My wife and I put our backpacks next to the outer tent walls, have bear spray and flashlights handy, as well as an escape plan. Everything with the least odor gets hung up high in the bear bag. It is odors more than anything that attracts bears. I gave up backcountry fishing because the last thing I want to smell like when sleeping in my tent ... is a freshly caught trout!
Having last week come upon a horrendous truck - sedan wreck at night on Hwy 191, where the sixteen-year-old girl was trapped in the sedan with the whole front end and driver's door wrapped around her like a crunched beer can, I concur with Southern Elk regarding the risks. The girl is a classmate of our grandson, Bode, and a sweet girl we have known since her kindergarten year. On the phone with 911 and assessing the damage and potential injuries to someone whose face was covered with debris and oil, I was pretty well calm and composed until she said her name, at which time you could have knocked me over with a feather. Fortunately, it turned out she had a fractured femur along with bruises, aches, and pains, but it sure looked a lot worse initially. (Be thankful for airbags and seatbelts.) Anyhow be careful out there, especially on the roadways, but also in the outback where the bears can smell your elk or your trout from miles away.
