BWCA Poll....Food Bags /Hide or Hang? Boundary Waters Listening Point

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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum

Listening Point - General Discussion

Poll....Food Bags /Hide or Hang?

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ChippewaCanoe

03/05/2009 09:50PM

Cliff Jacobson will tell us at Canoecopia that we are better off hiding our food bags in different locations each night instead of hanging them from a tree....What do you do? Hide or Hang? And why?

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tworke

03/05/2009 10:00PM

Hang! other critters can find it on the ground too.

That tree looks familiar?!

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HighPlainsDrifter

03/05/2009 10:00PM

Will do both

At camp: We will hang. I do not have my food in a food barrel. On the ground, I worry more about rodents than bears. When the food is up a tree, the rodent (and the bear) will have to work for it.

On the portage: We double portage. This year, when the food pack is left unattended, it will be placed off the trail and a few rods before the ending of the portage

"Boredom, Tyler - that's what's wrong. And how do you beat boredom, Tyler?... Adventure...(Never Cry Wolf, 1983)

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Merganser

03/05/2009 10:10PM

I use BearVaults which I just stash outside camp. I set them off the trail but don't go out of my way to hide them. Not only don't I worry about a bear getting into them, I don't worry about rodents either.

"That sort of thing is my bag baby."

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muskieman

03/05/2009 10:23PM

definately hang it, little extra work but well worth it.

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airmorse

03/05/2009 10:28PM

Hang! Don't want to take the chance. Ever.

"In wilderness is the salvation of mankind." Thoreau.

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Itchy Menace

03/05/2009 10:42PM

Hangin'

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fishguts

03/06/2009 12:06AM

Hang em High!

fishguts

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canoepaddle

03/06/2009 12:11AM

I use a barrel and I hide. We go in the blow down area and it's hard sometimes to find enough trees to hang.

canoepaddle

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andym

03/06/2009 12:43AM

Bear resistant Ursacks tied to trees. Also prevents rodents from getting in.

I think the key is to do whatever you do well. Seal the food well against odors and if you are hiding make sure you know how to avoid animal trails. That is part of Cliff Jacobson's advice and hopefully he can help you learn how.

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tony

03/06/2009 02:39AM

Lets beat this dead horse again. Do a search for "hang " or "food" and you will find at least 15 posts on this very controversial subject.

tony

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gutmon

03/06/2009 05:50AM

Hang the horse until it's dead (beating is optional), then hide it. There are some schools that say bury it in the woods, but most say dump it in the lake or leave on a rock for the gulls and eagles.

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520eek

03/06/2009 07:05AM

I do a combo of hang and food barrel. not all my food will fit in barrel so I hang the rest. I guess I'm guaranteed that I will always have food that way!

I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it!

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Irishstone

03/06/2009 07:27AM

I use the clif jacobsen method. With that being said I make sure that my camp is squeeky clean before, during and after my stay. I've never had any trouble, but I also haven't been to any areas with active bears. I would hang if I went to one of those areas. Thats the nice things about going through a good outfitter, they will let you know about the actual conditions on the ground.

Cry foul if you want, but there is more than one way to skin a cat.

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MrWalleye

03/06/2009 08:20AM

The pack that contains the food gets strung up each night. I don't want a bear to think this is hide and seek on the ground and try to find something special in my tent. Not sure if an outfitter is going to know if a bear is hungry at the particular campsite you are staying at or if one is passing through the area:-)

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Mesaba

03/06/2009 08:25AM

Unless I'm using Merganser's bear vaults, I hang it. A properly hung food pack is pretty bear proof. But keep what Cliff says in mind. Try not to use the same tree that everyone else has, hang it properly, keep a clean camp, etc.

"Time's fun when you're having flies."

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solotrek

03/06/2009 09:40AM

I always have a clean site and I always hang it.

"It is in solitude, in quiet communication with nature that we reach most deeply into truth." Sam Campbell

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Boppa

03/06/2009 09:48AM

I have a lot of respect for Cliff Jacobson, but I do not agree with all of his methods. That said, we prefer to hang, using the two tree system.

