Ah, okay, just wondering. I grew up in the San Bernardinos, spent a lot of time with Gramma and Grampa roaming the Greenhorns and Southern Sierra, still have family in Porterville - most of the bears I've seen in those areas had their ass hanging out of a garbage can.
If you grew up in the San Berdoos then you know where Yucaipa is. And I agree, the majority of bears are way more interested in our groceries than us. But, there are the occasional attacks; none fatal though if I remember correctly. But, a few months ago there was a LARGE mountain lion (cougar, panther, whatever name you want to give it) walking down the trail that runs just feet from my backyard wall. Of course I called the authorities and they spent hours trying to catch it; to no avail. And while I generally agree that small arms are not a great defense against bears and cougars I most definitely noticed that Fish & Game and the Sheriff Deputies didn't show up with pocket knives. They were armed to the teeth.
As far as camping/hiking, I believe that the sound of a firearm is probably more of a detriment to an attack than the actual projectile. But, as the saying goes, better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it; whatever "it" might be in any given situation.
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06 F150 Screw 6.5' Bed, 4x4, 5.4, 3.73
04 Tahoe 23RB-GL Honda EU2000 Parallel Cables "I hope you like Guinness, Sir. I find it a refreshing substitute for...food." Col. Jack O'Neill, Stargate SG-1.
Grizzly, we hunt above Springville in D7 out of Quaking Aspen. Even have one of those bears in my buddy's house as a full rug w/ head, lovely. He hails from P'ville too, still has a family ranch in Springville. Can't wait to go back to the Trail of Giants in October!
Right before I moved up to Utah I was living in Ventura County, we were starting to hear about a lot of mountain lion attacks since the populations were starting to come back in the Santa Monicas and the young upwardly mobile crowd who still didn't have enough bread to live in LA were encroaching their yuppie starter kit mini-mansions into what was previously wild areas. They'd put on running shoes and sweatbands and go into the cougar's back yard and act like food. No cat can resist something that's running away from it.
Yeah, I've been in Yucaipa a few times I imagine you see your share of bears coming down in spring and fall. I remember there's been a few scouts who forgot to stow their Slim Jims in the Jeep dragged out of their tents up Forest Falls way. We just had one of those here in Utah a year or so ago.
Vapor_Trails wrote:
GrizzlyJohnson wrote:
Ah, okay, just wondering. I grew up in the San Bernardinos, spent a lot of time with Gramma and Grampa roaming the Greenhorns and Southern Sierra, still have family in Porterville - most of the bears I've seen in those areas had their ass hanging out of a garbage can.
If you grew up in the San Berdoos then you know where Yucaipa is. And I agree, the majority of bears are way more interested in our groceries than us. But, there are the occasional attacks; none fatal though if I remember correctly. But, a few months ago there was a LARGE mountain lion (cougar, panther, whatever name you want to give it) walking down the trail that runs just feet from my backyard wall. Of course I called the authorities and they spent hours trying to catch it; to no avail. And while I generally agree that small arms are not a great defense against bears and cougars I most definitely noticed that Fish & Game and the Sheriff Deputies didn't show up with pocket knives. They were armed to the teeth.
As far as camping/hiking, I believe that the sound of a firearm is probably more of a detriment to an attack than the actual projectile. But, as the saying goes, better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it; whatever "it" might be in any given situation.
Cool. I love that area, don't get up there hardly ever now. I spent half my childhood either fishing in Isabella or camping up around White River. Family had a cabin in the greenhorns for a while, Panorama Heights. We went hunting out of there a couple times but never got anything. I don't think they tried very hard with little kids along Nowadays I'm a softy, much rather look at the pretty ungulates than shoot them, but someone offers me venison loin I'll still be the first one to the table.
Used to see cougar tracks and scat up in PH, and heard one howling one time, but never saw him.
tplife69 wrote: Grizzly, we hunt above Springville in D7 out of Quaking Aspen. Even have one of those bears in my buddy's house as a full rug w/ head, lovely. He hails from P'ville too, still has a family ranch in Springville. Can't wait to go back to the Trail of Giants in October!
GrizzlyJohnson wrote: Right before I moved up to Utah I was living in Ventura County, we were starting to hear about a lot of mountain lion attacks since the populations were starting to come back in the Santa Monicas and the young upwardly mobile crowd who still didn't have enough bread to live in LA were encroaching their yuppie starter kit mini-mansions into what was previously wild areas. They'd put on running shoes and sweatbands and go into the cougar's back yard and act like food. No cat can resist something that's running away from it.
Yeah, I've been in Yucaipa a few times I imagine you see your share of bears coming down in spring and fall. I remember there's been a few scouts who forgot to stow their Slim Jims in the Jeep dragged out of their tents up Forest Falls way. We just had one of those here in Utah a year or so ago.
I'm a little late in responding Grizz, sorry. I remember those mountain lion attacks, back in the late 80's and into the 90's I think. There were at least 4 or 5 attacks and a couple of deaths if I remember correctly.
And I definately remember that bear attack on the scouts that did indeed bring their munchies into their tent. Actually there were two attacks within a week. That was the year my oldest DD was born, 1993. And they were both in CG's that I've been to. At one point during one of the attacks, the bear had one of the kids' head in his mouth. No fatalities from either event, though. I don't remember if they ever caught the bear. That was quite a while ago and my memory seems to get fuzzier every year.
