BWCA 2026 Ice Out Contest Boundary Waters Listening Point

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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum

Listening Point - General Discussion

2026 Ice Out Contest

Author

Text

BWCA

Administrator

03/06/2026 07:54AM

Enter the 2026 Ice-Out Contest!

Think you can predict when the ice will go out? Join our Ice-Out Contest and guess the exact dates the ice will disappear from Shagawa Lake (west) and Hungry Jack Lake (east).

How to Enter:
- Submit your best guess for each lake’s ice-out date on this thread.
- The winner is the one with the two closest guesses and first to post that combination.
- One guess per person. No editing posts.

Enter by April 1st.

The Prize?
- The winner will receive a hat of their choice.
- True North Map Co. is sponsoring additional prizes — the overall winner also gets a BWCA sign, and we’ll draw 3 bonus winners for free BWCA/Quetico cloth maps. Rules and entry method unchanged.

Winners announced: Once both lakes are ice-free!

Good luck! Let the thaw begin!

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tinymoo

03/06/2026 10:56AM

Ice out Hungry Jack east - April 28, Ice out Shagawa west May 4

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Speckled

03/06/2026 11:14AM

Ice out Hungry Jack east - May 4, Ice out Shagawa west April 28

"When used separately, women and alcohol can be a lot of fun. But if you mix them, they can turn you into a dumbass." - Red Foreman

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PeterOwens

03/06/2026 11:21AM

Shagawa Lake April 27th
Hungry Jack Lake May 1st

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hog97

03/06/2026 11:41AM

Shagawa Lake April 21
Hungry Jack Lake April23

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jamotrade

03/06/2026 11:58AM

HJ - 4/23
Shagawa - 4/27

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Mad_Angler

03/06/2026 12:33PM

HJ: 5/1
Shag: 5/3

Fish where the fish are...

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BigTim

03/06/2026 12:41PM

HJ - May 7
Shag - May 5

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jmcgo

03/06/2026 01:49PM

Ice Out:
Shagawa ~ April 29
Hungry Jack ~ April 15

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petehal

03/06/2026 02:08PM

Shag. 4/19
Hungry Jack. 5/7

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portagerunner

03/06/2026 02:12PM

Shagawa Lake April 27
Hungry Jack Lake April 30

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shortstop6

03/06/2026 02:28PM

May 2, both lakes.

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fishforfun66

03/06/2026 02:58PM

sag april 30 hungry jack may2

fish on

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bresnahan2828

03/06/2026 03:04PM

• Shagawa Lake (west) 4/27
• Hungry Jack Lake (east) 5/05

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scat

03/06/2026 03:48PM

My local Cedar Lake, northern Il. In the 60s and rainy, the steam is coming off the remaining ice. Total ice out Sunday. Do I win….

Haha - Wow you guys got 3 more months, I’ll be paddling this lake tmrw. Hang in there!

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evans8853

03/06/2026 03:58PM

Shagawa L: April 21
Hungry Jack L: April 25

EE in IA

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LindenTree

03/06/2026 04:12PM

Shag - April 30
Hungry Jack - May 5th

May the rivers be crooked and winding, and your portages lonesome, leading to the most amazing view.

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Jefflynn06

03/06/2026 04:39PM

Shagawa - May 1
HJ - May 3

Two Paddle

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CanoeViking

03/06/2026 04:50PM

Shagawa Lake April 24
Hungry Jack Lake April 28

Blessed are the flexible for they shall never be broken.

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NoFishNoDinner

03/06/2026 05:09PM

Shagawa Lake: April 16
Hungry Jack Lake: April 20

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Hosedragger76

03/06/2026 05:16PM

Shag - 4/14/26
Hi - 4/16/26

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NEIowapaddler

03/06/2026 05:35PM

Shag April 29
Jack May 1

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youngerald

03/06/2026 06:20PM

Shagawa April 21
Hungry Jack April 21

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EasyWind

03/06/2026 06:43PM

West 4/20
East 4/23

I been ballin' a shiny black steel jack-hammer, been chipping up rocks for the great highway. Live five years if I take my time, ballin' that jack and drinking my wine….

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Canoeski14

03/06/2026 08:46PM

Shag: 5/6
Hungry Jack: 5/10

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Hikenpaddleboy

03/07/2026 05:22AM

Shag April 22nd
Hungry Jack April 30th

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Pablo13

03/07/2026 07:37AM

Shag April 25
Hungry Jack April 29

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ducks

03/07/2026 07:58AM

Shag west April 24
Hungry Jack east May 3

Ride EZ

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Bentpushrod

03/07/2026 08:44AM

Hungry Jack April 27th
Shagwa April 19th

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JimmyJustice

03/07/2026 09:44AM

Shag - May 5th (per DNR)
Hungry Jack - May 9th (per Hungry Jack Outfitters).

If it looks familiar...it is.