Yet

We have in certain areas, burn and blow down, used a Counter Assault barrel hidden as Cliff does. So far no issues, so would say both methods have there place.
Boppa

"Yesterday is the past, Tomorrow is the future, Today is a GIFT, that is why it is called the present".

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Bannock

03/06/2009 10:01AM

IMHO if you use a soft food pack, you should hang. With a hard pack, suit yourself.

IMHO the risk of just hiding a soft food pack are the chipmunks, squirrels, and mice chewing through it.

Bannock

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ekffazr

03/06/2009 01:03PM

use a barrel and set off to the side somewhere

chippys and/or squirrels and/or mice get at the bags too easy no matter what it seems.........in my experience anyhow
Tony, now be nice :O)

Today could be your last chance to be good to yourself

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marc bates

03/06/2009 01:16PM

Hang it.

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Singingloon

03/06/2009 01:47PM

Hang it high.

"We need to witness our own limits transgressed" -THOREAU

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ottoparts

03/06/2009 01:56PM

I always hang. Not just for bears, but for other little critters as well.

I've had an issue on one trip with rodents chewing up a favorite hat sitting on a rock to dry.

Oddball: Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?

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Arkansas Man

Moderator

Moderator

03/06/2009 02:00PM

Blue Barrell (inside an Army dufflebag) sitting by the firepit where it is easy to find for me...

Bruce

Good Paddling, Great Fishing, and God Bless All...

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timatkn

03/06/2009 02:37PM

Just hide it around camp, gave up on the bear pinata years ago :)

I do keep a clean camp, use the blue barrels to keep smell at a minimum.

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ILikePike

03/06/2009 03:07PM

hang it just in case so it doesnt shorten our trip

“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit” -Edward Abbey

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emptynest56

03/06/2009 03:44PM

Just my luck, sometime we'll come back from fishing to see a bear loading our barrel in his ATV

"Did you bring the coffee?" "No. I thought you were."

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Journeyman

03/06/2009 05:07PM

Hang it.

When it comes to food, Critters can be pretty good at hide and seek, and they practice it a lot more than we do, for survival.

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canoller

03/06/2009 05:32PM

always hang,one time in a campsite with no suitable tree so i used the cliff jacobson method and had no trouble,we even rince out the garbage,had a bear walk through our campsite one evening and he walked right by the garbage and didn't so much as take a sniff

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Savage Voyageur

03/06/2009 08:27PM

Like fishguts Hang em high, why, I like to eat

"So many lakes, so little time." WWJD

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starwatcher

03/07/2009 06:09AM

Hang them!

starwatcher

"When one finally arrives at the point where schedules are forgotten, and becomes immersed in ancient rhythms, one begins to live." Sigurd F. Olson

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Mongo65

03/07/2009 08:09AM

Hang it.

Sit back, relax, have a home brew.

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Billbo

03/07/2009 08:13AM

I think if you bring fresh food ( steaks, fruit, bacon, etc), you definitely should hang. We don't bring any of that stuff, and everything is sealed in it's own bag, then in a another large Ziploc type bag. We hide, have never had a problem with bears, mice, or any other critters.

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nolahlm

03/07/2009 08:14AM

Hang it!

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whiteh20

03/07/2009 05:26PM

Neither,
Switched to bear barrels last year. Had to change my menus to fit inside but now, no hanging. Just sit barrel outside camp away from lake.

"With an ax, you can build a life. With a stove, you can boil water. That is if nothing breaks and you don't run out of fuel." -Samuel Hearne

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Grandma L

03/07/2009 06:00PM

We don't hang the barrels but do hang any extras items. As you have said - rodents can be the big problem.

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L.T.sully

03/07/2009 07:16PM

I hang, one time last year we hid cause the branch we were hanging our pack on broke, and all the rodents got into our food, it will also deter a bear more than a pack lying out in the open.

The creation of a thousand forests is in a single acorn- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Cedarboy

03/07/2009 07:21PM

We are Blue Barrel hiders. I get confused though about "hanging the hider" or "hiding the hanger".
CB

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gutmon

03/08/2009 07:01AM

Once again I will bring up the safest way to store food if it's an option where you are- hang over the side of a cliff face. (Safest for the food anyway- be careful yourself if you do this!)

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