Dear Fish Diary:
There is no doubt that the Michigan bear population is growing and moving south. When a bear was spotted at a Walmart in Lansing in 2005, I started paying a little more attention to the bear migration. Everybody got all twisted about a bear in a Walmart parking lot and the fear mongering began. All it did for me was make me want to go to Walmart. People were asking what a bear would be doing in the Walmart parking lot? Bears are smart, why would they waste energy when Walmart offers one-stop shopping?
Two years ago, a bear was in my backyard, and I’m about 20 minutes west of Lansing. Now, I don’t have to go to Walmart. It is suddenly clear to me that the DNR’s mission to increase the bear population is working. Just within the past few years bears have shown up in metropolis areas such as Grand Rapids, Saginaw, Flint and Jackson while fitting into the country and suburban landscapes in between cities. They’ve even been seen just outside of Detroit and not during the football season. At this rate, it might not be long before there are real bears to go along with all the bear fans in Chicago.
Imagine walking to your favorite fishing spot in Lower Michigan, and a bear is standing in your way. Ron St. Germain photos
The DNR wants to continue increasing the bear population but not at the current rate it has been progressing. The lower peninsula’s population has increased by 55% since 2012, while bear nuisance reports have quadrupled. Last year there were over 250 nuisance reports in lower Michigan that ranged anywhere from pet interactions to garbage invaders. Vehicle incidents have also increased and I don’t mean bears breaking into vehicles for a snack, although that does happen.
What I’ve learned over my years in the outdoors is that the DNR and wildlife agencies always win no matter how many complaints they get. Whether it’s turkeys, wolves, deer, salmon and now bears, they won’t be deterred by public opinion. Bears would have been at the bottom of my list for farmers to complain about, but yet complaints about bears doing crop damage are increasing. The DNR does try to work with farmers by either teaming them with bear hunters and increasing the season for the hunters on that property as well as trapping and relocating. Relocation efforts can fail. Bears that have established territory in an area have been known to return several times after being relocated over 100 miles away. That means that if a bear has set up camp in your favorite fishing area, well, you’re stuck with it.
Kayakers, canoers, boaters and fishermen have seen bears in the southern Michigan waterways. Although Michigan black bears aren’t notorious as fish eaters, they do like snacks and they do like water so you’re going to have to be careful what you bring on your fishing outings. Let a bear incident I had in Kalkaska about 25 years ago when I was fishing a backwoods pond be a lesson to you.
I drove a couple miles down a two-track that twisted through the woods to get to a large remote pond. I grabbed my rods, my backpack and waders and walked another half mile from where I parked to the watershed. I put my waders on and descended into the water while leaving my backpack up on the hill. After about an hour of fishing a shadow up on the ridge caught my eye. That shadow ended up being a bear, and it appeared to be stalking me. I watched as it casually made its way around the crest through the tall grass, now and then taking a break and staring down at me. It was already too late when I realized what it might be up to. That’s when it grabbed my backpack and took off toward the thick woods. Normally I wouldn’t panic, but in this case, my truck keys and wallet were in that backpack. The bear wasn’t stealing my truck and wallet; it was stealing my peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
So, here I am, in the middle of the Kalkaska backcountry and it’s not too far from sundown. A bear that can run up to 35-miles-per hour has my keys and wallet. It also has my good camera and two expensive lenses. Imagine what I was thinking. A DNR officer is going to show up and ask me for my fishing license and I’d have to say a bear took it. Uh-huh, suuuuuuure it did. But mostly I was thinking of how I was going to get back to my camp while being stranded in a mosquito-infested area. The bear made a trail through the tall grass so I was at least able to see where it entered the now darkening forest. Once I entered the woods I paused. I could hear crackling so I slowly moved over fallen trees and debris toward the sound.
I pulled myself up on a fallen tree to elevate myself and that’s when the bear and I stood eye-to-eye less than 100 yards apart. I clapped my hands as loud as I could and yelled at it. Lucky for me it ran off without my backpack. Everything I had put in my backpack was emptied on the forest floor except my sandwich… and my keys. My camera and lenses were thankfully unbroken… I found my wallet and all my other belongings. The bear got its way with my sandwich but what could it have done with my keys?
I searched and searched and searched and the more I searched the darker it got and of course my flashlight was in my locked truck. I don’t know if you have ever been in a thick dense forest but it’s mayhem when you’re looking for something and it’s nonstop attacks from mosquitoes and flies. I leave my keys in my backpack because I have a phobia of accidentally losing them in the water while I’m fumbling through my pockets. Now I’ll have a phobia of them being stolen by a bear.
I retraced my steps a few times from the entry of the woods to where I found my backpack with no luck. Finally, out of pure frustration and realizing I was probably going to be spending the night here, I sat on a fallen tree feeling sorry for myself. I lowered my head in my hands and there they were, hanging from the stub of a broken tree branch a little over a foot off the ground. This happened to me in a bear area, but how long are we away from not being able to bring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with us while fishing anywhere in lower Michigan?
I have to admit that I’m not in favor of allowing any more expansion of the bear population, not for fear of having my lunch hijacked, but because I don’t think it’s good for the bears. I’d like to see the DNR apply the same principles to the bear range as they have the elk by refining them to northern habitats. Based on the issues we’re seeing right now, bears just aren’t going to fare well in areas moderately or heavily populated by humans. Even though there have only been three confirmed deaths from bear attacks since 1883 in Michigan, there is still a fear among the general population of what a bear is capable of. On the other hand, having a bear in my backyard was awesome, I just don’t think the people in my farm community shared the same excitement as I did. I mean, be serious, these are the same people who can’t coexist with snakes, opossums, raccoons and chipmunks and now we’re going to add bears? My biggest dilemma is having to take my bird feeders down every night and figuring out what I can bring for snacks while fishing.
Funny fish stories wanted: The strangest thing you’ve ever caught…
Send a short description of your “best or worst” fishing day, or funny fishing-related adventure, or the strangest thing you’ve caught. You don’t have to write the entire story, just a brief outline of what happened. If it has some humor to it, I’ll be getting in touch with you and we’ll work on the completed story together.
Contact – Woods-N-Water News columnist Ron St. Germain by calling 517-626-2814, e-mailing DaPhotoDude@aol.com. Visit the author’s Facebook page www.Facebook.com/BearwaveBooks
