Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: BWCA Food and Recipes :: Bears?
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Frenchy19 |
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inspector13 |
I'm thinking someone was trying to move the Summer Sausage thread from the Trip Planning Forum and got this one instead. |
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butthead |
Bear is excellent venison, making fantastic roasts. Just not worth messing with on a canoe trip. butthead |
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DrBobDg |
I also take a CCS cooler pack.....gonna be sad when that thing get shredded.... so far so good.... dr bob |
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paddlinjoe |
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Captn Tony |
Keep a clean camp, put all food and stinky stuff (tooth paste, booze, deodorant, etc.) in the bear barrel. No food of any kind in the tent ever. |
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bobbernumber3 |
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voyager |
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blutofish1 |
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old_salt |
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Bannock |
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QueticoMike |
"What do we do if a bear comes into our camp?" The question was posed by my partner, Bo Roberts, a Quetico rookie voyageur. The inquiry was sparked from the three canoes gliding down the waterway connecting Russell Lake with the Sturgeon Narrows. These were the same three I expected earlier would nab the small island campsite, located at the mouth, running into the narrows. They began yelling, "Can you tell us where the closest campsite is located? We were just run off of our last one by a bear." I retrieved my maps from the tent and told them about the campsites across the narrows. They thanked me and traveled on. As the canoes departed, Bo asked the infamous "Bear in our Camp" question. He was set to pack up and retreat. Looking back now, it would have been a good idea. I went on to explain that if confronted by a black bear, we will need to create as much noise as possible to scare it off. Bang pots and pans together or other metal objects. I have even heard of beating on the canoe. A loud whistle, yelling or screaming work as well. If we keep a clean camp and hang the food pack, everything should be fine. I initiated my search for a sturdy limb, one about twelve feet off the ground. I needed one that could support our ninety pound anchor...,I mean food pack, which contained all our staples for the remaining nine days of adventure. There was not much of a selection to chose from on such a small island. I did manage to locate one with the correct height, but the distant end of the limb was not strong enough. The rope slipped closer to the trunk as the pack was hoisted to its resting spot for the evening. I decided that would have to do. After the fresh walleye had been gobbled down, the food pack hung and the camp clean, it was time to fish again. Bo angled off the front of the island, while I tested my luck in the back. No more than ten minutes had passed, when I glanced up the waterway to behold a black bear with a snout pointed in our direction. I shouted out to Bo, "BEAR!". I scrambled to gather the personal gear situated around the fire ring. We jumped into the Kevlar craft and paddled about ten yards off shore. Wanting to keep an eagle's eye watch of the food pack, I positioned us transversely from it. The food pack had the appearance of a mammoth piece of green cheese in a mouse trap, anticipating the arrival of a three hundred pound black mouse. A few anxious minutes went by until we heard the snapping of limbs echoing from the tall timbers. The bear's keen sense of smell had lured him to the destitute slab of granite adjacent to the island. Neither Bo nor I had ever been this close to a bear and we marveled at the majestic site of the bruin. This intrigue would soon turn to terror. The intruder, on a mission, looked to the right and moved left, portraying a football player determined to locate an opening in the line. He slipped out of our sights to the opposite side. We maneuvered the canoe around in an attempt to head him off before crossing over. When we arrived at the other side, he was already swimming. I began yelling and banging the paddle on the canoe. Bo followed with the same procedure. The bear turned back to the mainland. Being the crafty devil he was, the bear prowled to the back side of the island, out of sight again. We bolted back around, only to discover the nuisance was missing. One of two circumstances had taken place. He either high-tailed it back into the pines or was on the campsite (I bet you can guess where he was). Scraping noises protruding from camp filled the air. I spied the beast and he in turn the food pack. Within moments the bruin scaled the jack-pine and was knocking the pack around, resembling a kitten and a ball of yarn. My yelling rapidly transformed into screams, as the bear paws were shredding the outer surface of the pack. It must have startled him because he descended from the pack attack. This did not last long though, as he concluded we were not a threat and straddled the tree once again. This trip up, perseverance paid off, the black bear managed to pull out the garbage bag. Being content with the prize, he dropped down to earth. While the garbage was being disposed of in the trash compacting bear, I began looking for a distraction. With a mighty thrust of our paddles we shot towards the shoreline which was littered with rocks. Bo filled the newly converted gravel truck. We paddled back in range of our unexpected dinner guest and started firing. The second rock catapulted by my partner nailed him in the ribs. He glanced over and then continued to eat. We bombarded the menace until he decided this snack was not worth the trouble. Bo sprang from the canoe and sliced down the pack. We proceeded to tear down and pack up the camp in minutes. I didn't even disassemble the tent, just pulled the stakes and piled it upon the gear already thrown in our Kevlar craft. It was close to midnight when we found our next campsite. The new site was on Blueberry Island. What do those bears usually eat other than food packs? My travels have brought me through Quetico many times without an incident with a black bear. Bear encounters only occur to those wilderness visitors who are careless and are reluctant to keep a clean camp. I carried the notion of bear problems only happen to the other guy. I wrote this for people to understand, that on their next trip, they may be the other guy. Do not be naive of the black bear's craftiness. Hang your pack and hang it right! |
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nooneuno |
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I-Hawk |
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mvillasuso |
I worry about falls. (Precipitation, myself, and trees, in that order) |
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mjmkjun |
