Protecting your food from wild animals is something you should make sure you put some thought into before you go camping.
It might seem like your sealed food will be fine outside a bear canister, but you should ensure that all your food is inside your bear canister if you are camping in bear country.
Bear canisters are not smell-proof but will prevent a bear from getting to your food if it tries. It is always safest to lock all of your food up in your bear canister to protect it.
Can Bears Smell Sealed Food?
Make sure you are taking the proper precautions when it comes to storing your food in the wilderness. Bears are known for their keen sense of smell and could potentially smell food through their sealed packaging.
The last thing you want is for a bear to pick up the scent of the hotdogs you plan to grill for the evening and get into them. Finding out a bear has rummaged through your food could ruin a camping trip and leave you without the nourishment you need to get by.
What are the Alternatives for Storing Sealed Food?
There are some alternatives to bear canisters if you are looking for creative ways to store your food so that a bear won’t get to it. A bear’s sense of smell is remarkable, so investing in an odor-resistant liner is a good option.
If you don’t want to purchase a bear canister or an odor-resistant liner, you could check to make sure hanging your food up high is legal in your area so that a bear wouldn’t be able to reach it. Any precaution is better than none when protecting your food from wild animals.
Can You Pack Food So Bears Can’t Smell it?
Bears have a remarkable sense of smell and will likely be able to smell your food in any case.
Bear canisters are not designed to block odors, but you can store your food in an odor-resistant liner and then store it in the bear canister to significantly reduce the odor a bear could pick up.
It is challenging to pack food, so bears cannot smell it. It is vital to protect your food from wildlife.
Where Should You Put a Bear Canister?
Simply having a bear canister is not quite enough to protect your food. You don’t want to make it any easier for a bear to detect your food than it already is. It would help if you also took care to hide it well on your campsite.
You can store a bear canister hidden under brush or behind rocks so that a bear will have a hard time finding it if they pick up the scent as long as your bear canister is hidden from view.
Things You Shouldn’t Do
You shouldn’t store your food in an easy-to-open container camping in bear country. That will make it so that a bear can quickly get into your food and tear it apart. If you are using a bear canister, you should ensure you are not leaving it out in the open in plain sight.
Also, you shouldn’t leave your food out of the bear canister overnight. It can be easy to forget to repack your stored food after a long evening of enjoying the company around the fire, but it will be a mistake to forget to pack your food back up in your bear canister.
Final Thoughts on Does Sealed Food Need To Go In A Bear Canister
Having a bear canister is imperative to the success of your camping trip if you plan to camp in bear country. Bears have a remarkable sense of smell and can track down your stored food, even if you keep it in a bear canister.
A bear canister will prevent a bear from gaining access to your food, but it will not block the scent. Therefore, you must ensure that you are hiding your bear canister from view to best prepare yourself to camp in bear country.