Overnight meat/cape care in grizz country

[chinook7]

I have a question about transporting meat on a multi day trip in grizzly country. I have read all the posts about the different cape and meat preserving techniques for your trip back. But I would like to hear what people do with the meat overnight while you are sleeping in your tent in grizz country. Do you look for a tree and hoist it up? What if you are above treeline? Try to jam it into a crack/rocks? Do you put the head and cape with the meat and risk getting it destroyed? Do you put it beside your tent and sleep with your rifle?
It's easier to "hide" my mountain house and bars etc but raw juicy meat overnight and the cape and head that you have worked so hard to get has me concerned that it could get destroyed by bear/wolf etc. It would be great to hear what other people do to minimize that risk. Thanks.

[Downtown]

I have a question about transporting meat on a multi day trip in grizzly country. I have read all the posts about the different cape and meat preserving techniques for your trip back. But I would like to hear what people do with the meat overnight while you are sleeping in your tent in grizz country. Do you look for a tree and hoist it up? What if you are above treeline? Try to jam it into a crack/rocks? Do you put the head and cape with the meat and risk getting it destroyed? Do you put it beside your tent and sleep with your rifle?
It's easier to "hide" my mountain house and bars etc but raw juicy meat overnight and the cape and head that you have worked so hard to get has me concerned that it could get destroyed by bear/wolf etc. It would be great to hear what other people do to minimize that risk. Thanks.

Slow down a bit, one piece at a time. Everything is specific.

First night is usually OK. Camp right beside your Kill. In Timberline you are dealing mostly with smaller Grizzlys. Read my other posts if you want to know why.

Make sure Mr. Grizzly know you are here. Place sweaty Socks underwear, piss and poop 100 yards away all four corners but upwind is most important. A Bear knowing you are there usually respects your ownership. Black Bears don't give a damn and Wolves don't come even close.

Keep a Fire going, tough in Timberline but it warms and put you at ease.

Remember Grizzlies are Hunters and as such like to hunt into the Wind.

Cheers

[Ride Red]

If you're up high around slides with snow, dig a hole and cover the meat. Urinating on small trees and hanging smelly cloths works good too. Some bears don't care about any of this though and will come in anyway. I've never camped beside my kill and never would.

[chinook7]

Thanks for the input. So basically you just leave the meat tucked by a rock or something. Put your scent all around it (maybe a fire) and hope for the best overnight. But ive read on this site some people say fires attract bears. So which one is it. What about the cape and head? Do you do the same thing and just hope for the best your trophy doesn't get destroyed? Just with all the back country experience I have I don't have ANY packing meat/cape out on a multi day trip. Just trying to cover my bases if I can't hide it in snow or a creek/lake.

[bridger]

I have a sign that I put up. "Any bears found around this meat at night will be found around this meat in the morning!" Haven't had a problem in forty+ years. Lol

[boxhitch]

Its called WILDerness and WILDlife for a reason , the are no set rules. Do what you can with a given situation and hope for the best.
I had a Bbear very intent on taking a goat in the middle of the afternoon, while we were caping. He wasn't too worried about a couple of humans.

[bridger]

Its called WILDerness and WILDlife for a reason , the are no set rules. Do what you can with a given situation and hope for the best.
I had a Bbear very intent on taking a goat in the middle of the afternoon, while we were caping. He wasn't too worried about a couple of humans.

I agree. All joking aside in my experience if a bear wants your sheep no amount of dirty of underwear, or human waste is going to make much difference. The best odds are hanging it high, but not always possible in the alpine. As boxhitch says get it away from your tent and hope for the best. Again in my exoerience You are more likely to have serious problems in the lower elevations with moose and elk carcasses. Have had lots if issues like that over the years. Sheep not do much.

[walks with deer]

Agreed I wouldn't sleep with a kill unless it's well protected I would rather loose it than get eaten.
that said I packed a caribou out in the dark and screamed my head off the whole time.

Packed in sequence 200 at a time have done the same with elk.

[180grainer]

I have a question about transporting meat on a multi day trip in grizzly country. I have read all the posts about the different cape and meat preserving techniques for your trip back. But I would like to hear what people do with the meat overnight while you are sleeping in your tent in grizz country. Do you look for a tree and hoist it up? What if you are above treeline? Try to jam it into a crack/rocks? Do you put the head and cape with the meat and risk getting it destroyed? Do you put it beside your tent and sleep with your rifle?
It's easier to "hide" my mountain house and bars etc but raw juicy meat overnight and the cape and head that you have worked so hard to get has me concerned that it could get destroyed by bear/wolf etc. It would be great to hear what other people do to minimize that risk. Thanks.

I've always kept the meat away from camp. If you have a tree to hang it in all the better. Don't buy into the defecating/urinating around the meat or using clothing, (although I've thrown an old jacket over meat before). Feces can actually be a food source in and of itself to an animal, (ever see a dog eat a cow pie or human feces? I have.).

[two-feet]

Good lord do not sleep beside the kill. Seriously?
You do what you can to get everything out without loss but it is not worth your life. I tented 100 yrds from our bagged up moose for 3 days this year because the plane could not get us out due to weather, that was plenty close for me. I always try to be hyper aware when im in the bush, more so when covered in blood and meat. I try not to be farther than a step or two from my rifle.
Maybe im paranoid? Dont want to get chewed on.

[Rackmastr]

I hoisted my sheep cape up in an over hanging tree about 15-18 feet off the ground in a game bag. I had it rolled up with salt and it drained nicely and stayed nice and cool throughout the evening and dripped a lot of the liquid down over the night. Set it up in a spot about 85 yards from camp across a little creek in a spot I could see it well if something came in and started to bug it but also far enough away that it wasnt right in camp.

Meat we built a nice 'cooler' of rocks over the creek and covered it up nice with rocks/moss and it stayed cool overnight. Was far enough away from camp that we could deal with it if we had to but not right in camp.

[HarryToolips]

Good lord do not sleep beside the kill. Seriously?
You do what you can to get everything out without loss but it is not worth your life. I tented 100 yrds from our bagged up moose for 3 days this year because the plane could not get us out due to weather, that was plenty close for me. I always try to be hyper aware when im in the bush, more so when covered in blood and meat. I try not to be farther than a step or two from my rifle.
Maybe im paranoid? Dont want to get chewed on.
Your not paranoid at all, I'm the same way, gotta have my rifle loaded safety on and within reach when I have an animal down..

[chinook7]

Ok thanks all for the advice. Interesting though I don't have much specific experience to go on personally so its nice hear from you guys yet your recommendations can be pretty varied. Dirty clothes/don't bother - take a crap/don't - make a fire / don't but I'm definitely gonna go with don't put it beside your tent. I get it though thanks. Nothing is really set in stone but just use common sense and hope for the best. Thanks again.