I was just watching a Billy Molls DVD and he uses a bear fence around his camp on the North Slope of the Brooks range.

We didn't use one on my sheep hunt up there last year, but what do you think of one for a caribou drop camp.

Just wondering what you guys think about them. The one I looked at online was 3.5#

The story goes that once a bear hits an electric fence it'll never return to the area.

Seems to me you could sleep pretty good at night knowing you've got a perimeter.

The only place I've used mine was on Kodiak. One night I was awoken by a bear hauling ass away from my camp presumably after he touched the fence. I'm sold on their effectiveness. That said, I've only come across a few grizzlies on the slope, so I don't think I'd pack mine along.

They work well. We used one on Kagati Lake years ago and were one of few groups to get out without meat loss to the bears. Anything outside the fence would disappear at night, but inside was untouched.

MFH

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Originally posted by MFH:
They work well. We used one on Kagati Lake years ago and were one of few groups to get out without meat loss to the bears. Anything outside the fence would disappear at night, but inside was untouched.

MFH

It would've been nice if we'd had one, but there were so many salmon in the lake even though we had bears feet from our tent every night (we could hear them but I slept like a log) they never bothered us. Besides my guide was younger and more tender than I was ...

I use one all of the time and have had no problems in camp BUT there are a lot of variables when it comes to electric fences. I use a Gallagher 80 with two ground rods, there are different models, I also use a good deep cycle battery. If one does not keep the soil around the ground rods wet then the voltage suffers. I have heard that with some bears they take the juice and take a second look at it and just rip the fence down. Bears have different dispositions just like humans so with some they've had enough the first zap some go back for another one, then there are some that are just going to get pissed off and take care of what caused them some pain. Maybe Phil will pipe in I believe he has tried them before around some of his camps.

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I have heard that with some bears they take the juice and take a second look at it and just rip the fence down. Bears have different dispositions just like humans so with some they've had enough the first zap some go back for another one, then there are some that are just going to get pissed off and take care of what caused them some pain.

dirklawyer is absolutely right every bear is different! I've used bear fences a few times over the years while guiding in Katmai but never taken the time to set one up on Kodiak. We typically have 2-3 bears in camp every day in both places. I haven't noticed much difference in the number of bears checking out our camp with or without a fence. But the clients seem to sleep a lot better with the fence up. I am sure that they work great in most bear in camp situations but they are no substitute for a clean camp and an experienced person who can recognize when a bear encounter is escalating into a dangerous situation.

That said the cook at the Buskin River Inn in Kodiak told me once about the trouble he was having with bears getting into his dumpsters. He said that he completely enclosed the dumpster area in chain link fence and then wired it all with 220v from the kitchen. The bears tore through the fence anyway!

We didn't have a bear fence in Upper Togiak in the fall, but the lake was packed with salmon. I don't think I would've liked to camp there in the spring without a fence when the bears are hungry, grumpy and food is scarcer ... Then again we had bears in camp every night and three times during the day while we were there. I was tired enough I slept like a log.

I used a 5 mile fencer for a garden fence. I had a big black bear walk into then strech the bottom wire a couple hundred of feet out into the woods.

Do not know if he just kept going after he hit it or it shocked him into driveing through it.

Like any thing in regards to bears they usually work - most of the time - but I have watched curious brown bears get zapped and back off and then try another side of the fence. One time I watched a large boar get zapped in our yard and he sat back for a second and then with a huge front paw smashed the entire fence wire to the ground and walked over it.

I have also seen where brown bears have tried to open the gates to the elaborate electric fence that USFWS puts around their camps -- by grabbing the insulated handles and yanking while the fence was on.
they are smart

We used one in a sheep camp in the NWT in 08. Had no bear problems.

I use one all the time and no problems so far. The mesh fences are far superior to the individual wires as there are no grounding issues. Stopping one bear from trashing your camp will pay for the fencer 10x over.

I use them as well and even the little D cell portable models deter most curious bears from camps. I just wanted to let folks know that nothing is foolproof when bears are in the equation.

I've seriously thought of putting a yurt on my property in southeast AK, but hesitated because of the bears. I think a platform and an electric fence would solve problems before the could begin.

An alternative to the yurt, cheaper and probably more practical is a quality wall tent. Same thing about the electric fence. The benefit of the wall tent is it would be easier to take down, dry out and store for the winter. The place I have would be near perfect, except for brown bears, partially because the cook shack, shower and bathroom is in a wooden building.

For many years I have sorta had on my to-do list of living in a wall tent for a summer, just for the heck of it. I mentioned it to some of my friends around there, and they just looked at me funny and mentioned bears.

KB

You could probably pickup a used camper pretty cheap too (not as cheap as a wall tent). Our camper has a generator and solar panel on it as well. It's sitting on our land in Guffy Colorado now, but if I ever buy a piece of land in Alaska, I'm driving it up.

Yea. Good idea.

I know where there's one now close by for about $4,000. And it looks similar to the one in your picture. About 26'-28'.

Part of the issues with campers up here is rain and snow. Leaks are a mess. The snow load some years is so much that campers left out unattended are crushed. The best way to avoid trouble is to put it under sturdy shelter. But that's do-able.

Of course, another benefit of a camper on wheels is that it can be moved about easily. There are several places in the vacinity where it would be great to spend a few days, either fishing or hunting. However, there have been several instances where hunters' campers had to be left behind due to heavy snow between the hunting sites and town. The 4WD trucks could make it out, but not towing a camper. Come spring the campers are generally ruined by the snow.

Anyway, I'm gonna start looking at campers.

I bought a 40' steel shipping container and planned on using it for storage of fishing gear and such. Can you imagine a 40' connex walk-in tackle box? (We think big in Alaska) But the more I look at the thing, the more I see possibility. Ugly, but functional. Side window, house door framed in, oil heater, hummm.

KB

I know a several folks that have turned Connex boxes into offices and into camp houses for remote sites. They used them for vandelism protection and welded hinged steel shutters on to cover windows. Just make sure you have a couple of good vents on the roof, as they can become ovens even in mild temperatures.