Over the years I have generally taken a conservative approach to avoid bears. Whenever possible I have cooked dinner on the trail before making camp, I try to stealth camp in places that bears don't habitually go, and for awhile my food was stored inside an OP bag (often inside a canister) 50-100 feet from where I sleep. I typically have not cooked under my shelter because I was concerned that food odor would be attached to my shelter. The only thing I don't typically do is strictly follow Philmont's requirement of having separate sleeping clothing to be sure there was no food odor on my sleeping clothing.
These steps have resulted in no bear visits when I have done all these things. But there are trips when I haven't been so careful and also wasn't bothered by bears. Maybe I have just been lucky. When I think about it, all but one of my bear encounters (which was on a trail in the late afternoon) have been when I was at a heavily used destinations with habitual bears. So I am wondering how much a difference these steps have made. Could it be as simple as avoid bear hangouts? What's the real risk of cooking in camp or under your shelter.
I have read that the bear nose is much more sensitive than a dogs. This makes me wonder about two things:
1) How far away can a bear detect food. If you are cooking with a slight wind, how close does a bear need to be to have a high likelihood of smelling your food.
2) If you have a food cache separate from a shelter than was cooked under can the bear tell the difference between the left over smell from earlier cooking and what is actual food that they might want to eat now.
Thoughts?
–Mark
