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Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Quetico
Provincial Park Bear Sightings
Always check with staff at the
ranger stations before your trip. They will be able to advise
you of the locations of the most recent nuisance bear problems.
Follow their advice. Here is some helpful information about
bear
safety (Honestly it's probably
more than you ever really wanted to know but it's certainly
worth reading if you're interested in these listings.)
More information about black
bears from Lynn L. Rogers
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Recent sightings
| Add Sighting
Bear50 | Bear40
| Bear-30 | Bear-20
| Bear-10
| Name: |
Jim Schneider |
Location: |
BWCA |
| Lake: |
Gun |
| Date |
June
28, 2015 |
| Time: |
Morning |
| Type: |
Campsite Visit |
| Number of people: |
4 |
| Cubs present: |
None |
| Personality: |
Timid |
| Ended when: |
Bear left due to seeing me |
Important
Details: |
We stopped at the campsite near the "trigger" of Gun Lake to cook up a shore brunch. Bear must've smelled our food. Came into camp as we were packing to leave. Saw us, turned and walked back into the trees. Another group reported they too had seen a "persistent" bear at the same location; said they chased it out of camp, it returned, they chased out again. |
| Name: |
PhantomJug |
Location: |
Quetico |
| Lake: |
Beaverhouse |
| Date |
June
5, 2015 |
| Time: |
Morning |
| Type: |
close encounter |
| Number of people: |
4 |
| Cubs present: |
None |
| Personality: |
No answer |
| Ended when: |
No answer |
Important
Details: |
Nuisance bear at parking lot - probably a female but no cubs sighted. |
| Name: |
Gavia |
Location: |
BWCA |
| Lake: |
Disappointment |
| Date |
August
31, 2010 |
| Time: |
Aftrenoon |
| Type: |
Campsite Visit |
| Number of people: |
No answer |
| Cubs present: |
None |
| Personality: |
Timid |
| Ended when: |
Bear left due to loud noises |
Important
Details: |
We're getting ready for a delicious first-night dinner of pita bread pizzas. While the toppings are rehydrating, I head down the shore to find a spot to stash the food pack, leaving Steve in camp. A few minutes later I hear Steve vocalizing with some intensity, though not very loud. I listen a moment and turn around to see what's up. As I approach the campsite I see Steve standing in the kitchen area, and a small black bear standing about 10 feet away from him.The bear is about two feet tall and four feet long, with a black snout. It looks like a burly Newfoundland and I want to just sit and watch it. OK, to tell the truth I want to pet it. But my training kicks in and I raise my arms and yell at it to make it go away. It backs up a few steps and stops, looking our way with its head cocked the way a dog does when spoken to. I have a sense that it's thinking, "Hey, you talkin' to me?" I move toward it, again waving and yelling, and it turns and lopes away toward the woods, but stops at the edge of the campsite. It looks back at me over its right shoulder as if to say, "Are you serious? Do we really have to do this?" I call to Steve to get the camera and a second or two later raise the ante by going into crazy-man mode. I charge the bear, waving wildly and yelling at it in a higher-pitched voice. The poor thing turns and bolts into the woods and we never see sign of it again. Later in the evening we hear from the two young men who are camped on the island site in the south part of the lake. The previous day a sow and two cubs had gotten into their food pack (which was on the ground) and their next day's lunch (which was in their tent). I bite my tongue to keep from complimenting them on how to set the table for bears. This is taken from my trip report:
http://codabone.net/canoeing/bwca/BW1009_1.htm
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| Name: |
Alex Schauer |
Location: |
BWCA |
| Lake: |
Fairy Lake |
| Date |
none
Day, 2008 |
| Time: |
Dusk |
| Type: |
close encounter |
| Number of people: |
4 |
| Cubs present: |
None |
| Personality: |
Persistent |
| Ended when: |
I left due to the bear |
Important
Details: |
We were canoeing past and saw the bear get out of the water onto shore. We initially couldn't make out what it was and thought it could have been a moose since it got out of the water, but when we got closer, the bear peered out from the woods at us. We ended up just canoeing away and continuing our journey, but it didn't seem interested in leaving! |
| Name: |
Mike Kelly |
Location: |
BWCA |
| Lake: |
South Arm Knife Lake |
| Date |
July
3, 2012 |
| Time: |
Aftrenoon |
| Type: |
Distant Sighting |
| Number of people: |
3 |