Fate whispers to the warrior "You cannot withstand the storm" and the warrior whispers back "I am the storm". Unknown.

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Mislys

03/08/2026 10:26AM

Shag: May 1
HJ: May 10

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Pyemen

03/08/2026 01:07PM

Shag - May 7th
Hungry J - May 11th

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Dreamer

03/08/2026 03:41PM

Shag April 27
Jack May 2

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MikeinMpls

03/08/2026 06:32PM

Shag April 29

HJ May 4

Mike

I did indeed rock down to Electric Avenue, but I did not take it higher. I regret that.

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Z4K

03/08/2026 07:29PM

Shagawa - May 6th
Hungry Jack - May 8th

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LundBehr

03/08/2026 09:33PM

Jack - May 3
Shag -April 30

Behrtrap

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SurlyDude

03/09/2026 11:19AM

Hungry Jack - April 29
Shagawa -April 23

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bioteachk

03/09/2026 11:24AM

Shagawa: 4/21/26
Hungry Jack: 4/30/26

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kgkicker

03/09/2026 11:32AM

Shagawa April 25
Hungry Jack May 3

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Crossfitgeorge

03/09/2026 01:03PM

Hungry Jack - April 15 at 9:30AM
Shagawa - April 28 at 2:00 PM

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RamseyBigSandy

03/10/2026 11:22AM

Shagawa Apr 26
Hungry Jack May 3

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Goby

03/10/2026 01:58PM

Shagawa: April 19

Hungry Jack: April 29

Tight Lines

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Sandman2009

03/10/2026 08:55PM

April 28th Shagawa
May 7th Hungry Jack

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Papa09

03/10/2026 09:29PM

Shag- May 3rd
HJ- May 7th

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grizzlyadams

03/11/2026 08:40AM

Shagawa - April 26, Hungry Jack - May 3

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MississippiDan

03/11/2026 07:50PM

Shagawa - April 19, Hungry Jack - April 27.

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bennojr

03/14/2026 08:17AM

FYI, Yesterday March 13th I dug myself out of about a foot of snow near Isabella. I'm a little surprised nothing was mentioned of it here on the message boards .

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OMGitsKa

03/14/2026 08:45AM

Ice out Hungry Jack East - May 2nd ?
Ice out Shagawa West - April 26th

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gravelroad

03/17/2026 11:31AM

This might knock things back just a bit. If you’re drinking green beer al fresco today in Ely, it might be a “tad” chunky:

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MNMAGS

03/17/2026 07:00PM

Shag- May 1
HJac- May 5

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MooseHorns

03/18/2026 01:07PM

Shag May 2
HJ May 5

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wanderingwendy123

03/18/2026 07:12PM

Shag - 4/13/26
Hi - 4/15/26

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kanood

03/20/2026 09:04AM

Shag - 4/29
HJ - 4/19

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noodle

03/20/2026 04:01PM

Shagawa: April 16th
Hungry Jack: April 26th

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gravelroad

03/21/2026 06:19PM

Shagawa - April 24
Hungry Jack - April 20

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hardwaterhitter

03/22/2026 04:49PM

Shagawa - April 28
Hungry Jack - April 27

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mnsportsmanjr

03/22/2026 07:47PM

HJ April 16th
Shag April 19th

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RadissonNorthwoods

03/23/2026 08:43AM

HJ - 4/9
Shagawa - 4/14

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oldzip

03/23/2026 01:11PM

Shagawa: May 2, 2026.
Hungry Jack May 8, 2026.

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Soledad

03/23/2026 03:37PM

We were still driving on top of 30" of clear ice yesterday. That 50 degree weather on Saturday just knocked down the snow/insulation so more ice could be made.

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Eyegetter

03/24/2026 12:35PM

Shag May 8
Jack May 12

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Ryeman

03/25/2026 12:34PM

Shag 5/12
HJ 5/9

How do you endure O life, not living where you live ....St. John the Cross

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JimmyJustice

03/26/2026 10:00AM

Ice has pulled away from shore on all the local lakes (south suburbs of MSP) and open water on some. Seeing more geese flying overhead so there is open water around. These warm mornings are calling back the song birds which make waking up more enjoyable. Ice out is heading north.

Fate whispers to the warrior "You cannot withstand the storm" and the warrior whispers back "I am the storm". Unknown.

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scat

03/26/2026 01:38PM

April 27th is my bday so I’m voting 4/27 at both locations.

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BonzSF

03/29/2026 10:04PM

Shagawa April 30
Hungry Jack May 6
I actually have no clue so this is just a WAG. But I’m sitting up at Lake Tahoe right now with the snow basically gone and snowboarding done for the season. Bad news for winter sports but good news for some early Sierra Nevada lake camping.
I had to edit Lindetree had the same before me!

"Illegitimi non carborundum"

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TheDustyBadger