That gas bottle in the thread I linked to was bitten on an island. On the mainland, they have someplace to go. On an island, one could surmise that they may want to make their trip worthwhile.

The three encounters that were easily dealt with were on mainland. The island bear just wouldn't give up and so finally chased me off. I went to the nearest mainland to repack and have breakfast. I barely had the stove out and I look over at the island and that darn bear was getting in the water. He headed right towards me. So I pack up again, added a few nice throwing rocks and went out to greet him. He never changed direction so I moved a stones throw out of his path. I don't remember if I connected with any rocks but after he got out and shook off he looked back at me, made some sort of exasperated guttural sound, turned and ran into the woods. I assumed he was back on the trail of that cow and calf. I hope I made an impression on him.

Moose calve on little islands presumably to avoid bears but the blueberries aren't ripe yet that time of year. I was once told that Eden island (Quetico lake) Was about large enough to support a bear. One with cubs would need to supplement their diet with camper's food.

In any case if someone were to ask me where to camp based on minimizing unknown bear problems, I'd vote mainland over island any day.