| Cubs present: |
None |
| Personality: |
Timid |
| Ended when: |
Bear left on it's own |
Important
Details: |
We were sitting on the shore enjoying the late afternoon. A small "teenage" bear swam across the channel quite close to us. That bear jumped out of the water and went into the woods onto an island very quickly. A short time later we looked to our left and saw something really large swimming across the channel toward the island. We saw a black body when the animal turned in the water. We concluded that it, too, was a bear. Two bears going in the same direction. |
| Name: |
redcedarcanoe |
Location: |
BWCA |
| Lake: |
Knife Lake |
| Date |
September
14, 2011 |
| Time: |
Evening |
| Type: |
Campsite Visit |
| Number of people: |
2 |
| Cubs present: |
Yes, 3 cubs were present |
| Personality: |
Persistent |
| Ended when: |
Bear left on it's own |
Important
Details: |
Middle campsite on the north shore of the South Arm of Knife Lake. Mother showed 3 cubs how to get the foodpack out of the tree. Food was in barrel and she could not get to it so she left. Video available here: http://youtu.be/XLYbXXIbUX0 |
| Name: |
Ron |
Location: |
BWCA |
| Lake: |
Bonnie lake/South arm |
| Date |
September
2, 2011 |
| Time: |
Aftrenoon |
| Type: |
Campsite Feeding |
| Number of people: |
4 |
| Cubs present: |
Yes, 3 cubs were present |
| Personality: |
Persistent |
| Ended when: |
Bear left due to loud noises |
Important
Details: |
|
| Name: |
Ron |
Location: |
BWCA |
| Lake: |
South Arm/Bonnie Lake |
| Date |
August
2, 2012 |
| Time: |
Aftrenoon |
| Type: |
Campsite Feeding |
| Number of people: |
4 |
| Cubs present: |
Yes, 3 cubs were present |
| Personality: |
Persistent |
| Ended when: |
Bear left with foodpack |
Important
Details: |
We were located just west of the Bonnie Lake portage on South Arm. This is a big momma bear with 3 cubs. She is probably around 400 pounds. She came into camp, stole the pack, and ran into the woods with it. She then ripped it open and gave the food to her cubs. The cubs ran off but the momma stayed. She didn't run away with yelling, pots/pans and airhorns. We eventually chased her off with banging paddles and that is when we saw the cubs. I would not have chased her off if I knew there were cubs. We got half our food back and no one got hurt. Use extreme caution on the South shore just west of the Bonnie lake portage. There were multiple groups who had run-ins with bears during our trip. |
| Name: |
nicek |
Location: |
BWCA |
| Lake: |
ahsub |
| Date |
June
11, 2010 |
| Time: |
Evening |
| Type: |
Campsite Feeding |
| Number of people: |
2 |
| Cubs present: |
None |
| Personality: |
Timid |
| Ended when: |
Bear left due to seeing me |
Important
Details: |
Bear got into our food pack. Sliced the rope and ate it all. It was our last night so we left the site. |
| Name: |
Stephen Roche |
Location: |
BWCA |
| Lake: |
Knife |
| Date |
August
8, 2010 |
| Time: |
Morning |
| Type: |
Distant Sighting |
| Number of people: |
No answer |
| Cubs present: |
Yes, 2 cubs were present |
| Personality: |
Unknown |
| Ended when: |
Bear left on it's own |
Important
Details: |
We were fishing on Knife Lake in a bay about 2 miles SW of Amoeber Lake. Looking towards a burn downed area a half mile away I saw a sow with two cubs walking along the very top of the ridge. It was a high elevation and easy to see. Quite a thrill on a bright sunny morning! |
| Name: |
Arrowhead Paddler |
Location: |
BWCA |
| Lake: |
South Arm Knife Lake |
| Date |
May
21, 2010 |
| Time: |
Night |
| Type: |
Campsite Visit |
| Number of people: |
Over 8 |
| Cubs present: |
None |
| Personality: |
Aggressive and Persistent |
| Ended when: |
I left due to the bear |
Important
Details: |
I did not see this bear but three separate parties that we encountered on our way to Knife Lake reported their experiences with this bear. It raided the campsites on the large island on the eastern end of the South Arm of Knife. It was large and agressive, bluff charging one member of the parties. The only solution for all parties was to leave the campsite, two in the middle of the night. We camped just to the west of Thunder Point and did not have any visits. |
| Name: |
Phil |
Location: |
BWCA |
| Lake: |
Lake Polly |
| Date |
September
13, 2008 |
| Time: |
Morning |
| Type: |
Portage Encounter |
| Number of people: |
2 |
| Cubs present: |
None |
| Personality: |
Timid |
| Ended when: |
Bear left due to loud noises |
Important
Details: |
