Bear Alert! (Lincoln Woods)

This is not as bad as it sounds. Sunday morning I was on the Pemi Eastside Tr. heading into Pemi for a couple days. I ran into a ranger who was heading back. He told me there been reports of a bear getting into backcountry campers food stores in tree hangs in the area of Still Water Junction and the Thoreau Falls Tr. bridge. He was in there checking it out and ran into 2 guys who confirmed this saying one was at their stash, (in a tree) and no detering from them could get it to stop. The ranger found prints in both areas that were 4" across making this a pretty smart, young bear. No reports of it bothing people or coming into camp. So if your planning on backpacking those areas be extra careful of how and where you hang your food.

I did say to him the the example you guys show at the ranger station at LinWood with the one bag hanging and the rope tied to the tree low is not so good. I read a long time ago that a bear will quickly figure out that the rope goes to the bag and will get it down. He did agree that, that was probably a bad example.

When ever possible this is what I do and did not have a problem Sunday night. I was about 3 miles from said area.

If you hang it, they will come

Bears are playing the rope-a-dope game all over the country. Here's an example from Minnesota in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, in which three cubs of the year get an early lesson in foraging: Black Bear Encounter on Knife Lake.

JustJoe said:

When ever possible this is what I do and did not have a problem Sunday night. I was about 3 miles from said area.

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Looks to me like a bear could walk or climb out on the log and break it off or knock it down.

Doug

DougPaul said:

Looks to me like a bear could walk or climb out on the log and break it off or knock it down.

Doug

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Nothings fool proof. But that's definitely not large enough to support it's weight, yet strong enough that it would be tough to break. The only way would be for it to stand on the rocks close to shore and tug. Plus my thinking is (and this is just me) they won't risk falling in the river. Like I said nothing is fool proof. And if their starving, there's a good meal at ground level in that tent looking thing.

When the "brutus gang" was active in the Pemi, that setup might not have survived but then again there were so many other easy pickings that they may have ignored it.

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Looks like a fishing poll and your trolling for bears.

If you had one of those trail cameras you might get some interesting shots?

Little Rickie said:

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Looks like a fishing poll and your trolling for bears.

If you had one of those trail cameras you might get some interesting shots?[/QUOTE]

JustJoe said:

Nothings fool proof. But that's definitely not large enough to support it's weight, yet strong enough that it would be tough to break. The only way would be for it to stand on the rocks close to shore and tug. Plus my thinking is (and this is just me) they won't risk falling in the river. Like I said nothing is fool proof. And if their starving, there's a good meal at ground level in that tent looking thing.

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Agreed...sometimes you have to work with what you've got. Can required Bear canisters be far off for the Pemi. I hope not..those things are such a pain to pack. It's too bad that the company whom was developing a Kevlar Bag got cut short when the Iraq War started. Every time I've used a Bear Canister I feel like I'm might as well be packing a Bowling Ball.

Are you talking about the Ursack? I don't think it's made from kevlar, but it is a soft-sided bear-resistant bag.

I own the Ursack Minor, which is designed to keep out mice and squirrels instead of bears, and hang it when I see bear signs or am in an area with known bear activity. Haven't had any food stolen out of it yet. I did have a dry compression bag get chewed open at Cooper Brook in the 100-Mile wilderness, even though it was hanged (luckily with no signs of compromised food), an event which inspired this purchase.

Chris

skiguy said:

It's too bad that the company whom was developing a Kevlar Bag got cut short when the Iraq War started...

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That would be the Ursack. They did have a production slowdown at that time, but they are still going strong. I have used one for about ten years. Love it for the WMNF, as I don't have good luck finding branches to hang a legit bear bag. Mine hasn't been tested in the field though (they also include a vapor proof liner which I use with it regularly). The material they now use is Spectra. It is an improved fiber from Kevlar.