# Bears in N ga?



## blindhog (Jul 3, 2012)

I am planning a camping rip to Tallulah river.  Are bears common there?  What advice is there for keeping food?


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## Oconostota (Jul 3, 2012)

In grizzly country or places where campground bears are common, food isn't even safe locked in a car.  However, in GA, I think your food would be fine, even if your doors weren't locked.  I wouldn't leave food in your tent if you weren't around, though.  Bears really aren't an issue anywhere in GA - not that I'm aware of.  Heck, in the 30 years I've spent in the woods, I've only seen one single bear footprint - in Cohutta.


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## blood on the ground (Jul 3, 2012)

Oconostota said:


> In grizzly country or places where campground bears are common, food isn't even safe locked in a car.  However, in GA, I think your food would be fine, even if your doors weren't locked.  I wouldn't leave food in your tent if you weren't around, though.  Bears really aren't an issue anywhere in GA - not that I'm aware of.  Heck, in the 30 years I've spent in the woods, I've only seen one single bear footprint - in Cohutta.



mmm not sure if I agree, go to coopers creek and camp for a couple of days you will get a visit from a bear . It freaked my son out but I thought it was really cool, he walked around our tent a couple of times and was gone.


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## greg_n_clayton (Jul 3, 2012)

They are very common in that area. The bear dog training folks in both Ga. and NC keep them pretty stirred up over there. You have the old Coleman River WMA just accross the ridge to the east and the Standing Indian NC area to the north. A lot of territory to the west for them to hang in.


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## blindhog (Jul 3, 2012)

Well I don't want to leave it in my 2012 Frontier, then a bear tries to dig through a door!  I guess I'll have to figure a way to hang it from a tree or somethimg.


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## fish hawk (Jul 3, 2012)

Heck the wild hogs dont mind coming into your campsite either......The big ones look like a bear if silhouetted from a lantern while your in your tent,they like baked potatoes and turning your cooler over!!!


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## TurkeyJay (Jul 3, 2012)

i had them in my tent and rubber made tub with dog food in it, we ran them off about 4 of them. Camping a few miles north of helen, ga a few years back.


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## Artfuldodger (Jul 4, 2012)

I heard they been having trouble with bears on Blood Mountain.


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## Fuller (Jul 9, 2012)

I have been camping on the tallulah a hundred times or more over the last 25 years and have never seen a bear or even a track. And I am always looking. A few years ago there was one hanging around and messing with people stuff but I never saw it and it never did any real damage. Don't worry about the bears.


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## LadyGunner (Jul 14, 2012)

Blood mntn AT area now requires using a bear canister if you're camping in that area.

here's a good way to hang a food bag.


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## CabinFreak (Jul 15, 2012)

blindhog said:


> I am planning a camping rip to Tallulah river.  Are bears common there?  What advice is there for keeping food?



I would just suggest storing your food up good,put stuff like chips,cookies,etc..in air tight containers.I would also suggest doing the same for toiletries(soap,toothpaste,deodorant).

Try to keep campsite scent free by not leaving out food.I keep my food in the cab of my truck and my cooler under my hard shell tonneau cover.If you plan on grilling or using a coleman stove,try to be down wind of your tents,other wise all that smell from your cooking will absorb into the tent fabric.Also don't sleep in the clothes that you cook in.Just use common sense and you should be fine.I carry a can of bear mace and an air horn just in case I do see a bear.


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## Canyon (Jul 20, 2012)

I camp a lot in that area and have never "bear proofed" my campsite before I turn in and have never had issues.  When I camp in other areas like cohutta, bear proofing is a must.


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## SarahFair (Jul 31, 2012)

We hadone come to our camp 4x in a weekend. The first time was middle of the day. She came about 80 yards from us.

That night she came and ate the bag of peanut and chips that wee left out and the next night she drug a cooler of chicken part up the hill and opened it (the kind with the button on top)
The guy camping right next to us had been fishing for a few days and was cleaning the fish right in the campsite.

I left my coolers and food in the car that weekend and did not have a problem with bears trying to get in it.


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## papachaz (Aug 1, 2012)

go to NPS.org, and look up the smokey mtns national park website. they have all the tips for camping around bears there.


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## Artfuldodger (Aug 1, 2012)

SarahFair said:


> We hadone come to our camp 4x in a weekend. The first time was middle of the day. She came about 80 yards from us.
> 
> That night she came and ate the bag of peanut and chips that wee left out and the next night she drug a cooler of chicken part up the hill and opened it (the kind with the button on top)
> The guy camping right next to us had been fishing for a few days and was cleaning the fish right in the campsite.
> ...



What campground were ya'll at?


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## SarahFair (Aug 1, 2012)

Artfuldodger said:


> What campground were ya'll at?


Forest Road 44 between Low Gap Creek campgrounds and Upper Chattahoochee River campgrounds


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## jonkayak (Aug 4, 2012)

A Yeti locked in the bed of the truck would solve your problem.


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## jonesey (Aug 6, 2012)

jonkayak said:


> A Yeti locked in the bed of the truck would solve your problem.



If you can afford a Yeti you can afford to feed the bears ... lol


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## MoblMec (Aug 7, 2012)

We always take one or two of our Rottweilers with us and never had a bear even come close. I think they smell the dogs and don't want anything to do with them. Also keeps uanwnted humans away too!!!
MoblMec


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