I am interested in opinions on handling food at night. We went with a BWCA guide last trip who "never ever hangs the food up". I have always hoisted everything high when in the backcountry.

Any specific gear hanging recommendations? We are going to some of the previously burned areas.

Thanks in advance for comments!

Sorry, I don't think anyone around here has opinions on this. You may need to try a different board.

If you are going to a burn area then hanging may not be feasible. I would go with a bear barrel. There are several kinds that work well. If you are in the twin cities I could show your couple varieties. When are you going? Pete

There are definitely two schools of thought when it comes to food in the BWCA. I have guided many trips in the past, and always hung my food in a tree. Then I switched to working for Outward Bound and had to car 5 or 6 very heavy food packs. Not feasible to hang them in one tree and often not enough trees around to hang them all anyways. So, I started not hanging my food packs. Long story short, the only time I have lost any food to a bear was probably on one of the best packs I have every hung. It was on the campsite just south of Dorthy's on Knife Lake the summer after she passed away. I heard the pack rip, and quickly excited the tent, the pack was a good 12-15' in the air, and momma bear was hanging on it with one arm and ripping the pack open with the other. There is nothing that could have been done to prevent that from happening.

So, long story short, I don't hang my packs anymore. I keep a clean campsite, dispose of food well away from camp, and put my garbage into ziplock bags to reduce the odor. I have not had any issues, but I still carry enough rope that if I thought I needed to, I could hang a pack. but I would probably go well away from camp and hang it there, I think the bears are creatures of habit and if it is not hanging in the tree that everyone else uses, they will move to the next campsite.

Have always hung our food and never had a problem, until we do, we'll keep hanging it.

I use a UDAP bear canister. It won't hold all of my food but ti put the most odorous items in there and as my food goes down I add the dehydrated stuff. I put my extra in with my trip mate when he hangs his bag.

We used to hang our food until we tripped into Knife and some of the blow down area and could not find any trees to hang a pack. That trip we left our food packs under our canoes at night (less than ideal). Since then we've used the blue barrels and love it. I know they're not "bearproof" but they work for now and I'll continue using them until a bear decides to destroy one. At that point I'll buy 1 or 2 bearproof containers.

Welcome to our site, lots of ideas and we are liberal in sharing them.
Like most I was trained to hang food and toiletries. Recently barrels and bear proof sacks have become more popular and others report just stashing the food back in the woods a bit. Keeping a clean camp, especially the sleeping area, is best advice. If I come across a camp site trashed I might move on thinking bears visit garbage dumps.
I hang, but not too high and mostly to keep the "little bears" from chewing into packs. I also read this forum and talk with the ranger/outfitter when I pick up my permits about bear activity in the area I plan to visit.

I haven't hung food in years (~15) - not since I switched to bear canisters (and now Ursacks). It does require a certain style of food and packaging so you can pack enough food in them to make it feasible - dehydrated foods with minimal packaging that "conform" to fill the canister and compact calorie dense foods work best. These foods and their preparation - rehydration in the bag - minimize odor. I use an additional liner in the bear canisters and the recommended OPsaks (odor proof) in the Ursacks.

I don't stay at trashy sites or sites with bear sign. I usually just stash them a little way outside of camp, but not on a trail. It is so much simpler and easier, but won't work for all styles.

I don't have experience with it, but some have used Vittles Vaults.

If you take a lot of bulky foods, you will need something bigger.

Yup, as others have said - we haven't hung a pack in years. We work hard to keep a clean site and clean up anying we find when we land at a site. We use blue barrels or bear vaults depending on the trip and area we are traveling into.

This is good advice. I will look a bit more into the bear sacks. The variety of opinions tells me that many aproaches work well. Thanks again!

Man, I don't even stash out of camp any longer. I try to keep a rather clean camp, and have never had a bear problem. Clean up your camp after meals, and try to not have a bunch of food stuff around. Take as much dry food as possible, and don't worry about it.

I've done 25 trips and have never had a bear issue.

