Firing a camera flash at a bear at night?

Potentially dumb question.  We are going camping in 2 weeks for the July 4th weekend.  There are 6 of us going and 4 of which are photographers.  

OK, the subject of wild animals and bears being in the area where we will be camping.  One photographer who was serious said he would use his flash to scare the bear.  Now I might be wrong, but won't this just piss off the bear?  

All bears are unpredictable, strong, and fast… and that
should suffice to bring up the right instinct in you.

For safety, couple of loud, small horns like those used in
stadiums as the noise will scare anything. Firecrackers
were used successfully… but dangerous in the wild.

For photo, IR traps and sensors is the better way to go
safety wises but the pictures are not the same. An alter-
native is a movement detector with flash triggers — far,
far away from the camp of course.

ADDENDUM

… if a bear is blinded by flashes, it sees nowhere to go.

No idea. Let us know how well it works. If we don't hear from you, we have our answer. 

When hiking in bear country, I always made it a requirement to stay overnight in shelters, either completely closed in or with chain link fencing across the open side. Sometimes there was very little remaining space for me inside with everyone when I got there. Others arriving later had to spend the night in their tents just outside the shelter. On one of these nights, a bear came calling at about 3 AM. Those inside and near the fence started yelling and clanging pots against the fence. When the bear decided to run, he turned and ran right over the top of 2 guys who were in a dark blue/black tent. I guess he couldn't see it in the dark either. The guys were mad, thinking that we had done it to them, but then decided that it really had been a bear. For me, I was too far back in the shelter to even see what had happened, until the flashlights were all coming on.  

On another trip, in a similar shelter and situation, the shelter was dug into the side of a steep hill, so the back side of the shelter roof almost reached the ground. The trail came down the hill behind and then around the shelter. In the middle of the night we heard heavy foot steps coming down the trail fast and getting closer, but when the bear reached the shelter he went up over the roof and off the open high side of the shelter, and kept going down the trail. I guess he wasn't interested in us at all. 

I have seen the damage caused to hiker's equipment due to bears, but never saw anyone injured by them, and I hiked many trails in bear country through my younger years. Bears tend to stay away from people for the most part, unless they have discovered that people have great food with them. Don't feed them willingly, and if you can avoid it. Be very wary of females with cubs. They can become very aggressive when they think they need to protect the cubs. I guess I made too much noise as I walked down the trails, because I never met a bear in the daylight that didn't run away as soon as we saw each other. I have no idea what a bear would do if you fired a flash at them, but loud and unusual noises, like shouting, horns, and clanging pots does work. If a bear decides that he wants something, let him have it and get as far away and as fast as possible. You can recover the remains when he is finished with it.

Skunks don't see very well and are only out at night. Don't scare them, but noises will keep them away. I stayed perfectly still one night when one, and I, discovered that we were way too close to each other, and he walked right up to me and sniffed my boot, then walked away. Raccoons are sneaky thieves and will get into your food if they think they can get away with the robbery. Metal tins are the only thing that will protect your food, or keeping it very close to you, if they should decide to try to steal it. Chipmunks frequently joined me for breakfast, but they are cute and not aggressive at all. They are quite timid at first, but a small hand-out, like scrambled eggs, makes them get very brave quickly. A chipmunk can hold 5 peanuts in his mouth, two in each cheek and one straight in. Then they leave to take the booty home, but return quickly for more. I had one sitting on my knee and waiting for more egg in about ten minutes one morning. 

Charley
 

Go out with bear pepper spray and an air horn

Seriously?   If a bear is coming why blind it?  Use an airhorn and as already mentioned bear spray. 

You might want to read this sign.

Charley

Sorry it isn't the best quality (not my photo).

Charley

A better Quality photo.

City boy asking a potentially silly question:  is there a species of bears that are more aggressive to humans than others?

Ian Stone wrote: City boy asking a potentially silly question:  is there a species of bears that are more aggressive to humans than others?

Read the last few lines in the sign photo. Actually, you should read the whole sign.

Charley

CharleyL wrote:

Ian Stone wrote: City boy asking a potentially silly question:  is there a species of bears that are more aggressive to humans than others?

Read the last few lines in the sign photo. Actually, you should read the whole sign.

Charley

Thank you, missed that.   

That's why it's good to have air horn with you when hiking or camping.  We ran into a bear at our camp site 2 years ago.  Air horn scared the @#$% out of the bear.  Who then went running off. 

BTW Amazon sells both the bear spray and air horns.