We encountered a bear on Rose Lake the week of June 11th. We were able to scare it off, it returned several times over the evening. It was certainly making the rounds on the sites on the lake. Strongly suggest bear canisters!

Surprised we haven't heard more reports about this bear this summer. It has been very active for the last couple years. It ripped the pocket of my life jacket because I forgot to remove a tiny empty cheese wrapper from it when I stopped for the night. He did scare off fairly easily and didn't bother with our bear canister or Ursack during the night. This is the area where the bear has perfected stealing unattended packs off the portage.

I heard a few more reports of this bear taking unattended packs from portages in the Rose Lake area. It also had a stash of packs at the first campsite to the left after Rose Falls and stairway portage earlier this spring.

I had trouble on Daniel's last September, same bear? Also had trouble on Alder which was more troublesome and seemed larger.

When we went into Duncan from W Bearskin on 7/6 a group coming out said a bear got into their stuff during the portage from Rose. We camped on the south side of Duncan and day tripped to the falls and BRT and thankfully never saw it.

On Sunday 8/13 we saw a couple hightail it away from campsite #651 on Rose Lake (the 2nd one east of the portage.). We wondered why they were traveling towards Rat at 5pm. When we checked out the campsite, they had left a note saying "Bear Was Here." We stayed at campsite 650 for 2 nights expecting a bear visit, but never saw one.

My son, a buddy and his daughter and I just exited Rose Lake yesterday 8/16. On our way in at the Bearskin portage, we chatted with a group of 4 ladies around 9:30 am (that’s moving if they broke camp and paddled/portaged over the Stairway portage, Duncan and then Bearskin). Well we found out why.

They were on site #651 on Rose as Midnight stated. When they hit their tents Saturday night, they heard a bear enter their site. Said it wasn’t going stealth. Lots of loud steps/brush crashing and grunts/snorts. The ladies were able to chase it off by making a bunch of noise themselves. The bear didn’t go far. Waited in the woods a couple hours, came back while they were sleeping, climbed the tree, ripped a hole in their pack, emptied their contents, ate all their food, left the wrappers (rude), and rambled on off. The ladies were unharmed, a bit shaken, but didn’t seem upset other than a bit annoyed that Brutus cut their trip short.

Brutus is the name of the big old fella. We know this because our outfitter had told us about Brutus when we were talking campsites on Rose. He said Brutus likes to hit the Rose campsites on the south shore east of the portage and basically runs the triangle between Daniel’s, Duncan and Rose. He likes to stick to the hiking trail that runs in between Daniel’s and Duncan, south of Rose.

We were actually thinking about staying at one of the 4 sites on Rose south shore until we talked to the ladies. Instead we thought we would check out the site on west Rose towards the South Lake portage. Until we found out it was occupied when we ran into a couple paddling out that just passed it. We stayed at the site just west of the stairway portage. It is an awesome site by the way. Seems to get a bad rap due to the proximity to the falls. If we were worried about complete solitude we wouldn’t be on Rose in the first place. The sound of kids and adults alike having a blast exploring the falls isn’t a terrible noise either.

This is way too long of a post, but stay with me. Monday morning, my buddy and I took a rip down the lake trolling for Lake Trout while the kids slept. We stopped at 651 to check it out. Note was left by the ladies in a ziplock with a rock keeping it in place on the fire grate. We could see the fresh marks in the tree they hung their packs on. From a quick scan, it was 1 of 2 trees that were convenient spots to hang a pack in camp. Both seemed a bit low (packs probably hanging 12 feet off the ground). The tree next to it also had claw marks. I’m sure Brutus has used that tree if people angled out their packs off the branch. The outfitter said Brutus was known to untie (yep, he said that and I’m not one to question a guy that makes his living up here) or chew through lines to get packs down. We didn’t look for alternatives but I’m sure there are plenty that offer higher options and is out of the main camp. It’s a cool site (not as good as ours but we would have stayed there for sure without the info we had), just need to take some extra care if staying there and know that Brutus may be making his rounds.

Sounds like some bear hunter needs to do everyone a favor and turn ol' Brutus into a bearskin rug this season...

MidnightPaddler: "On Sunday 8/13 we saw a couple hightail it away from campsite #651 on Rose Lake (the 2nd one east of the portage.). We wondered why they were traveling towards Rat at 5pm. When we checked out the campsite, they had left a note saying "Bear Was Here." We stayed at campsite 650 for 2 nights expecting a bear visit, but never saw one."

I saw this note on Tuesday 8/15 when we stopped at the campsite to eat lunch. We were base camped to the west and were out fishing. Days later two groups passed our campsite going opposite directions. The crew entering Rose Lake asked about campsites. The group leaving said a line about “rumor of a bear”. I think that would make a great story title.

