could you ever sleep outside again? bear wakes up hunter by biting him.

Read the comment section.

A tent will not stop a bear, BTW.

You almost need a fire and a military-style watch schedule, under almost all circumstances in bear country. I mean, at Philmont (BSA Scout ranch in New Mexico), they are highly conscious of bear precautions, use bear bags, they actively identify and eliminate "problem" bears and they still have relatively frequent encounters (although rarely involving injuries).

So, if you're alone, no fire, no watch schedule, you're kind of asking for bears to come nose around your campsite while you're sleeping. If the bear thinks your shampoo smells good (almost certainly the problem in this case) or something in the campsite smells good - they generally don't back down if they think a meal is at stake, even black bears.

And grizzlies? Forget about it - your night watch guy needs to be armed and ready to kill that big sumbitch.

I woke up to a rat sniffing my face while sleeping in an old, abandoned house one night while camping/hunting

I could feel its whiskers tickling my cheek.

I didn't know what to do, I was afraid if I moved it would bite me, but I was also afraid if I just laid there it would eventually bite me as well.

I finally just freaked out and set up really quick and screamed like a girl

quote:

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could you ever sleep outside again?

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Yes, I just spent the last 6 days in Eastern Oregon sleeping in a tent.

No worries.

Did I say that?

Bear safety is a huge concern. Gotta take care of camp and I guess wear a helmet to bed

Had a friend woken up on Admiralty Island by a very large brown bear. He put some kind of doe in heat urine spray on like a dumbass and after hiking several miles sat on a windfall and went to sleep. Woke when he was being pawed by a brown bear.

I suppose the bear decided it wasn't a deer and left him alone, he got out uninjured.

Your obligation to Mother Earth is to let the bear eat you. They are already under such pressure with habitat and food reduction. You should be honored that the bear has chosen you for recycling into the infinite wild.