Later,

Geo

I keep a clean camp however I always worry about who has been there before me and how they have kept the camp and their food and garbage.

I like to hang my food at least 1/4 mile from camp. Some people think I'm crazy and that I put my food too far into the woods, but my theory is how close am I willing to have a bear near me?

We store our food in odor "proof" stuff sacks, and am a tool about keeping a real clean camp.

I kind of like the idea of a URSAK, or a bear barrel though in case you can't find a good hanging tree.

keeping a clean campsite is commendable, I try and do the same, but the problem is who has camped there before you. A month of messy campers will attract bears or other critters no matter how clean you keep the campsite.
The fact is, bears are not lurking at every campsite. The biggest problem is mice and chipmunks. There are campsites in the BWCA that have a yearly problem with bears, know which ones they are.

It's been blue barrels for us since 2008 when canoe camping. I use a bear keg when backpack camping. We keep a clean campsite, wash dishes and clean fish away from the campsite. The blue barrels stay in camp, cable locked to a tree. Put our garbage into gallon-sized zip lock bags and in one of the blue barrels. We put a couple of pots on top of the blue barrels at night to make a little noise and wake us up in the event a bear does try to get into them. The blue barrels are not "bear proof", but they have been working so far.

quote MNLindsey80: "I like to hang my food at least 1/4 mile from camp. Some people think I'm crazy and that I put my food too far into the woods, but my theory is how close am I willing to have a bear near me?
We store our food in odor "proof" stuff sacks, and am a tool about keeping a real clean camp.
I kind of like the idea of a URSAK, or a bear barrel though in case you can't find a good hanging tree."

Well, if the past campers at your site attracted the bears, (South Arm Knife) they will come and check-out your site even if you put your pack 1/4 mile into the woods. Habit is their motivator.

My dad taught me to hang packs, and he was probably taught by his father who grew up in Ely. Last year we rented a pack from Piragis, and spoke to Mr. Piragis himself, and he told me that he never hangs packs.

I was very surprised. Here's the argument.

How many sites have you been to with a perfect hanging tree? Not many. And if you find one, it's likely been used by pretty much everyone. Bears habituate to food sources. They will even circle small lakes, and look up at the tree that usually has food. So when you're hanging food, you're usually putting it right where the bear wants it.

I asked Mr. Piragis about bear barrels, and he said, they're mostly just for peace of mind. If a bear finds your food, there's nothing much you can do. A barrel might even keep the bear at your site longer, trying to get into the barrel. Barrels might make you feel better but don't prevent bears from visiting your site.

He suggested the Cooke Custom Sewing food pack. It's way more comfortable than a barrel. I like it so much I got one this year. We just hide it in the woods, a good ways back, away from any shoreline trails, the latrine trails or, deer trails, etc. I LOVE not dealing with it anymore. "The bear can't look everywhere" Keep a clean site. You have a better chance of getting hurt hanging your pack than seeing a bear.

On a side note, if our whole group leaves the site for fishing or a day trip, sometimes I bring the food with me.

Visited the 3-site island at the South Arm of Knife last year. We've always hung our food but found the site (the eastern facing site) lacking good trees to hang. The group managed to rig a system up and were good the first night. Next day, we did a day trip and hung the food. When we got back, my buddy tells me "We have a problem..." Get over to the food pack and see our food laying on the floor.

I've typically used a Sea-to-Summit eVent bag for food. Well, that didn't hold up well with bear claws (we ended up seeing a bit of bear scat near our food packs). This year, I plan on using a Ursack with an eVent bag, It should allow some flexibility between ground storage and hanging.

I think you should watch the knife lake video on youtube.

Black Bear Encounter on Knife Lake

Sow sees pack in tree that I'm sure a lot of people use.
Sow take a barrel down out of tree that is very well hung.
Sow sees barrel and walks away.

Why would you bother hanging after seeing that video.

