, than I have ever while in camp. I think the odds of a bear encounter in your tent/camp while you are there is virtually zero. I'd put a tree falling your tent in a higher risk category.

People worry far too much about bears being in their camp, IMO. If there are human habituated bears, you're screwed either way. They will break into your car/truck, they will figure out how to get your food down, they'll mess with your camp. It would be extremely rare, for this to be a grizz, IMO. I rarely take much precaution to "bear proof" my camp other than maybe hanging food. Everyone has their own comfort level however...

Bears up north (Brooks Range) will be far less cautious of camps/people and will come close at times, but they usually end up dead. They're less cautious, because they're on the boarder of starving at any given time, where as bears further south usually have plenty to forage on.

There was 2 fatal bear attacks here this spring, both by predatory black bears. One got blasted by a can of pepper spray and came back, the other chased a 16 kid down and killed him. There have been 4-5 griz maulings this spring/summer here in AK, that I recall, and all were due to surprising the bears on trails or in the woods. I would venture to say that 99% of all bear attacks are due to surprising the animal. Read up on recent bear attacks and see what the common denominator is... it ain't food storage in your camp.

I know a few guides up here. (Alaska) Probably in 95% of their camps the cooking, eating and food storage will take place in the tent. (On hunts where the tent is big enough.) Lots of hunts take place where there are no suitable trees for hanging food. Most guides will also suggest peeing around the tent to help give a bear something to smell besides food.

Even in black bear country I don't leave food in the truck. I'll take the cooler out, lock it, and put it on the ground so if a bear shows up he can play with it down there. No sense in letting the bear destroying your vehicle to find out what he's smelling inside it...