New to kabetogama

[let it snow]

FROM VNP WEB SITE REGARDING PETS

Pets are not allowed on park trails or in the backcountry. This rule is in place to protect park wildlife and your pet.

Pets must be leashed and attended at all times. Pets are allowed in developed areas (around visitor centers, boat ramps, picnic areas, campsites and houseboat sites) on the four main lakes, and along park entrance roads. Pets are NOT allowed on park trails.

http://www.nps.gov/voya/planyourvisit/park-regulations.htm

FROM VNP WEB SITE REGARDING BEARS

Approximately 150 black bears live in Voyageurs National Park. These bears symbolize the wilderness quality of northern Minnesota and can be a memorable wildlife observation. Unfortunately, each summer numerous human-bear incidents occur. While human injuries are rare, black bears can cause significant property damage.

Voyageurs National Park tries to provide and environment where bears can live with minimal human interference. Please do your part. Help prevent bear problems by following the procedures below. Report human-bear incidents to park personnel as soon as possible.

Store food properly. Make sure you store all smelly items such as toothpaste, sunscreen, food, pet food and deodorant in bear proof food storage lockers or hang from a bear pole or tree.

http://www.nps.gov/voya/planyourvisit/bears-and-food-storage.htm

[Huge51]

Thanks for the post let it snow great info. We will keep all that in mind.

[Wade Joseph]

I may have to call the Ranger station.

[duckster]

Bear activity at campsites has really decreased in recent years and I wouldn't be real concerned about it. The best advise is to keep a clean campsite and put away your food and garbage when not using it. The worst area for bears seems to be Cutover island, so you might want to avoid camping there if you are concerned.

You can have dogs at campsites but they cannot be left unattended. There has been a few dogs that have run off from campsites some have been found, some not.

I don't know if dogs will keep bears away but some people think so. Remember one dog that was picked-up by a bear right in front of the owner. Owner hit the bear right between the eyes with a piece of wood and bear dropped the dog and ran off. I bet that dog remembered that for a while.

Good luck.

Duckster

[Down Deep]

Not trying to Hijack the thread, but which end of the lake would you recommend for the end of May?

IMO the western end of Kab is best early on. In addition, the south shore in the area where all the resorts are is good. In the spring the northwest wind can pound the shoreline for days. In the evening hours the walleye bite can be very rewarding. If the end of May means Labor Day, plan your trip to begin on Wednesday or very early Thursday. There will be lots of campsites available, but the sites near the western end will fill up.

[d_and_b]

You want Bears?? Mama and 4 cubs - June '07 on Big Martin Isl. The 4th cub is behind mom - you can just see the legs at her rear end.

d and b

[MinnesotaBoatman]

If you are disappointed at not seeing any bears, you can aways swing by the Bear Sanctuary NW of Orr on your way home at see some big ones:

[SledNeck]

Theres some pigs there

[CJ]

We took the dog fishing with us and again it was the dogs scent that made the bears weary.

[turtleboy]

"We took the dog fishing with us and again it was the dogs scent that made the bears weary"

And if the dog smells strong enough it might even put the bears back into hibernation!

Sorry, couldn't help that.

Seriously, rules or not I would not recommend leaving a dog unattended at a campsite for many reasons, bears being one of them. Bear/dog encounters are unpredictable. I have on 2 occasions seen bears take after dogs at Nat forest campsites in N Minnesota. Bring your dog along if you wish to only because you enjoy having your dog along. I bring my dog because he is good at handling the net.

Funny how this thread turned into a bear thread. Kind of like the stories that get told in bear country around a campfire just before bedtime. Sweet dreams!

[bobreetz]

Did anyone mention rocks, big rocks, just below the surface. The water will be low in mid May, so the rocks that you would clear in June or July will be at the perfect depth to remove a prop blade or reposition your lower unit. Be alert. And yeah, the bear sitings are down but in mid May, there's not alot of natural food for Papa, Mama, and Baby Bear. Be smart and be alert. Tom Cod Bay is almost always serving up spawning or freshly spawned "eyes" in Mid May. Watch for the boats. They're probably catching fish. There are some great camp sites on Kab. I like the ones on the mainland rather than islands, although I'm sure there are some excellent island sites. But most importantly, be alert for icebergs in Mid May. Keep the campfire burning and enjoy yourself.

[waterbound]

I go up to Kabetogama every year for Opener with my family and we've never had a problem with bears or even seen them for that matter. A few years back there were a few moose that came to the island we stay at a few days after we left (the group on the island opposite saw them and took a few pictures, too). The fishing is always good, although you should be careful of rocks just below the surface, more than once we've seen somebody go cruising over a sandbar at 30 miles an hour just to lose a prop. Bring warm clothes and enjoy your trip.

[SledNeck]

yes the rocks are probably the biggest worry.

[overdalimit]

fyi the water is gonna be up this spring probably same or higher than last year.

[Huge51]

Has Lake master done a good job marking the sand bars and Rock reefs. We will still take it easy it is going to be an adventure. I will be useing my H2O but will still be putting a long until we have created a safe trail and watching the locater. Thanks everyone for the information.