I have never seen a bear in the BWCA, and I hope that continues. I have always tried to keep a clean camp. No fish guts near camp. I may clean them near camp, but then the fish remains get canoed away from camp. I switched to a blue barrel about 15+ years ago. The only thing I hang anymore is a garbage bag that won't fit in the blue barrel. Garbage with order or food goes in one gallon zip locks to control order. I then use the larger sea to summit bag with kitchen bag liner. Paper I will usually burn to save on space in garbage bag.

Order control is important.

Have a towel or paper towel to wipe hands when eating not pants.

I have read one of Cliff Jacobson books. He divided his food up into a few packs and hid them outside of camp. I believe he just used zip lock bags. He had a story of some kids start throwing figs or some food around at each other. Later that night they had a Sow and cubs cleaning up.

This year I am planning on going into ensign that does have some bear sightings. I ordered some bear spray.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OPK66S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I think the barrels with a harness are fine to portage. You might want to go with two 30L. I have a 30L that fits nicely in one of my packs. I also have a few 60L. Until I have a problem with a bear getting into my blue barrel I will continue with them. I do wash mine inside and out. If food gets on it, it gets cleaned with a little soap and water. All order items go in the barrel. including toothpaste. The vaults are really expensive for the size. If I was headed to Gizzly country I would consider investing in one.

Well there are my thoughts

Jrlatt

Another vote for taking all your food if on a day trip, kind of OT, but mentioned previously.

No reason to leave it in camp, when u not there.

The eVent bags are great as compression sacks, but I don't understand the point of using an eVent bag for food. eVent is a breathable fabric and so I would assume that odors can get through the material.

Have not hung food for over 10 years and never will again. I have 2 liners in my food bag (all bags, for that matter), vacuum seal everything and then put said items into zip lock bags (reuse these until they are dead). Have one bear barrel and two Ursacks that all food goes in.

These go in food pack, and the food pack gets hung on a branch of a tree 50ish yards away from camp. 3-5 trips each summer for the past 10 plus years and no troubles.

Also, keep a real clean camp.

I use a bearvault, 450 or 500 depending on if I'm canoeing or backpacking. I'm a stasher, but I am going to buy a Ursak for my next backpack trip to save weight.

The Bearvaults are too heavy 2.5 #.
I'm in the Ursak camp now.

We used to hang our packs every trip. Now we just put the food in pails with Gamma seal lids and leave them fight in camp. If a bear does come in he will only get one pail and we would wake up from the noise and possibly get it back.

After many years of hanging packs (with greater and lesser degrees of success), it finally occurred to me four years ago that the possibility that I was going to either brain myself or dislocate my shoulder in the attempt was far more likely than any bear scenario I could come up with. I've been stashing Sea to Summit bags outside of camp ever since with no problem.

quote 1bogfrog: "it finally occurred to me four years ago that the possibility that I was going to either brain myself or dislocate my shoulder in the attempt was far more likely than any bear scenario I could come up with."

So true!

quote Frenchy19: "Have not hung food for over 10 years ... the food pack gets hung on a branch of a tree 50ish yards away from camp. "

So which one is it?

quote deadriver: "

quote Frenchy19: "Have not hung food for over 10 years ... the food pack gets hung on a branch of a tree 50ish yards away from camp. "

So which one is it?"

I am talking about a branch-or, more accurately, the stub of a branch-within arms reach off the ground. If none are available, I use the sternum and hip straps to secure the pack off the ground around a tree. You can see what I mean in the background of this pic. Sorry for the confusion!

quote Frenchy19: "

quote deadriver: "

quote Frenchy19: "Have not hung food for over 10 years ... the food pack gets hung on a branch of a tree 50ish yards away from camp. "

So which one is it?"

Sorry for the confusion!

Got it now thanks for the clarification! That's basically what I do as well.

Gave up hanging food packs long ago. I switched completely to bear canisters (not barrels) and never looked back. They are as close to bear proof as you can get. Yes they add a little weight, but its worth it.

They won't even let you camp in the backcountry of Grand Teton National Park without using a bear canister.

