Thanks Leo -

I was talking with a fellow Alaskan prospector the other day and he said that he uses a Shure (?) in-ear phone like musicians use and leaves one out to listen for bears.  I don't know how this would work, but I might give it a try.  I've got pretty bad hearing, so only having one side in might not work too good.  I've got a pair of Grey Ghost headphones that I've used on my coinshooting detector for years, but I use that in parks and around homesteads, not in the boonies.  Hopefully I won't look to appetizing to our local predators with my headphones and a big long stick (detector) roaming around!  Cariboo

Leo - If you had dogs trained like that it'd probably work well.  It'd be great if you could have a heads-up that a bear was in the area nearby.  If I took MY dog out there I'd be doing nothing but following after him trying to get him to stay with me!  I've been going out in the bush here for years and to tell the truth, I've seen a few bears but never had one be agressive.  Mainly they just want to get out of your way because they don't like humans (we stink, 'ya know!).  As long as you don't crowd their space I think you're more likely to get bitten to death by the mosquitos up here than a bear.  Any Alaskans out there would probably agree -- that's why the mosquito is our State Bird!  Cariboo

Hi, Jeffrey...

I just moved back to Alaska (Soldotna) and I've been a GPAA member since 2012.  I've been trying to find a local chapter in Kenai or Soldotna...one is listed on the GPAA website, but the chapter president doesn't respond to e-mails and his phone has been disconnected.  They list a meeting time and location, but when I went there....The Moose Lodge in Kenai....they told me that meetings haven't been held there for a while.  Any suggestions?

Thanks! 

Dennis.

P.S.  Detecting with headphones here worries me a little bit too.  I wear hearing aids and that kinda compounds the worry about covering my ears with headphones.  I'm thinking that maybe leaving one ear uncovered would be the best option. 

I see several mentions of using dogs to warn you if a bear gets close.  That would be good if the dog was WELL trained to stand his ground and not chase the bear.  Too many dogs will chase after a wild animal, but as soon as the wild animal turns to chase the dog, the dog will come running right back to you with the mad animal in hot pursuit.  I had a beagle that loved to chase moose until they turned and chased him, he'd bring them right up to my front door.  I meet a person down on the Kenai who hiked a lot and he carried a pistol in case he ran into a moose and a small boat fog horn incase he ran into a bear.  He said that if he ran into a bear he would set off the fog horn and the loud noise was enough to scare it off.

Around here, unless a bear is in a hurry and crashing through the brush, you won't hear one, same with our kittys.  They both are super quiet for big animals.  Was me I'd wear one side and not get totally fixated on watching the coil, keep the mark one eyeball up as much as possible and on a swivel.

Bell might be ok, but it can be a homing device too.  You know the old saying on how you can tell griz scat...Black bear smells like bear spray, griz has bells in it.