I've backpacked a lot in bear country, but not done so much canoe camping. I have watched the video with a woman whining at a bear to stop breaking her kayak... have any of you had bears show any or much curiosity in your canoe? How about an inflatable? And no, I don't cover my boat in cookie crumbles.
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Happy National Zipper Day (pat. 1913)! 🤐
Bears while canoe camping
- Thread starter Pringles
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We were warned that brown bears in Alaska are like two year olds
curious about everything and a paddle craft to them is a new toy
otherwise in 55 years. Nada
curious about everything and a paddle craft to them is a new toy
otherwise in 55 years. Nada
Had a grizzly bite a plastic Old Town in the Tetons years back, but the tooth marks didn't go all the way through. They have a tendency to bite plastic stuff, e.g. plastic gas cans.
50+ years in the BWCA and only had a few of bears in camp. None ever took a second look at or touched any watercraft.
My snoring keeps most critters away! Never had a problem with bears!
Don't leave stuff right along the shoreline, bears like to patrol by the water looking for food and will play with stuff they find.
never knowingly had a bear in camp yet, moose yes, caribou yes, but bear no.
never knowingly had a bear in camp yet, moose yes, caribou yes, but bear no.
On the Yukon 1000 mile canoe race we saw many bears along the shore. For our mandatory "nighly" rest stops, we would always completely empty the canoe of all gear, to be less tempting for a heavy bear to want to walk in the canoe or to do other damage.
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Up here bears are every where an d we usually see them on trips, black and grizzly. Never had a problem of bears chewing on stuff, bear in camp yes, but never made it to the chewable... I have friend that after being evacuated from a river in flood, when they returned to retrieve there canoe one of the canoe was destroyed by a grizzly... that is not uncommon. As for inflatable like rafts, CO's highly suggest to use electric fence around the raft to protect it from bears... I guess they like rubber toys!!
Interesting answers. I will be in the Tetons. Watching that video made me realize that this was a possibility. I can see the movie now--Shipwrecked by a Bear--in Technicolor, no less. I shall haul my boat up from the waterline!
I have to admit, that while backpacking I have great concern about bears, especially grizzlies, it's the buffalo that have caused problems.
Thanks for the answers!
I have to admit, that while backpacking I have great concern about bears, especially grizzlies, it's the buffalo that have caused problems.
Thanks for the answers!
The canoe in the Tetons was up from the waterline, in the bushes, but we were out for 5 days. But grizzlies are a lot more common there now.
Buffalo and moose. Two of the critters I most worry about
I few years ago I half woke up one night in my tent next to my son and thought I heard something right outside the tent. We were paddling the Fon Du Lac and Waterfound rivers in northern Saskatchewan. I dismissed the noise and went back to sleep. My Swift Dumoine was upside down with all our food under it as there were not any trees tall enough to hang food. In the morning we broke camp after breakfast and headed down river. It was not long at all before I told my son I thought there was a leak in our canoe because I was continually using my sponge to soak up water and wring it out over the gunwale. This made no sense to me because the day before it was fine. We pulled over and quickly found two holes on either side of the stem that were from the canines of a bear. That was a bear right on the other side of the nylon next to my head the night before! Apparently he had bit a hole through the stem of our Dumoine. We quickly made repairs and got back on the river, but I didn't sleep quite as well the rest of the trip. We saw one other black bear that trip which was relatively easy to scare out of camp. Here's pic of the two of us (sorry for poor quality, it is a photo of a photo). You can see the duct tape we put over the patch in the bow.
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The first official sign of Spring is a bear thread.
That's a great picture Larry, along with a good story to accompany it. I guess I'm glad to be bringing Spring along. I certainly have cabin fever. The stories are showing me that my concerns aren't totally moot. I guess that means that when I get back, I have to post a trip report with pictures. 
Lions and tigers and otters, oh my.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/enviro...e-river-This-is-one-renegade-otter-_166147853
http://www.tampabay.com/news/enviro...e-river-This-is-one-renegade-otter-_166147853
One bad idea is to leave caught fish in the bottom of the boat, specially if the canoe is w/c or wood. I know of 2 different occasions where bears smashed through the the bottoms of the overturned canoes trying to figure out where the fish were.
Gerald
Gerald
That's a big bear track. Any chance it was a polar bear? (I'll readily admit I know very little about Manitoba, but I'm quite sure there are no grizzlies...right? )
