BWCA Close encounter with a bear Boundary Waters Listening Point - General Discussion
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YetiJedi
distinguished member(1449)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
07/11/2022 10:56PM  
My wife and I took five of our daughters into Wood Lake last week. Great trip in many regards!

We camped at site 1152. Halfway through the week two of my daughters joined me in getting firewood across the channel. After we had half a load I looked back to camp, about 1,000 feet away per google maps, and saw a large bear making his way along the shore towards camp - I've seen a fair number of bears in the wilderness, mostly in Wyoming and Idaho, and I am 90% confident it was a male.

We started paddling furiously to get back! I didn't want to yell and scare the bear into camp or cause my family to come running (they were on the beach on the other side of camp) towards the bear to see what was wrong. The bear was immediately aware of us returning in the canoe and he stood up to get a better look at us. Fortunately, the bear decided to start working his way back along the shore away from camp so I refrained from yelling.

My 14-year-old daughter was in the bow of the canoe and asked what we were going to do as we got closer. I told her to figure it out since she was in the front of the boat! Just kidding...I had my bear spray attached to my PFD and told her we would use it if we had to but that I thought the bear would leave once he saw us headed to camp. My ten-year-old wanted to know if I had my packet knife: "You know, just in case". She still thinks I'm pretty cool. :)

Anyway, when the bear reached the point at the end of the small bay, it stopped. At that time, we were close to getting back so I repeatedly yelled "bear" as loud as possible! The bear quickly disappeared into the woods and my oldest daughter arrived first with her bear spray.

Shortly after landing the canoe, we saw the bear swimming to the small island in the channel. He got out, shook off, and stood up to observe us - magnificent creature! Then the bear started swimming to the other side of the lake and I was amazed at his raw power in the water. My guess is he was trying to determine what we were going to do so he could put distance between us. Then again, maybe he was simply headed in that direction.

We try to keep a clean camp, store food in opsacks, use barrels, etc. There were dozens of turtles laying eggs right in camp every evening and I wonder if that was a natural food source that helped attract the bear. I'm sure it could smell the food we prepared too and also wonder if it knew a canoe left and thought camp was unoccupied. It is also a popular camping site with plenty of buried fish behind camp.

It was an adrenaline rush at the moment and scary to consider what could have happened in a worst-case scenario. We measured the last pawprint, still wet, on the beach and the bear was less than 25 feet from my daughter's tent. He stood up less than 10 feet from where my daughters were swimming just a few hours earlier. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and the bear didn't get any food.

 
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07/12/2022 04:37AM  
I doubt your being there had anything much to do with the bear being there. He was on his mission scavenging for food. Sounds like he was as surprised as you. You handled the situation well and your daughter witnessed a natural encounter. From my experience my guess is there are many encounters very similar that people don’t realize... you were fortunate to see this time, but there are times too where bear and other animals stumble upon us and they go into stealth mode best they can and retreat. Your keeping a clean camp and the precautions you take help keep this bear honest and really a cherished moment. Although still gets a little adrenaline flowing... whether a bear or a family of little baby grouse as I saw last night coming home it’s always worth it to me to sit and watch the reactions of said animals and their quest to survive.
 
carbon1
senior member (94)senior membersenior member
  
07/12/2022 05:55AM  
Bear do what bears do.

They are always on a search for food.

Are bears dangerous no, yes, maybe. They are very capable of harming humans.

Bears that do not run at the sight or smell of a human should be given special consideration.

I have seen 5 or 6 so far this year the closest was about 20 feet . We bumped into each other in some thick woods. at the first sighting he took off. Then stopped at about 40 feet then took off again.

Bears are hunted heavily in my area and are mostly respectful of humans.

If a bear doesn't leave very soon after they know you are human be very careful around them.

 
missmolly
distinguished member(7681)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
07/12/2022 06:44AM  
I think you and your eldest daughter reacted well. Good job, Dad!
 
07/12/2022 07:20AM  
Well done and what excitement!

The important question here is….. What did the one daughter that didn’t get to go with on the trip do to get in that much trouble that you made her stay home? LOL. Bwahahaha.
 
woodsandwater
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07/12/2022 02:57PM  
Very cool! What an experience for your family to always remember.
 
YetiJedi
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07/12/2022 08:10PM  
",,,whether a bear or a family of little baby grouse as I saw last night coming home it’s always worth it to me to sit and watch the reactions of said animals and their quest to survive." Well said, NCTRY. I very much agree.

Carbon1 - excellent words of wisdom: "If a bear doesn't leave very soon after they know you are human be very careful around them."

Thank you, Miss Molly. :)

Ducks: HA! One daughter is out west finishing a summer semester of college. She'll be home a week from Friday and then we leave for EP 31 - Farm Lake for 10 days. :)

Woodsandwater: Very true...I'm grateful for the memory. The image of the bear stepping out of the water and shaking off the water a few hundred feet away is ingrained in my mind.
 
07/13/2022 02:38PM  
YetiJedi:
My 14-year-old daughter was in the bow of the canoe and asked what we were going to do as we got closer. I told her to figure it out since she was in the front of the boat! Just kidding...

"


This cracked me up! Sounds exactly like a dad thing to say.

Great story, and an awesome encounter. Thanks for sharing!
 
07/13/2022 09:42PM  
I have seen bears that look really big than they go for a swim and their hair is matted down and then they look skinny.

I used to do a lot of back country in the Absoroka's(sp) north of Yellowstone and in Yellowstone. Lucky I have never seen any grizzly while hiking.
I did have one Tho in the brush about 60 yards away and breaking brush in Glacier National Park and I could smell him. Got down to the lake and here was this big Griz track in the sand the water was just running into the track. Got out to the campground after my hike at Polebridge here was the Ranger walking by with a limb. A few years before a Griz took a bite out of his leg.

Did see a Griz in Yellowstone while beside my pickup and about 150 yards away in the sagebrush. All of a sudden, he took off in a burst-man are they super-fast for short distances, you better have your spray real handy you won't have much time.

Note: Fished an area in Yellowstone and Griz poop everywhere but the cutthroat fishing was excellent> Hmm wonder why I didn't see anyone else there?
 
ockycamper
distinguished member(1372)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
07/15/2022 06:46PM  
We have yet to see a bear in camp. Moose, however, we have had in camp each year for the last several years. Probably due to us going up last week of September.
 
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