What a great encounter! Especially because it was my very 1st time seeing a real bear in the wild. Were just finishing up doing a relatively long portage coming south out from Lake Polly. Was putting canoe in the water with food pack and backpacks leaning on a log about 10 yards behind us. Big! (400+ lbs) black bear approached while my back was turned and I suspect was trying to probably sneak in and snatch and grab our food pack. After placing canoe in the water I turned around and found myself face-to-face (within 10 feet) with a black bear ... said "holy crap ... look Chris a bear" (Chris was my canoe partner) ... raised my arms high in the air and roared as loudly as possible ... bear promptly spun around and tore out of there into the woods. We finished packing up the canoe and shoved off from shore and paddled out about 15 yards off shore. Whipped out the camera and not 30 seconds later the bear did not disappoint and came walking right down the portage trail towards shore to see if we had left some scraps. Got some great close-up photos using DSLR and telephoto lens. Great experience! Not scary at all! |
| Name: |
Scott Ropp |
Location: |
BWCA |
| Lake: |
Grace Lake |
| Date |
August 12, 2007 |
| Time: |
Aftrenoon |
| Type: |
close encounter |
| Number of people: |
2 |
| Cubs present: |
Yes, 2 cubs were present
|
| Personality: |
Timid |
| Ended when: |
Bear left due to loud noises
|
Important
Details: |
Saw bears from camp on western side of Grace Lake. Saw
mama first--she was on the tip of the island situated about 30
yards across from our camp. She was very large--maybe 400-500
lbs. She made a short growl-bark at me. I yelled at it to go away.
It didn’t listen to me. My wife picked up a pot and spatula and
banged them together a few times. The bear promptly turned and
disappeared into the woods behind it.
Very nervous, I kept an eye on the island for the next 10 minutes,
hoping to see the bear swim from the island to the shore, moving
away from our camp. Sure enough, that is exactly what I saw—this
big bear head moving across the surface of the lake heading
toward our shore, but about a quarter of a mile down. Then,
about 30 seconds later, we see a second, smaller bear head moving
across the lake. Then another 30 seconds later, we saw a third
little bear swim across. We watched them until they disappeared
into the woods. They were definitely heading away from our camp.
|
| Name: |
Robbster |
Location: |
BWCA |
| Lake: |
Kawashachong |
| Date |
July 18, 2001 |
| Time: |
Dusk |
| Type: |
Campsite Feeding |
| Number of people: |
4 |
| Cubs present: |
None |
| Personality: |
Aggressive and Persistent
|
| Ended when: |
Bear left due to flying rocks
|
Important
Details: |
We just finished eating dinner and heard rustling near
the food pack. Me and my dad ran to the pack to find it in a bears
mouth, but still tied to a rope. My dad pulled on the rope literally
having a tug-of -war with the bear and the food pack ripped in
half. The bear took its loot (a loaf of bread) about 10 feet away
and sat down to eat it. While my dad grabbed another pack to put
the remaining food into before hanging it, I ran at the bear to
try to scare it away. The bear bluff charged. I ran at the bear
again and it bluff charged again. I yelled to my nephews to gather
rocks and I threw rocks at the bear even hitting it in the head.
The bear appeared to leave but circled back up the shoreline back
to the camp. We all ran toward the bear yelling and it finally
left. Two days later another camper on the same lake reported
the bear was climbing a tree attempting to get his food pack.
He too was able to chase the bear away. |
| Name: |
Pern Otter |
Location: |
Quetico |
| Lake: |
Sly lake |
| Date |
July 12, 2007 |
| Time: |
Aftrenoon |
| Type: |
Portage Encounter |
| Number of people: |
Solo |
| Cubs present: |
No answer |
| Personality: |
Timid |
| Ended when: |
Bear left due to seeing me
|
Important
Details: |
Was jogging along trail frm beaverhouse to sly lake about
right at the end of the trail I met a young black bear it ran
away
when I ran away.Anyways went back the next day to check it must
hang around sly lake area cause theres no traces of it around
beaverhouse camp.It's a pretty shy young bear I don't think it's
dangerous. |
| Name: |
Two Flies |
Location: |
BWCA |
| Lake: |
Burnt Lake |
| Date |
May 11, 2007 |
| Time: |
Morning |
| Type: |
Distant Sighting |
| Number of people: |
Solo |
| Cubs present: |
None |
| Personality: |
Timid |
| Ended when: |
Bear left due to seeing me
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Important
Details: |
While on the portage from Burnt to Kelly Lake saw a cinnamon
bear in a bog area about 50 yards from the portage. It left when
it saw me before I could get my camera out of my pocket. |
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