[pct-l] bears

[CMountainDave@aol.com]

In my humble opinion, the bear problem is really a Park management problem. 
Bears lost their fear of man because Park officials failed to keep it 
instilled in them. Then they have the audacity to blame us hikers for the 
problem because of our supposedly sloppy food handling techniques. All these 
years they've been telling us to hang our food and it turns out that was 
lousy advice. Now you get a fine in Yosemite for hanging food while in the 
Olympics you get a fine if you don't hang your food. Talk about a lack of 
credibility! I and most other thru hikers I met simply kept their food in 
their tent at night. When I encountered a black bear in Yosemite who entered 
my camp, I immediately attacked him with rocks and obscenities and when he 
realized I would vigorously defend my food, just like HE would, he backed 
off. I didn't lose a wink of sleep that night with my food beside me because 
I knew beyound a shadow of a doubt that he moved on to easier pickings,
    If and when bear cannisters are required on the trails I use, I will use 
the following strategy. Show them a bear cannister at the ranger station and 
then toss it into my car. If asked to see one by a backcountry ranger, I will 
say it's in my tent and ask to see a search warrant if they wish to search my 
tent for it. The fifth amendment to the Constitution  states that I don't 
have to produce evidence that would incriminate myself, so the way I see it, 
it's up to them to prove I don't have a bear cannister. They don't have the 
right to illicit a confession of non compliance 
    To any management type rangers eavesdropping; How's about getting your 
act together and start managing our National Parks correctly and stop 
portraying us hikers as the enemy. You're responsible for your policy screw 
ups, not me. You can start by instilling the fear of man back into your 
mismanaged bears instead of blaming me for the problem. 
  I would use an ursack, if reqiured, because of the nonprohibitive weight
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