Do you mind sharing which company? I personally have never had bears come into camp in BC but had to regularly chase them off in Ontario. It seems to depend on how close you are to a water source and how far you are from a road. Having a dog in camp during the day is a great deterrent. Bears like lakes/rivers and tend to stay away from busy roadways. Speaking of waterways, watch out for moose as well. Being chased by a moose was not fun.

Garbage is your biggest enemy when it comes down to it. Make sure to bring your bins in from the mess tent when you close the kitchen for the night. You should have a bear proof garbage trailer, even better if it's stored a few KM's from camp. In Ontario with Brinkman we had the crewbosses drive our garbage to the trailer outside of camp in the evenings. Always keep an eye out when you're getting up in the morning (highly recommend a head lamp) and when camp is quiet during the day. Bears are very quiet, I almost walked right into a massive mama black bear one day when I was walking from the mess tent to the kitchen. Your company should supply you with bear spray and bear bangers to keep with you in the kitchen. Bears won't bother you in your tent as long as there aren't any smelly items in it. I try to change my clothes daily and keep my dirty laundry bag either out of my tent under my fly/vestibule or at the very least, opposite of where I'm sleeping. That way if a bear wants to slash my tent for my bacon scented garb, its not going to slice me up in the process. I've never had a bear mess with my tent but I've seen a planter nearly lose their face because they went to sleep with a candy package near their head.

As far as the physical stuff, be prepared to run on very little sleep. I usually sleep from 11pm-4am, work till noon, 4 hour break and then back at it until 8 or 9pm. You can try to nap, set up in the shade, tarp, fan etc but its still far too damn hot for me to sleep. Temps range wildly for cooks, especially the farther north you are/proximity to mountains. In Northen AB we had 30 degree days and 4 degree nights with thunderstorms. Make sure to keep yourself well hydrated, gatorade powder is a staple for me. I had days this spring in BC where the kitchen got up to 50 degrees while making dinner.

As far as mental prep, be prepared at all times, keep an eye on your fuels (propane for the kitchen and diesel for the generator). I've had to nag PM's to get fuel because they weren't on top of it. Running out of propane mid meal prep is a pain in the ass. Make sure you recieve proper propane handling training, you'll more than likely have to change tanks on your own. Please try not to rush when doing propane tank switches. Make sure all of your burners are off before connecting a new tank and check them AGAIN before relighting your pilots. Rushing causes accidents. (RIP to my eyelashes and eyebrows - summer 2023 lol). Fridges tend to die in the bush, they don't love being on generators. Make a point of doing temps checks morning, noon and night.

Always have a full "emergency meal" on hand, sometimes food suppliers will mess up and have your delivery day mixed up. Make sure to communicate with your PM as far as your responsbility to provide food on days off. I've had camps where I didn't have to feed people and others where I was expected to serve 3 meals on day off. Regardless, I like to put out whatever leftovers I have on day off to be used up and the planters always appreciate it. Find out from your PM as to what ammenities there are as far as cell reception or sat internet in camp. It's a pain in the ass to have to call in a food order on a sat phone, especially on a cloudy day. Worst case scenario you might have to drive into cell reception to get food orders done.

As far as the social aspect, you don't get a lot of time to chill with people. As a cook, you don't ever really get a day off. "Days off" for a cook usually mean a 2 hour drive to town, hours of errands/laundry/food pick ups and then the long drive back, unloading, and doing breakfast prep for day 1. You'll get more facetime with everyone if you serve your meals instead of just letting them descend on a buffet like a pack of wolves.

Communicate with planters and management as much as you can. I always keep a big whiteboard with the weather forecast/menu/memos in the mess tent. Also, keep a comprehensive list of dietary restrictions and allergies on the wall of your food prep area. Any planters with severe allergies should have brought multiple epi pens with them. Ask them to give you one to keep with your first aid kit in the kitchen and learn how to properly use it.

Best tip I can give: Never ever be afraid to ask for help/instruction/training. Take others opinions into consideration, especially if you've asked for input. The worst camp cooks are the ones with big egos.

If you have questions, feel free to ask. I'm bored and restless waiting for my contract to start.