Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Bears and hammocks

There was a bear attack in the SMNP over the weekend involving a 16 year old boy and his father. By all accounts they were doing everything right so the cause is a bit of a mystery at this time.

http://www.wlos.com/news/features/t...ar-dragging-him-21425.shtml#.VXcK7UZKV5c

They were sleeping in hammocks when the bear dragged the 16 year old out. There is a mention in the article about a similar incident there in 2001 involving hammocks. I've heard, and read in the last few days that hammocks are not advised in bear country. That they seem to attract the attention of bears and could lead to an attack.

I've never heard of this, anyone else know if there is any merit and why.

BTW, my 18 year old niece was hiking in a different part of the park on the same day and had a bear approach aggressively with a bluff charge. Another section of trails was closed there a few days ago after aggressive behavior towards a park ranger. Seems the bears there are getting feisty.

If somebody dangled a burrito in front of your hungry face what would you do?

Its also mating season around here and that leads to behavior you don't see the rest of year. Both boars and Sows often act less predictably and more aggressively

Maybe, but I'm not sure it would be any more tempting than a burrito laying on the ground on a sleeping pad. Or even in a tent.

The only explanation I can come up with is that we have conditioned bears to know the food is hung from a rope between 2 trees. Maybe they see a hammock as food hung low enough to get to.

Or it could be pure BS and sleeping in a hammock is no more likely to lead to a bear attack than on the ground.

This.

I'm on board with too. I spend a lot of time in the smokys. The bears are not afraid of people - which is the whole issue. I think they view us as 'peers' and act accordingly. Ever watch bears interact over a bait bucket? The biggest baddest bear wins. Applying that situation to the smokys - if they want our food they simply go get it. And you might need to tangle asses with them to keep it - just like they do. I have a healthy respect for bears but hold human habituated bears a bit higher because of their lack of fear with humans.

There has been many more aggressive bear experiences this hear than have been reported. I know of 4-5 bluff charges in the past month or so from friends who hike alot. I'm honestly a bit concerned because I carry a 357 loaded with 180 WFN over a stiff load of 2400. I don't want to shoot one but I'm not going to get bit.