starwatcher wrote on Mar 13^th, 2011 at 7:49pm:

We mainly hang the packs to keep the mice out of the packs.

Yes Starwatcher, as many of us know it isn't just bears we have to worry about. From thieving camp foxes at Isle Royale to chipmunks and mice just about everywhere else.

3 or 4 years ago we were in Algonquin in Oct (just spectacular) and we were on Tim lake doing a little lake trout trolling. We were making a pass near our island campsite and my partner commented on all the crows that seemed near our site. Sure enough they had drug several packages of granola/blueberries and milk out of a pack I had left open and had a field day. Fortunately we had plenty of grub but I was pretty surprised at them hopping inside a pack to pull out the foil packs and then pecking them open.

A few tidbits of advice on stashing. Avoid the lakeshore. A natural travel way for any animal including bears. Try and stash low keeping in mind that cool air sinks. If you stash on a hill by midnight or so the cool sinking air is likely to carry any scent downward.

You MUST be able to find your stashed food. Don't laugh! It's easier to forget where you stashed it than you think. Get tired, wander into the woods a little ways and slip it in a little hollowed out spot under some blowdown and by morning you might be a little forgetful. I "mark" my spot with a reflective runners strip. It's bright and reflective (in case I want to find my food in the dark) and is easy to velcro it to a limb above your food. I do suggest this procedure.

Lastly, if you stash you must be very particular with odors. One slip up and you can get hit. I got careless on Sawbill our last night out 20 minutes from the truck. High use area, very habituated bears and a snickers bar tossed in my food pack without any zip-lock protection. It was something to hear that bear crashing through the brush to get to my food pack. I had a false sense of security as I had a motion detector alarm with piercing siren and flashing strobe light. I figured any critter in its right mind would split when that thing went off. I couldn't of been more wrong. It deterred the bear for about 3 seconds. Just a slight pause and then rip, rip, munch, munch :P.