We heard he was making his way up and down the Border Route Trail, and sure enough, Brutus stopped by our site on Clearwater twice last weekend (site 682 on the map--near the Mountain Lake portage.)

Night 1 he took our barrel into the woods and got it open. Didn't take as much food as you'd expect (lots of coffee grounds though!)

When we found the barrel out in the woods the next morning there was also a destroyed green Jansport bag in his stash.

Night 2 we hung our stuff in a tree and he climbed up and tried to paw at them. Got this epic photo.

He snorted at us a bit, and eventually left us alone (after stealing some plastic Coke bottles and Bailey's minis out of our liquor stash.)

MidnightPaddler: " "

Nice picture of the bear! Just curious- on the first night where did you stash the barrel? In known problem bear areas we hang the barrel ( not always easy to do correctly), but usually my husband stashes it outside of camp off trail, but I always feel like it is too close to paths and camp, thus could be easy to find.

I assume you let the forest service know about all this ya? When I was at the headquarters in Duluth Sept 20th they told me they have been trying to track this bear down and even have been telling hunters to eliminate it.

To answer your questions: yes I called the forest service and sent the picture. They said they're going to use them in future bear alerts!

As far as barrel placement we did a few things. Night 1: hid them in the woods. (No bear visit.). Night 2: Just kept them sealed in our kitchen area. (Bear came and stole a barrel and broke into it.) Night 3: Hung them in a tree, and used a second rope to distance it from the tree branch (that worked!)

What an adventure. Good luck out there everybody (even Brutus.)

Looking at the picture of the bear… Was someone hanging their hammock on the same tree the food was in?!

Funny. Yes very perceptive. One guy was gonna sleep in that hammock but decided to switch to the big tent we brought after the bear encounter.

When hiking the BRT last year (in October) I was quite concerned all the way from South Lake to Pine Lake. We exercised EXTREME caution, and had our freeze dried food in double OPSAKs and in our URSAKS. Never did see the bruin, but sooooo many prints all up and down the BRT.

Is this bear still active, raiding campsites and portages?

MidnightPaddler: " "

OMG, that photo is truly epic.

Samsquatch: "Is this bear still active, raiding campsites and portages?"

+1

I stayed on this site last year with a group of newbie high schoolers from our church.

O. M. G.

Was just in that area and no bear (or Brutus) sightings. Talked with folks at Clearwater and they had not heard about any bear issues this year.

OffMyRocker: "Was just in that area and no bear (or Brutus) sightings. Talked with folks at Clearwater and they had not heard about any bear issues this year. "

That’s good news. I’ll be in the area soon.

NEIowapaddler: "Sounds like some bear hunter needs to do everyone a favor and turn ol' Brutus into a bearskin rug this season..."

These are the saddest threads that appear on this bulletin board:

Every time a bear must be euthanized, it is our failure. Nuisance bears are created by humans. Bears don't naturally come into contact with humans and their whereabouts. They learn that the risk to gain equation is reversed and it is worth it to venture near us for the caloric intake provided on a too easy platter by some.

I fear you are correct NEIowapaddler, this bear will be "neutralized" in the not too distant future.

Michwall2: "

NEIowapaddler: "Sounds like some bear hunter needs to do everyone a favor and turn ol' Brutus into a bearskin rug this season..."

These are the saddest threads that appear on this bulletin board:

Every time a bear must be euthanized, it is our failure. Nuisance bears are created by humans. Bears don't naturally come into contact with humans and their whereabouts. They learn that the risk to gain equation is reversed and it is worth it to venture near us for the caloric intake provided on a too easy platter by some.

I agree. Much as some folks grouse about the regs for hanging food and/or using bear cannisters (not blue barrels) -- this is why. As the adage goes, "a fed bear is a dead bear." There is rarely such thing as a problem bear. There are problem people (such as my neighbor, who does not secure his garbage in a building, and has had multiple bear "issues" - which chaps my fanny because now this bear is habituated, and puts the rest of us at risk, including my other neighbor who keeps bees, and me who keeps chickens). We were in this area in 2022. The outfitter where we p/u our permit said that years ago the area had a bear(s) problem. Then campers tidied up and did better at properly securing their food and the bear problems subsided. Now, again, in more recent years, we're back to improperly secured/stored food, and a habituated bear. It's incumbent on us all to make every effort to keep a clean camp and secure food as 'bear proof' as possible. Bears habituate to food very quickly. Score once, and they got it.

I asked about Brutus the Bear at our outfitter last week. He hasn’t been around this summer and it’s assumed he’s gone.