As an aside, last June I traveled to Kenai Peninsula in Alaska and observed good share of bear sightings. I didn't get nervous about 'em till was hiking with LindenTree thru brush lined hiking trails. Following HIM made me jumpy. ;-) |
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2NDpaddlers |
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anthonyp007 |
Cliff on Bears The bear part is a few minutes in... 2:20 mark. Tony |
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SevenofNine |
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OtherBob |
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Bannock |
However, just outside the BWCA I have seen many - at the campgrounds, roads, and cabins. If you want to see a bear, go to the campgrounds on the fringes! ? |
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cyclones30 |
First trip was in....2003 or so. |
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walllee |
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Jaywalker |
About a quarter million people enter the BWCA every year. The vast majority have no encounter with bears, and most of the few who do are simple sightings. A rare few have their pick nick baskets stolen. The drive too and from the BWCA is statistically far, far more of a concern. |
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AdamXChicago |
Keep a clean campsite and you’ll likely be fine. And keep a camera ready, just in case ;-) |
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boonie |
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Rustycards |
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OldTripper |
That's it. But, I've had a couple different packs chewed on by mice or squirrels. Those are the real nuisance! |
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pswith5 |
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OldFingers57 |
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ducks |
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missmolly |
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Savage Voyageur |
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mastertangler |
We had another encounter of a more serious situation in Algonquin where a bear batted various bags about looking for food and went around the tent sniffing, the only time when my hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. That was a very heightened predicament. I spent that night sleeping with a hatchet draped across my chest. Both happened at night. it can happen...........make absolutely sure she understands that a bears world is its nose. No food in the tent and that includes empty candy bar wrappers. Do not sleep in clothing you cooked in.........dedicated sleeping clothing is best. No perfumes, ointments, etc. Anything which arouses their curiosity via scent. Most of the time a bear will go through your camp with big padded feet looking for food and you will never know they were there. A mouse, on the other hand, will usually wake you up ;-) |
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Frenchy19 |
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Ausable |
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sylvesterii |
Proper camp procedures will certainly help, as will choosing your campsite wisely. While technically not impossible for a bear to end up there, a small island site would be a good choice to further reduce the chance of an "encounter." |
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johndku |
My only concession, usually tripping with young kids, is to make sure we constantly talk or make some noise on portages, so we don't come around a corner and surprise one. |
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mastertangler |
Savage Voyageur: "For me I have seen one small bear in over 50 trips. Black Bears are not a worry, it’s the mini bears that are a problem, (mice and chipmunks). " Bears are like anything else, they are not a problem............ until they are. You might have a bit of a different perspective SV had you been in the tent with me on a small island on Timberwolf lake deep in the interior of Algonquin. When a bear is making deep snuffling sounds only inches from your forearm with just a thin wall of nylon between you things change at that point. The experience is forever cemented into your noggin. |
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thlipsis29 |
One long-time member of this board (kanoes, who unfortunately has passed away) had an incident with a bear on a portage that did some serious damage to one of his packs if I remember correctly. And there are pictures in different threads as to how "unbearproof" the blue food barrels can be. But if you keep a clean camp and follow the guidelines, that will substantially reduce the likelihood of having any issues with bears. |
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TominMpls |
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andym |
Bears are a big fear for people and there can be rare problems. We carry pepper spray just in case we are faced with one of those rare problems. We started carrying the larger bear canisters but switched to smaller, more convenient dog spray canisters so that it was more likely to have one in our pocket or on a belt. |
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mapsguy1955 |
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Lightfoot |
So, bear not a problem, but pay close attention to the video when they say do not put trash in the latrine. |
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bct |
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Tyler W |
Relax. You are more likely to hurt yourself tripping on a portage, getting a fish hook in your hand or doing something dumb with a hatchet. With a bear the worst case scenario is you have to watch it eat all your food and you leave early. It won't attack you. I've never heard of one coming in a tent. Chasing one out of your camp is quite the adrenaline rush. After that you feel invincible! |
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geotramper |
TominMpls: "Re "clean camp", remember that it doesn't matter how clean you keep your camp if the groups before you dumped bacon grease on the grate and habituated the animals to where humans have food." This is an oft-overlooked point that really can't be stressed enough. That's why I like that these threads come up a couple times a year -- helps advertise bear awareness and good practices. |
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DrBobDg |
Lightfoot: "2017 was our 31st year of trips to the BWCA. Over those 31 years, we've seen 4 bears. 1 was swimming across a small bay, 2 along the shore as we were paddling, and 1 kinda, sorta in camp. The previous occupants of our site had dump their garbage in the latrine. The first morning at that site, on the first trip back to the latrine, we saw a bear exit the latrine. It had removed the fiberglass structure and went in after the trash. We replaced the latrine and stayed there another night and never saw the bear again. Truly takes a moron like that to do something like that. dr bob |
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egknuti |
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