I've seen a good number in the Q. Last year I ran into one on the portage between Basswood and unnamed on the way to Kett- big male. We saw each other at about the same time from about thirty feet. He stopped, s and I stopped (carrying pack), he stood up for a look and then he started walking again, like we were just going to brush past each other on the portage. I said "Yo! I'm a guy! (as opposed to another animal) and he ran off for another 30 feet before getting on his hind legs again to check. I said "Really, I'm a guy" and he ledt for good.

This year on the portage between Kett and unnamed, I was closing on unnamed with my pack and heard a noisy squirrel in tree branches just off the trail- too much noise and looked up to see the silhouette of a cub in a tree- turned for a better look just as the thought "cub what about mom?" pinged there was big brush rustling, huffing, jaw clicks and a sort of woofing. I did not look for mom and sort of rushed to the end of the portage. I returned (cautiously) with the camera but they were gone.

Great stories, keep them coming. A bear grabbing a pack out of a canoe seems a bit unnerving.

As far as wolves, I regret to say I haven't seen one of those in the park either. Have heard them. Saw one on the road outside Ely.

And was about third in line carrying on the portage from Olifaunt to Fern one year when the lead guy came around the corner and startled a wolf standing in the middle of the trail. He said it growled or snarled at him and then took off.

-- kypaddler

I've only seen one bear while canoe tripping. It was my first trip in 1983 while with my girlfriend, now wife. We entered at Homer Lake off the Gunflint.  On a portage I remember running into two guys coming out saying they had a bear in camp. Apparently I didn't heed the warning and we continued before setting up our camp on Juno Lake.

I remember it was extremely calm and quiet that evening. The kind of quiet where you just hear a hum. I thought it was amazing really. Until...... Until we started hearing branches snapping across the lake. Something was out there and freaking us greenhorns out.

I had hung our duffle food pack from a "bear bar". This was a pole constructed between trees by the FS. I assumed I was good to go.

Just after dark from our tent I hear our Grumman canoe start rocking around on the beach. I rush out and shine a light on the backside of a very large bear. I banged pots and pans which did nothing. The big Bear just took its sweet time going through the campsite and even standing up to sniff our dish towel hanging from a branch. I also remember it ripping open a junk log by the fireplace and licking grubs or ants from inside.

It did come within 10 feet of the tent but definitely didn't like my light in its eyes and turned around and eventually went up the trail where our food was. By now my girlfriend was petrified and crying and my heart was pounding out of my chest.
About 20 minutes went by and we thought we were good. Soon we heard a loud crash from the woods. We knew what that meant but I wasn't going to challenge it for our food.

The next morning we surveyed the damage. Everything was ripped apart right there. There was no trace of a large lexan jar of peanut butter. Apparently it consumed the plastic too. Two fuel bottles in the bag (don't ask...) were bitten into and punctured. Only our coffee survived although it was a little gooey from where the bear's tongue sampled it.

So that was it for our week. We were now done and paddled out through Brulé Lake in dangerous winds at our back. On an empty stomach I ran back to my Jeep then packed up to spend the week at the Grand Marais campground. And that's the story of my first ever BW trip.

My introduction to Canoe Country in 2001 included a stay at the Northern island site at Big Current in Crooked. Our first morning there we went fishing when, about 7:30, a couple paddled by with all their stuff just thrown in the canoe. In a high squeely voice the female proceeded to describe how a bear terrorized their camp during the night. Haha we thought. Upon returning to our camp where we had secured our food pack about 10 feet up a jack pine, guess what. The bear must have heard us and bolted. The food pack was at the bottom of the tree with the top just about ripped off but nothing missing. Being much smarter than a bear I re-hung the pack on a branch about 5' out from the trunk. Went fishing then returning to camp, uh oh. We found a sow and cub feasting behind camp where we had noticed a large accumulation of trash earlier. Threw rocks and yelled but the damage had been done. Believe it or not we stayed another day. Caught fish and took them to a tiny island in Canada, upon returning to retrieve our breakfast the next morning we found nothing but fish lips on the stringer. I have returned to CC every year since! Quetico bears are much easier to deal with.

kypaddler,
The next encounter was in 2007. My wife and I were on a site on Woodside. It was 2pm on a nice August day.and we were just hanging around camp when a pack of wolves started going nuts on the south side of the lake. I glanced to the north and there is a huge head swimming directly to the wolves. After crossing about 1/4 mile he hit an island on a dead run and dove off the other side. All my trips are in August if that means anything.
Here is a link to my last encounter in 2014. We were trolling down Gardner Bay when we heard a huge ROAR from the west shore. Then this (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)
I have seen the northern lights the same number of times fwiw.
This was my 16th trip, 14 of those in Q, all trips are 10-12 days.