Watch his:

Bear Encounters BearVault

Keep scents down in camp and in the food pack, be mindful about keeping a very clean camp at all times. And of course, leave no trace! :)

i've hung our food pack a few times but it's because the area we were in, more times we dont. as many have said keep a clean camp. if your in certain areas hang it , but as few youtube videos have shown they'll still get'm.

It does seem that incidents noted here where a bear has gone after a hanging bag are cases of it being left during the day while campers were out on day trip or fishing.

quote billconner: "It does seem that incidents noted here where a bear has gone after a hanging bag are cases of it being left during the day while campers were out on day trip or fishing. "

Good point.

quote billconner: "It does seem that incidents noted here where a bear has gone after a hanging bag are cases of it being left during the day while campers were out on day trip or fishing. "

The one time we had bear trouble was just this. We were out fishing for the day and a bear got into our island campsite on Insula. The bear got into a soft-sided cooler and garbage bag we had hung in a tree 100' from camp, but walked right passed our main food, packed in a blue barrel and sitting right in camp.

quote mc2mens: "

quote billconner: "It does seem that incidents noted here where a bear has gone after a hanging bag are cases of it being left during the day while campers were out on day trip or fishing. "

The one time we had bear trouble was just this. We were out fishing for the day and a bear got into our island campsite on Insula. The bear got into a soft-sided cooler and garbage bag we had hung in a tree 100' from camp, but walked right passed our main food, packed in a blue barrel and sitting right in camp."

mc2mens, Did the tree you hung the bag from have signs of other people using it for hanging food?

quote deadriver: "

quote mc2mens: "

quote billconner: "It does seem that incidents noted here where a bear has gone after a hanging bag are cases of it being left during the day while campers were out on day trip or fishing. "

The one time we had bear trouble was just this. We were out fishing for the day and a bear got into our island campsite on Insula. The bear got into a soft-sided cooler and garbage bag we had hung in a tree 100' from camp, but walked right passed our main food, packed in a blue barrel and sitting right in camp."

mc2mens, Did the tree you hung the bag from have signs of other people using it for hanging food?"

Yes. This was probably a hanging tree the bear had visited before.

quote egknuti: "...The biggest problem is mice and chipmunks. ..."

I agree. I started hanging my food packs. But I realized that there are very few campsights where it can be done correctly.

I always bring my food in clean kitty litter buckets. Those work great for stopping mice and chipmunks.

Now, i just stash my food in the woods at night. I try to separate them a bit so that a bear can't find all the litter buckets.

I think bears are blown WAY out of proportion in the BW. Other than a few repeat campsights, I don't think bears are much of a problem.

I have never hung up a pack. Seal food in plastic waterproof bags, seal garbage in ziplock bags, and by all means keep a clean campsite. I've seen bears outside of the BWCA but not within!

quote treehorn: "Sorry, I don't think anyone around here has opinions on this. You may need to try a different board."

This made my day

Someone on this thread said that they believe the bear issue is way overblown in the BW, and I could not agree more. Over 50 trips, one bear sighted (up close on Polly) and s/he was not interested in our site because it was clean. Like I have said before, if you are so worried about bears, stay home. It's the chipmunks that will get ya anyway...

We just use the bear barrels....abandoned hanging a long time ago. Reason: mice will climb the trees, go down the rope, and into the pack. It's not the big bears to worry about, it's the little ones....

I grew up with hunting dogs, and have a healthy respect of what it means for an animal to have a good sense of smell. A bird dog can smell where a pheasant ran by the day before. I imagine that bears have the same, or better, sense of smell.

I can't believe that there is such thing as being 'odor proof' from a bear's perspective. The act of cooking puts a ton of odor into the air. Sealing a barrel after you have made food puts odor all over the barrel. Maybe the barrel seals the food odors inside it 100%, but it probably isn't perfect either. People who stash food around in sacks? They leak odors all night.

Also- 'a bear can't find all my food'? That is literally their only job in life, to find as much food as they can eat.

My point is that guys who are stashing their food in the woods un-tethered are living on a prayer, and have gotten lucky so far if they haven't had problems. Additionally, you are giving the bear a free meal when they do find it, furthering the problem bear cycle.

