I grew up in rural NE Minnesota, and I live now in rural NW Wisconsin. Both of these states are half forest, and both have plenty of black bears. In recent years the number of bears has been increasing and they are expanding their range, and they are coming into towns to look for food.

At our last home we had bears in the yard often. We took in the bird feeders at night, and the bears still climbed up on the decks. My wife had four of them come around the side of the deck and surprise her from twenty feet away. They were surprised too, and she asked them to go back into the woods, and they did. We had one come in the front yard in broad daylight, our dog saw him out the window and went nuts, and I threw rocks at the bear to chase him away. At our current home I’ve found bear scat on the driveway. A big sow has a winter den on a neighbor’s land. She’s never bothered the neighbor’s 150 sheep. The neighbor took out a couple bales of straw and some old carpet to make her den more comfortable, and he hopes this good bear stays. If this bear leaves or is killed by a hunter or hit by a car, another not so nice bear may move in.

Since childhood I’ve had many fishing, hunting, camping, and berry picking encounters with black bears. I’ve never been afraid to go in to the woods when there are bears around. They try to avoid people. Our woods are so dense that it’s possible to get close to a bear before he knows you’re there. Once when fishing a small stream, I looked up and saw a cub in a tree about six feet from my head. I didn’t know where mama was, and I decided to quit fishing. A couple years ago I was fishing a little bigger stream and came upon a sow in a big oak nursing two cubs while another cub scrambled around in the branches above her. I was about thirty feet from her before I knew she was there. I talked to her, and she decided I was not a threat and let me fish through. I have many other bear stories.

The most difficult bears are the big old ones with worn down teeth, or other physical problems that make it hard for them to find enough food. They’re hungry, and their hunger makes them bolder.

We have had a few documented bear attacks in Minnesota and Wisconsin. There have been problems in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. People have fed bears at their campsites, and those bears lose their fear of people. In NW Wisconsin we had a Boy Scout seriously hurt when a bear came in to the tent. The boy had a contraband candy bar in his sleeping bag and the bear wanted it. The Scout was lucky and he lived.

Through fishing clubs and other associations I have met at least a couple hundred trout fishermen. I don’t know anyone who carries a gun, or who carries bear spray in the Upper Midwest. Just about everyone has met bears in the woods, but we don’t think we need guns or bear spray.

Some trout fishermen from the Upper Midwest will buy bear spray when they go to fish where there are grizzly bears. I don’t know anyone who has used it.