[mule]

I have a pick of bear that raided our camp on cutover every morning for 5 days at the end of may. The lab we had with us didnt seem to help. Ive mentioned in previouse posts that it even stole a case of beer from us. hang your garbage and use the bear lockers!!! even with a dog. Also lock up your bait to keep the otters out

[Xplorer]

Another island that tends to have a yearly early spring family of bears on it, is Cuculus. We have camped at the Blufin bay site just across from it, and watched a mother and 3 cubs for 5 days. There was also a smaller bear (i'm pretty sure it was a female yearling from the year before) that would swim from the island across to just east of our site, then head thru the bush and come out on the backside of the bay on the beach, run to the NW corner and disappear up the hillside. A couple hours later she'd come back using the same route and swim back to the island (in most cases she swam right in between the boats fishing the narrows there). She did this once or twice each day for the 5 days we were there over Memorial day. I've also seen sow/cubs foraging on the south shoreline several times when fishing that area since.

That said, I've spent over 200 nights camping in VNP the last 12 years, and only had one issue with a bear. Turned out that previous groups at the site had thrown fish guts/skins in the woods, and now this big boy was making the rounds of all the campsites on Namakan island. The first night he jumped in my boat and tried to get my small cooler that had crawlers and leeches in it before i scared him off. Moored the boat offshore the next night, so he came in and made 2 large holes in my screen tent trying to see what was in there (all our food and garbage was properly stored in the bearbox). The third night I left all the doors tied open on the screen tent and kept a large fire going til 2 am. Was awoken to the bear at 5am trying to get into the bearbox. Finally left after I pelted him a few times with rocks. Packed up and left. When I called the NPS they said this guy (@350#'s) had been raiding the sites all summer. They tried to trap him the rest of the summer without success. Have not camped on Namakan island since.

So even tho you store your gear/food/garbage correctly, many times it is how the previous site occupants acted that determines if their may be issues. I usually do call the main visitor center and speak to a ranger and ask of any recent bear activity proir to heading up.

Fishing wise, early season you can find walleyes from Tom Cod all the way east to Sullivans bay. Running spinners has put eyes in the boat while covering ground effectively.

[bobreetz]

Lakemaster maps on Kab are basically ancient DNR maps. Better than nothing but hardly navigation maps. The least of your worries is sandbars on Kabetogama. It's good to hear the water levels will be up this year. It's gettin closer so sharpen your hooks and mend your nets. This year Crane, Sand Point, and a smattering of Namakan are getting my undivided attention. But Kab will always have a special place in my heart.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

My wife told me last night that we are going up to kabetogama to camp on an Island for our fith wedding anniversery...

A couple of points:

1) If she ever leaves you, let me know

2) If you go once, you WILL go back. It's an awesome place.

3) Bear Head Lake state park also has a couple boat-in sites. You can even take the boat across the lake and take a shower.

Typical Voyaguers campsite

[Tip Up Rookie]

great pics, whereabouts is that campsite? I cant wait to get back up there.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

great pics, whereabouts is that campsite? I cant wait to get back up there.

Me too

[Netman]

That looks like the Blue Fin Bay campsite near Cuculus Island. I have camped there and it's a real nice site.

At the risk of sounding like a jerk I will say that the campsite is ripe for a bear raid in the picture. I see an open bear locker, food on the picnic table and on top of the bear locker, coolers sitting everywhere...this is how not to keep your site. You've got to camp with the idea that they are there and they will come. I have a video of three bears raiding a campsite, taking all of the groceries and a cooler while the campers were chasing the bears around the campsite. Being at the campsite won't stop a raid. What you want to do, is after you take something out of the bear locker, quickly and immediatley return everything. Coolers are bear magnets and should be kept in the locker when not being used.

This picture looks just like some of mine before what I'll just call "the incident".

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Dang Netman, we have never had bears be that aggressive while at camp, although we've had many experiences over the past 20 years of going up there.

I could tell you some stories. Our most problems occurred in Lost Bay. Nice area, but the bears think so too. We found out very quickly that Lost Bay Island is really Lost Bay peninsula! Mom with cubs, and several other night raiders finally forced us to leave. That was before bear lockers.

To keep the bears away now, we take the last person up in the morning and tie them to a tree just outside of camp with bacon strapped to their forehead

[Netman]

You Know Wish-I-Were...I'm always the FIRST guy up on my trips in the morning and I've never realised the potential of that situation. Does anybody know where a guy can get a kick but Sasquatch suit? I'm thinking day three....

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Ha! That would be great! Especially with some of the younger boys we sometimes take up there

[Huge51]

Should we head to the east side of the lake or the west for a good camping spot and walleyes?

[let it snow]

West end should be good fishing that time of year - if the campsites are full, there is always Wooden Frog Campground w/ nice sites a close to great west-end fishing. Consult VNP maps for campsites and my advice is to get to where you wanna be early in the weekend....

http://www.voyageurscountry.com/voyageurs-park-area-lakes-maps.htm

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Wooden Frog Campground is very nice. I just wish you could leave your boat in the lake instead of loading it up each time you come in.

I guess you could take a lunch out with you and picnic at a day site to avoid coming back and doing the load thing.