Maybe someone has some stories of bears coming into camp and then not finding the stashed drybags in the woods that night to prove this theory wrong.

Personally, I hang my food close to camp with some bells hung on it so I can hear if there is a problem. No bear tree? Food goes under a canoe with the paddles stacked over it for noise. If a bear were to attempt to get my food, it would get bear sprayed and hopefully a bad impression of people. The food comes out with us on day trips- it's nice to have some ballast in the boat anyways.

Here is a quote that I got from the web

http://www.cliff-jacobson.com/bearproof.shtml

I simply take food packs out of the immediate camp area and place them in the woods or along the shoreline, taking care to keep them well away from game trails. Then I separate packs by 50 feet or more for additional security. Bears don't see very well, especially at night, so as long as there's no food odor, they'll leave things alone.

Case in point: Some years ago, my teenage crew had a prune fight with the lunch leftovers. When the fun ended, the area was littered with wrinkled fruit.

About midnight, a sow and cub ambled into camp and began eating the goodies. They came with ten feet of two food packs which were set on the ground just outside the camp perimeter. It was too dark to see the packs so the bears left them alone. Again, let me emphasize that a bear won't get your food if he can't see it or smell it!

Cliff Jacobson has done a lot of traveling in bear country. This is a pretty good article that is worth reading.

I use blue barrels now, left around camp overnight, with bells on to alert if disturbed, and secured to a tree so it can't be (easily/quickly) dragged away. Over the years, in the bwca, I have had bears visit camp and drag away a food pack that was stashed, not hung ( I had to give chase and found the food pack in the woods a few hundred yards-got that far in seconds not mins) and another attempt to get a hung food pack, again chased him away (although not too quickly and needed involve throwing rocks as noise and our presence did not deter his efforts). Now a days I usually trip with my golden retriever. I have had rodents/mice & chipmunks chew into food packs left on the ground so the blue barrels are nice for preventing that. I don't think leaving food under the canoe is a good idea, bears could damage the canoe.

quote aholmgren: ".... I don't think leaving food under the canoe is a good idea, bears could damage the canoe."

Good point.

DP

quote ayudell: "I grew up with hunting dogs, and have a healthy respect of what it means for an animal to have a good sense of smell. A bird dog can smell where a pheasant ran by the day before. I imagine that bears have the same, or better, sense of smell.

I can't believe that there is such thing as being 'odor proof' from a bear's perspective. The act of cooking puts a ton of odor into the air. Sealing a barrel after you have made food puts odor all over the barrel. Maybe the barrel seals the food odors inside it 100%, but it probably isn't perfect either. People who stash food around in sacks? They leak odors all night.

Also- 'a bear can't find all my food'? That is literally their only job in life, to find as much food as they can eat.

My point is that guys who are stashing their food in the woods un-tethered are living on a prayer, and have gotten lucky so far if they haven't had problems. Additionally, you are giving the bear a free meal when they do find it, furthering the problem bear cycle.

Maybe someone has some stories of bears coming into camp and then not finding the stashed drybags in the woods that night to prove this theory wrong.

Personally, I hang my food close to camp with some bells hung on it so I can hear if there is a problem. No bear tree? Food goes under a canoe with the paddles stacked over it for noise. If a bear were to attempt to get my food, it would get bear sprayed and hopefully a bad impression of people. The food comes out with us on day trips- it's nice to have some ballast in the boat anyways."

If blue barrels or opsaks were 100% odor- proof then drug traffickers would be using them to ship in to get them past the dogs.

quote OldFingers57: "

quote ayudell: "I grew up with hunting dogs, and have a healthy respect of what it means for an animal to have a good sense of smell. A bird dog can smell where a pheasant ran by the day before. I imagine that bears have the same, or better, sense of smell.


I can't believe that there is such thing as being 'odor proof' from a bear's perspective. The act of cooking puts a ton of odor into the air. Sealing a barrel after you have made food puts odor all over the barrel. Maybe the barrel seals the food odors inside it 100%, but it probably isn't perfect either. People who stash food around in sacks? They leak odors all night.


