one of the places i canoe is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Northern Minnesota.%80 of my trips are solo.in 25 years i have seen maybe 3 bears and one was on the dirt road on the way to the outfitters bunkhouse.all you read about on the BW forums is BEARS!!!..but no one has every had a problem bear outside a well used campsite near the trail head--or in the case of canoes the landings..none on the portage carrys,in the woods bushwhacking to a remote lake--so on.Bill Mason of canoe fame in Canada said you seldom see large animals in the forest.think hunters, all the work they do to even find something and get close for a shot.having said that--i keep a pepper spray out in the camp and a small one in my pocket on the portages as a security blanket.just my luck i would be the 1 in a 10,000 to get dragged off by a nutzy bear.



HELLO--hello!!!..anyone down there??..hello?