Bear Stories

Bear Stories
Melvyn D. Magree
Originally published in
Northland Reader
Now the Reader Weekly
September 30, 1999

I've observed bears on County Highway 4 south of Gnesen, the Sawbill Trail, and on our property in Brimson.  On Highway 4 we saw a bear just slipping into the woods next to someone's front yard.  On the Sawbill Trail we saw a bear slipping into the brush.  This sighting was significant because we were with my sister-in-law and husband who had never seen a bear up close.  We couldn't have planned that sighting better.  On our own property we often see gouged out marks on our trails, especially in grassy sections, where a bear has been looking for grubs or other buried delicacies.

The first time that I encountered a bear was driving up the Gunflint Trail to canoe out of Seagull Lake.  In this case the bear was ambling down the road.  I had to stop and wait for the bear to get off the road.  I thought of tales about bears breaking car windows to get at candy bars in the glove compartment.

A few years ago we were awakened about five in the morning by a banging outside our cabin in Brimson.  I thought it might be a raccoon clambering around the aluminum ladder we have lying behind the cabin.  After the banging repeated a few times I got up to look out a window.  I saw a big black back.  I jumped into my pants and boots, grabbed the camera, and went out the front door hoping to get a picture as the bear came around the cabin.  I was too slow; it had already left.

The most exciting encounter was fourteen years ago on our last Boundary Waters canoe trip together, our 25th anniversary celebration.  We were at our farthest point in - Knife Lake.  We had just finished breakfast; my wife was cleaning up the dishes, and I went up the hill to the latrine.  As I came back down the hill, my wife looked to the shrubs on her left and said, "There is an animal in there!"  She continued, "There is a large animal in there!"  And then she said, "There is a bear in there!"  She backed away to her right toward our tent.  Then she went back and grabbed our food pack.  I went to the tent and grabbed my camera.  Meanwhile the bear busied itself around the fireplace looking for scraps.

Standing about 25 feet from the bear I pushed and pulled the lens of the camera until I was satisfied the picture was right.  How I did this I don't know, my knees were knocking enough to cause bruises.  I clicked off a couple of pictures and then thought about an escape plan.

I told my wife to take the food pack down to the shore and that I would push the canoe out and meet her.  I went to the canoe and banged on it with a paddle, hoping to scare the bear away.  The bear merely raised its head, looked at me, and then went back to its search for food.

I turned the canoe over, pushed it out into the water, hopped in, and paddled downshore to pick up my wife.  We paddled out from shore about 200 feet and wondered if the bear would swim after us.  After ten minutes or so, the bear wandered off and we returned to our campsite.  With visions of a shredded tent and scattered belongings we were relieved to find everything intact.

Later that day we talked to a group about a half mile away.  They weren't so lucky.  They had several items of food broken into and scattered.

When we returned home I had the film developed.  When we looked at the bear slides it was Fuzzy Wuzzy was fuzzy, wasn't  he!  You push and pull a telescopic lens to frame your shot; you twist any lens to focus!