I am not sure if this is the correct forum, I am hopeful it is - when soloing in Canada, I rarely worry about bear problems (or vermin) getting into my packs as the remoteness has not habituated the animals. However, as I explore the BWCA more often, it is clear the bears and vermin often are looking for packs. I have had very good luck (so far) keeping my food packs (sealed, no smells) hidden in the woods out of camp - 50 to 150 yards out. I am wondering currently if I have perhaps just gotten lucky and am tempting fate doing this in more populated areas.

For the more BWCA experienced trippers on this board, what do you think?

Bob

There is quite the debate on hanging vs stashing. Most do recommend using a bear vault when stashing though. I would mostly be worried about raccoons and rodents if I left my food on the ground. Raccoons can get to the bags in the trees, but they would have far more leverage on the ground and the bag would be more slack for them to work with.

The main reason stashing the food works is just because the bear (or other animal) doesn't find it. There is no other protection. It seems a little risky to me without at least some protections like a vault. If you were to use a vault, then that is arguably the safest method (except not having any food at all).

I used to hang our packs in trees at night or away from camp. I no linger do this. We have our food in Five gallon pails with Gamma seal lids. We keep then closed up right in camp by our fire pit area. We put pots and pans on top as a warning sound to us that something is trying to get to our food. Then we would wake up and hopefully get our food back. If the bear gets one pail we have more food in the others. We have 6-8 guys so we have a few pails. Just as long as they don't get the bait we will be fine. With bait I can catch fish to eat.

I've been hanging my pack for over 30 years and I've never had a problem. Is it the best way? I don't know. I think if I had put the food in my tent I wouldn't have had any problems with bears either. Quite simply because bears are not really a big problem in the BWCA. I've actually had more problems with mice and squirrels. This is not to say you shouldn't take precautions. Some areas in the BWCA don't have trees to hang packs from and "hiding" your pack far away from camp might be your only option. I'd look into getting an Ursack if it will ease your worries.

Bear teaching cubs to get hung pack.

I forgot where I saw this recently, likely someone posted it on the forums here. To me, it seems "problem bears" tend to go after the hung pack. In this case, the hung barrel. After bear gets the barrel free, she runs off as she is anticipating food once tearing the harness off. If it had been a hung pack, she would be into the food at that point.

We used to hang, now just use barrel(s). Keep barrel(s) right in camp by the fire and never had a problem. Definitely a lot of opinions on what to do with food up there, however, I think this video illustrates how a "problem bear" has been habituated into removing any hung items in the trees, as food is often attainable there.

Most important advice is to keep a clean camp. Keep any food spills off of your gear and no food or clothes that reek of food in the tent when you go to bed.

I think you have been lucky so far. Smaller animals like mice and squirrels have been more of a nuisance to me than bears but I'd rather not have to deal with any of them so I use a bear barrel. If you don't want the weight of a barrel you could purchase an Ursa sack.

Use Kondos food pack the last several years. I stash it in the woods away from camp, so far no problems knock on wood!! I also never go to high use areas where the bears are regularly used to being around people which I think helps with bear issues.

We use an Ursack, and it's been great, and there's also a plastic liner that supposedly doesn't let smells escape. I like it chiefly because it's not as bulky as a barrel. Keeps the bears, moose, and meese out. We've both hung it and stashed it, they both worked well.

The only time I have ever taken a bear barrel was backpacking in British Columbia. Also the only time I've ever taken pepper spray.

If I'm in a group of 4 or more I like to cable/ lock a barrel to a tree. If in a group of 2 I will stash bear barrels away from camp. Hanging is for the birds ;-)

IMHO, there are only so many places to hang.....thereby increasing the likelihood that a bear, rodent, or raccoon will regularly visit that area. There a million places to stash, decreasing the likelihood of a regular visitor.