Also- 'a bear can't find all my food'? That is literally their only job in life, to find as much food as they can eat.


My point is that guys who are stashing their food in the woods un-tethered are living on a prayer, and have gotten lucky so far if they haven't had problems. Additionally, you are giving the bear a free meal when they do find it, furthering the problem bear cycle.


Maybe someone has some stories of bears coming into camp and then not finding the stashed drybags in the woods that night to prove this theory wrong.


Personally, I hang my food close to camp with some bells hung on it so I can hear if there is a problem. No bear tree? Food goes under a canoe with the paddles stacked over it for noise. If a bear were to attempt to get my food, it would get bear sprayed and hopefully a bad impression of people. The food comes out with us on day trips- it's nice to have some ballast in the boat anyways."

If blue barrels or opsaks were 100% odor- proof then drug traffickers would be using them to ship in to get them past the dogs. "

Have you seen the knife lake video? The sow head was right above the barrel. Don't you think she would have tried to open it if she had smelled something. Or maybe she just realized it was to much work.

quote jrlatt: "

Have you seen the knife lake video? The sow head was right above the barrel. Don't you think she would have tried to open it if she had smelled something. Or maybe she just realized it was to much work. "

Yep, that video made an impression on me. It looked like an expert level hanging job as well. I still think that bear knew there was food in there. The video'er would have posted something about them tearing through the rest of camp if the bears were into attacking non-food-identified objects. My assumption was that those bears were nervous from being watched, and when the treats didn't spill out they took off. I think the blue barrels are great, I wish I had a couple. But I would still hang them or at least tie them off at night somewhere close where I could hear trouble. Bears are used to looking for food in the woods.

In the spring and fall Midwest usually does a 20% off one item. Outfitters might let them go a little cheaper end of season.

We put all food in a dry pack and put that into a Duluth pack. We the take that pack a good ways into the brush, away from any path or trail and leave it. Never had a bear get into it.
Our thought process is if a bear wants it a bear can get it away from camp instead of in camp. Island camp sites help too.
The last thing I want in my camp is a frustrated,hungry,bear

quote TheOnion: "We put all food in a dry pack and put that into a Duluth pack. We the take that pack a good ways into the brush, away from any path or trail and leave it. Never had a bear get into it.
Our thought process is if a bear wants it a bear can get it away from camp instead of in camp. Island camp sites help too.
The last thing I want in my camp is a frustrated,hungry,bear
"

I had a persistent bear about 15 feet from me on my first solo on an island site on Phoebe about 2004 or 2005. Took me about half to a full minute to persuade it to leave for another poor camper's campsite on Phoebe (which it did about 30 minutes later - I heard the campers banging pans and yelling at it!).

Initially, I watched it swim a long way across the lake and board my island from the rear for a sneak attack. At first, it was so far away, that I thought it could have been a moose. It was obviously on a mission to get to my island, as it never varied direction, and always headed straight to it.

Islands sound like a good defense, and I like camping on them. I don't think they really offer any bear protection though.

Tomster

quote ayudell: "My point is that guys who are stashing their food in the woods un-tethered are living on a prayer, and have gotten lucky so far if they haven't had problems. "

So far, prayers answered. 9+ years without hanging, 1-3 trips per year.

quote ayudell: "Maybe someone has some stories of bears coming into camp and then not finding the stashed drybags in the woods that night to prove this theory wrong."

Yup. Twice bear in camp while food stashed in walking vicinity from camp. Once, bear took the water sack from the kitchen area (with LAKE water in it) and dragged it away after puncturing it (found it on the trail to latrine). Once bear was apparently more interested in jelly beans kids had spit out into brush near the tent (YES said kids learned a lesson). Neither time did the bear find (or choose to find) the untethered, unhung, food pack stashed in brush.

Leave your food out and sealed up in a bear barrel or bucket. The thing you want to protect at all costs is your Leeches. Without bait you might go hungry.