So a couple of guys are sitting around drinking some beers and a great idea comes to them..."lets go fishing in Canada!" There it was, the plan was all laid out. So, the next question comes up as to when should we go? With an underage DUI clearing one of the guy's records, he is now free to roam about the globe. So now the idea is next summer, maybe the following summer. We are thinking BWCA, or possibly even further north. What is further north you ask?...bears of course! And a bunch of people that speak French or something and say aboot. I was in Ft. Sill for a JFO course and part of it was tought by a Candaian Army Captain, the first time he said "aboot" (instead of about) the entire class came really close to falling down on the floor, wetting our pants, and crying from laughter. Well, okay there was a very quiet smirk or two.

Now that I have laid the story out there, what is required to LEGALLY take a hand gun into Canada?

A note from the Prime Minister. Good Luck eh.

You can't get there from here.

Absolutely nothing, it cannot be done. If you try you will go to jail for a long time.

Yeah, what they said. Something to consider, however, is that the BWCA is not in Canada.

Get hired by the RCMP.

When I went into Canada through the BWCA, we had to stop at the Canadian customs post and the guy dug around in our packs and asked us if we had any firearms with us. They will check if they can. However, when we went up there we didn't see any people (or bears) the whole time (seven days) we were there. Lots of fish though.

I might want a handgun to protect me from bad guys, but I wouldn't worry about the bears up north unless you get further west to grizzley country. Black bears are just not a safety issue in my opinion.

Especially if you're not the slowest runner in your group.

I've been going up into Canada fishing every fall for over 20 years, usually the Brightsand River area of Ontario, about 200 mi NE of Thunder Bay. We've seen black bears several times, had to move camp once when a young bear got into some goodies my buddies left out while they went fishing.

One year a friend decided to hunt bear so we got licenses and brought rifles. Didn't see any bears that year -- until we were sleeping in the car the night before we went home. We woke around dawn to see, through the fogged-up hatchback, a HUGE bear leaning on the car!

When we started moving around, it slid off the car and waddled away. When we rolled down windows and got a better look, and calmed down a little, it turned out to be a cub about knee high at the shoulder. I think he might have actually climbed up on the rear bumper when we first saw it. My buddy thought about shooting him, but we were parked right by a working lumber camp.

Nowadays, I think you can still get a non-resident hunting license in Ontario, but I hear that they require you to hire a local guide.

But anyway, I highly recommend north woods camping, even without any guns. Just hang up your food pack.

Oh, back to the subject of the BWCA, I remember another trip, probably in the 1970s (AD), where we met a couple guys on one of the BWCA portage trails who were bear hunting. One guy had a big revolver in a chest-mounted holster. It was the first time I'd ever seen somebody open-carrying a handgun. As twenty-something young men from the city with little firearms experience, we thought that was awesome.

Another plus of the BWCA: they have campsites with toilets. By which I mean, toilets that are better than leaning on a tree.


Another up side is, motors are not allowed, so it's nice and quiet.

Down side is, motors are not allowed, so you have to paddle.

Oh, and it's "border". A "boarder" is somebody who stays in your house. That would be a subject for a third-amendment forum.

No necessarily. Due to the high rate of piracy in the BWCA, you may have to worry about repelling boarders. That would be a 2nd amendment issue... Alternatively, you could just hand over the beer, brats and wenches, and hope they don't scuttle your vessel and leave you marooned!

Good point.

We generally don't bring any wenches, or brats. We do however always bring plenty of beer, which we would have to defend to the death with our cutlasses.

Once a party of two or three couples came past our campsite, and one of my friends, who was not on his first beer, said "Hi! Hey, we'll give you a case of beer for the women!" The guys didn't say anything right back, which was probably the wrong move 'cause it gave the impression they were considering it. The women did not look happy. After they were gone my friend said, "Oh oh. I think we ruined the trip for those guys."

??? I though no motors were allowed?

Aaagh; I just got that.

Talking about women in the BWCA:
One time when I was up there, fishing, with two other guys, we went into Northern Lights Park in Canada (with permits). We had made a giant circle and were just entering back into Minnesota.... BTW take a shielded compass as there is a bit of iron ore up there and all the damn islands look the same...that's the reason for the big circle that we made... We were paddling around an island and must have been pretty silent when we rounded the corner. We came across a bunch of girls sunbathing in the nude on the rocky shore. There were screams and then a bunch of bare asses ran jiggling away to the interior of the island. Our permits were about to expire in a few hours so we kept going but it sure brought a smile to our faces after a week of solitude.

On the way back we stopped in Duluth for a bite and they wouldn't let us in the McDonalds. They made us walk up to the drive through window. I think we musta smelled pretty bad.