I have always done the blue barrel. Keeping the outside clean and free of even setting smellables on it. The barrels seem to be sturdy enough to thwart a raccoon or rodent and when stashed....random enough to avoid a bear

I have found that using odor proof plastic bags like OpSacks make food protection much easier. I pack all foods in them and then put the bags in a BearVault or Garcia Backpacker's Cache. I put all food related trash in a double Opsack (large size) and put them also in the bear canisters, and also carry lunch and snacks in OpSacks in my day pack. Makes soloing much more relaxing as I am confident that I am taking maximum precautions to keep a clean camp.

For decades I hung the pack. Then I stashed a BearVault and, as of last year, an Ursack. Only times I've had bears in camp were many years ago, traveling with larger groups who did not keep clean camps. Stashing is far easier than hanging.

Dave

Solobob1 - to try to answer your question directly, I don't think I'd say you are tempting fate by continuing to stash, but I would definitely say you are increasing the chances of losing food in the BWCA. I think about it like this: the BWCA, Quetico, and Woodland Caribou PP are all close to the same area size, but get about 200k, 25k, and 5k visitors respectively each year. Thats a whole lot more people and food for bears to be around in the BWCA, increasing the chances of some degree of habituation.

That said, how many groups in the BWCA actually lose some or all their food to bears each year? Numbers aren't collected that I know of, but I don't believe its very many. There are members on this forum who have, and I've talked to people on portages who have, but I still believe its a small number each year - and often localized to specific areas where problem bears pop up. So if, say, 30,000 groups (I think that's a little low for OP permits, not sure) paddle in and camp each year, does maybe 1% lose food? That would be 300 groups - I am now speculating, but I'd bet its closer to 30 than to 300, which if correct would be 0.1% chance of loss. If anyone has any good data on this I'd be really glad to hear. Perhaps some of the outfitters have better info? I suspect that with the the web, each story gets retold so many times we all start to think it happens more often than it actually does. I think it would be great to do a survey of member here just to see how (A) how many trips they have taken, and (B) how of this trips did they lose food to a bear!

So to your question, while I bet you could still stash a food pack and get away with it, you are at increased odds of losing your food over Canada, which is not just bad for you, but the bear and other people that bear then comes across. I'd suggest in the BWCA that you do at least something other than hiding to protect it. There are lots of threads arguing the pros and cons of each.

I've been going to the bwca for 35 years and I have never seen a raccoon. I have lost a food pack to a bear, and that was on Knife which is notorious for bears, haven't hung or stashed in the last few years but haven't base camped and haven't been in areas that have the rep for lots of bears. keep a clean camp and if in areas known for lots of bears I'd hang it, or bear vault

We hang our food pack including any trash which does not burn such as plastic. When no suitable tree is available, we like to hang from a tree stem with enough rope to go over a cliff and above the water high enough the bear will not have any way to reach bag or cannot reach while swimming below the bag. One a couple occasions, we have placed bag under the canoe with pans on top and hoped for the best. Glad to report no problems with that, but do think the absence of bears in area had more to do with that than anything.

I think if everybody did it the same way the animals would figure it out quicker and there would be more incidents. Personally I use a Garcia barrel if I'm doing just a couple of days. For a longer trip I use a 5 gallon bucket with gamma seal. I have never a a problem with either. I agree that mini-bears (ie chipmunks, squirels, mice, etc.) Are the bigger problem. My food container stays right in camp. I say if you method works for you, keep using it until it doesn't.

First, no matter what you do, move the food out of camp.

I was taught to hang, but it never really worked out right. The biggest problem being a lack of strong unbroken branches you can reach... and that os just for starters!

I now use 5 gal buckets with a screw on top. Knowing that 90% of the time my pack is improperly hung or on the ground. And I know better. Lowering the smell seems a better strategy than hanging. I would like a vault or ursack, but just have had other gear priorities.

Hearing Cliff J say what I had been thinking was all it took for me to change. I'm less worried about losing food than I am about attracting a large critter into my camp.

So glad that raccoons don't seem to be in he BWCA compared to some state parks. Believe it or not we had a red squirrel at home chew through a gamma seal lid that had peanuts. No plastic liner etc.
I was amazed.
we stash in the woods.

dr bob

I'd love a large Bearikade, but holy balls they are so expensive.