double zip lock every thing food related,, a small plastic food barrel is a good option.  ask to get some olive barrels from a greek restaurant. they are ideal ,after a very good cleaning. i leave mine outside all winter to blow the sink off
 it is not so much the mice, beware of the squirrels, little bastards have been known get into  food packs. and coons are a pain.
  i use a two ropes for hanging stuff  on a tree branch. one has a pulley on the end,, the other rope goes into the pulley. and up the pack goes,, very easy with a heavier bundle.
    i hope this helps.

I leave my pack and the rest of my gear (other than food/scents which get hung) on half of a tarp, and fold over the other half and weigh it down with rocks on the corners/perimeter. If you do it properly it will keep everything dry, even during storms. So by the time I go to sleep everything is in one of three places, the tent, the tarp, or hung in the trees, nothing really left lying around camp.

Even when I travel with my food in a dry sack within my pack (instead of a separate barrel), I hang the dry sack overnight and have never had any issues with animals, mice, etc. getting into my pack under the tarp from any lingering scents.

If there is room in the tent I keep it in there with me.  If not I just use a tarp outside near the tent.  I've been to algonquin about 20 times for 3 nights each time and never had a mouse or anything chew into our packs.

trippythings wrote:

I leave my pack and the rest of my gear (other than food/scents which get hung) on half of a tarp, and fold over the other half and weigh it down with rocks on the corners/perimeter. If you do it properly it will keep everything dry, even during storms. So by the time I go to sleep everything is in one of three places, the tent, the tarp, or hung in the trees, nothing really left lying around camp.

Even when I travel with my food in a dry sack within my pack (instead of a separate barrel), I hang the dry sack overnight and have never had any issues with animals, mice, etc. getting into my pack under the tarp from any lingering scents.

Thanks trippythings,it looks like pack intruders are rare. Do you tarp your gear because of weather or curious animals?

Andy W wrote:

Ever since a chipmunk ate through one of my brothers packs, (wasn’t any food in it) we have been hanging  them on a line off of the ground - so far (at least for the last few years) we haven’t had any more issues

Thanks Andy, hopefully it wasn't an expensive pack. I am likely the idea of keeping it off the ground.

ATVenture wrote:

I usually search the campsite I'm on for either a nail in the tree or the perfect broken branch at the right height to hang my pack from the top grab handle. It makes adding/removing items super easy, typically because its on a tree trunk there is enough foliage above that if it does start to rain, unless its a downpour its not much of a concern. I keep it zipped up when I'm not putting things in/out. Never have a had anything chew through a pack doing this and I've been doing it for years. I use a SealLine dry bag exclusively for food or scented items, no food items or packaging ever even come in contact with my pack, no matter what they are in a dry bag, my pocket, or belly.
 

Thanks ATVenture, I like that plan, I have seen video of people lashing a branch perpendicular to the tree and hanging their packs from the shoulder straps.

R2 wrote:

vanslyke wrote:

If there is room in the tent I keep it in there with me.  If not I just use a tarp outside near the tent.  I've been to algonquin about 20 times for 3 nights each time and never had a mouse or anything chew into our packs.

Thanks vanslyke, if you put your gear under a tarp do you just leave it on the ground?

 
Yup!  My group and I always have a few extra back packs with us for random gear like hatchets, lanterns, toilet paper, fishing equipment, etc.  Those always just go on the ground somewhere around camp and get covered by a tarp at night or if it rains.  We try to find somewhere that is pretty flat and is sligtly protected by a tree canopy.  Its usually bone dry under the tarp unless we get an epic storm.  Anyone that doesn't have room in their tent for their personal pack they put it under there as well.  Having a ground sheet for them isn't a bad idea though if you have an extra tarp or one big enough to roll over on stuff like others have said.

Mice.  Those little stinkers.  Last summer when we went to hang the food bag on Islet, all of a sudden there were mice seemingly everywhere.  I put the bag down to prepare the rope to hang it, and as I was in the act of lowering the bag to put it on the ground, a mouse came out from under a tree root next to my foot and just about met the spot where I put the bag.  And that little guy was not the least bit intimidated by my presence.  I'd stomp my foot close to it, and it would barely flinch.  I kept expecting it to dash up my pantleg.  I tied the top of the food bag like I've never tied the top of it before, hoisted it into the tree, and wished it a fond farewell.  Buttoned up the packs pretty tight as well, but did not hang them. The mice were all so bold around us I wondered about that decision.

I expected to see evidence of little visitors the next morning, but fortunately none.  We remained in that site for the following night, and it was like word had spread among the mice -  "no food here".  We saw maybe one mouse on the second night.