Wyoming Campers Escape Black Bear Tent Attack in the Big Horn Mountains

Two women walked away from a black bear tearing into their tents in Wyoming, and the lesson is about as blunt as it gets: bear country does not care how careful you meant to be.

Maggie Bassett and Shonna Dehl were camping July 5 in the Big Horn Mountains when a black bear came into camp and went after their tents. They yelled, screamed, and fired shots, but the bear kept circling and coming back before finally leaving long enough for them to get to a vehicle. Both women escaped without injuries.

The important part is that they say they had followed the usual rules. Food and drinks were packed away, nothing was stored in the tents, and they were not treating camp like a trash pile. Even then, the bear went straight for the tents and destroyed them. That points toward a bear that had likely already learned to associate people and camps with food.

Once a bear loses fear of people and starts treating camps as feeding opportunities, everybody pays for it: campers, hunters, land managers, and usually the bear. Wyoming Game and Fish was notified and planned to trap and relocate the animal.

This is why clean camps matter, but it is also why clean camps are not a magic shield. Store food right, keep attractants locked down, carry bear spray, carry a sidearm if you are legal and competent with it, and pay attention to fresh sign. Predators and big omnivores are part of wild country. Respecting that fact is not fear. It is common sense.