Those kids that got attacked are probably all grown up now and I bet they are big advocates of clean tents!
Yucaipa has changed quite a bit since you were here. Developers came in and built a beautiful golf course and thousands of new homes. Pretty nice community actually. So nice that I moved my family there from Redlands. I do miss the hills that we used to go bike riding and hiking on as kids, but progress is progress. There are still plenty of wilderness preserve areas to go exploring out in this corner of the world. However, we've never gotten any bears down here. It's a bit too hot for them I would imagine. There really aren't any sightings or signs of bears much below Angelus Oaks.
And you probably remember seeing on the news that a huge portion of the San Bernardinos have been burned in various fires over the last few years. A few of the places I like to camp were burned out and they locked the gates. Most of them are back open, now but some are still closed. It did do a number on the bark beetles, but still. All those people who lost their homes... I don't know how I got off on this tangent. I guess just giving you news from "home". I'll stop. Take it easy.
One more thing. To outdoorpro: If you're going to advertise on a forum that does not allow advertising, try not to make it so obvious. Still, good luck with your venture.
I appreciate the many responses to my enquiries. I have bookmarked this thread for reference .
I do camp in Bear country, (Manitoba/NW Ontario)in fact we probably have one of heaviest populated areas of Black Bear, plus the very occasional and rare Cougar on the continent.
But this being Canada, we can't pack any armaments , but I usually carry some Bear spray when outdoors.
I'm quite excited about future camping. I do like to read and of course in the evening and at night a light is important. The suggestion to use a head lamp is a good one and I will certainly give that a shot.
We do have a Coleman lantern, but it doesn't seem to shed a lot of good reading light and of course there are the attendant flickers, that make it difficult for my aging eyes. Any additional suggestions ?
Also please keep the suggestions regarding everything in terms of camping needs, coming.
My Coleman lantern is the rechargeable variety. It charges from any 120v wall outlet or 12v cigarette port.
It has a 9-watt fluorescent twin U-tube which means no flicker, and no heat.
Plus, when you use it on low (which is almost imperceptibly dimmer than high) you can get several hours of good strong light out of it (12 hours I think).
My mom still lives in the house I grew up in in Running Springs. The fire, what, two three years ago?...got within a half mile of her place. That last one last year burned right through her neighborhood and how it missed her house we have no idea. It was bound to happen eventually with all those dead standing trees, and will probably happen again. It's sad, but those mountains are going to end up a wasteland between the smog and beetles.
Vapor_Trails wrote:
GrizzlyJohnson wrote: Right before I moved up to Utah I was living in Ventura County, we were starting to hear about a lot of mountain lion attacks since the populations were starting to come back in the Santa Monicas and the young upwardly mobile crowd who still didn't have enough bread to live in LA were encroaching their yuppie starter kit mini-mansions into what was previously wild areas. They'd put on running shoes and sweatbands and go into the cougar's back yard and act like food. No cat can resist something that's running away from it.
Yeah, I've been in Yucaipa a few times I imagine you see your share of bears coming down in spring and fall. I remember there's been a few scouts who forgot to stow their Slim Jims in the Jeep dragged out of their tents up Forest Falls way. We just had one of those here in Utah a year or so ago.
I'm a little late in responding Grizz, sorry. I remember those mountain lion attacks, back in the late 80's and into the 90's I think. There were at least 4 or 5 attacks and a couple of deaths if I remember correctly.
And I definately remember that bear attack on the scouts that did indeed bring their munchies into their tent. Actually there were two attacks within a week. That was the year my oldest DD was born, 1993. And they were both in CG's that I've been to. At one point during one of the attacks, the bear had one of the kids' head in his mouth. No fatalities from either event, though. I don't remember if they ever caught the bear. That was quite a while ago and my memory seems to get fuzzier every year.
Those kids that got attacked are probably all grown up now and I bet they are big advocates of clean tents!
Yucaipa has changed quite a bit since you were here. Developers came in and built a beautiful golf course and thousands of new homes. Pretty nice community actually. So nice that I moved my family there from Redlands. I do miss the hills that we used to go bike riding and hiking on as kids, but progress is progress. There are still plenty of wilderness preserve areas to go exploring out in this corner of the world. However, we've never gotten any bears down here. It's a bit too hot for them I would imagine. There really aren't any sightings or signs of bears much below Angelus Oaks.
And you probably remember seeing on the news that a huge portion of the San Bernardinos have been burned in various fires over the last few years. A few of the places I like to camp were burned out and they locked the gates. Most of them are back open, now but some are still closed. It did do a number on the bark beetles, but still. All those people who lost their homes... I don't know how I got off on this tangent. I guess just giving you news from "home". I'll stop. Take it easy.
One more thing. To outdoorpro: If you're going to advertise on a forum that does not allow advertising, try not to make it so obvious. Still, good luck with your venture.
If you think it is going to be cold throw in an extra blanket to go on top of your sleeping bags or to use in place of sleeping bags in case it is too warm to use them.
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I imagine you see your share of bears coming down in spring and fall. I remember there's been a few scouts who forgot to stow their Slim Jims in the Jeep dragged out of their tents up Forest Falls way. We just had one of those here in Utah a year or so ago.
