Bear hunting, bait vs. spot and stalk?
- Thread starter Albertarookie
- Start date
- Status
canadaman30
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Far from the City
Macarena Man
Member
- Location
- British Columbia
Oh and now you're the ethical distance judge....I see where this is going.
Not a judge at all ........ at 3-400yds are you sure there are no cubs involved ?
the spank
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Planet Earth Wearing My Tinfoil Hat
Do you fish with a fish finder or do you just pick a spot and toss some baitsor troll around dragging lures? I have met folks who think fish finders should be banned.Why? According to them it's an unfair advantage. How so? It may help you locate them but it can't make them bite! It's the same baiting for bears. It may may bring them in but it may not bring in what you are looking for? I t won't mean they'll come in hell bent for election to get today's leftover Timmie's!! I have never sat in a stand to hunt them but I have helped friends over the years to check their baits and run bait. It's a ton of work at a time of year that hunting can be quite unpleasant with low temps in am followed by soaring temps in an hour with hordes of mosquitoes about. I can also tell you that walking around in the bush or on the logging roads of Northern Ontario to spot and stalk a bear is a lesson in futility. I could count on one hand the number of bears I have seen walking old logging trails and cut areas during season years ago. I saw more bears in 3 weeks hunting on Vancouver Island with my Grandfather walking the logging roads and trails around cuts for Blacktails than I ever saw walking the bush in Ontario. I have seen a lot of bears in Ontario but 90% of those were in early fall rolling around destroying some poor farmers oat field. I watched 19 in a 20 acre patch one evening!!
Macarena Man
Member
- Location
- British Columbia
Silly question ....... but, you asked it.
A person may have a better chance of spotting cubs, and sizing the bear at 100yds than 3-400yds.
Cranky Pants
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I hate to stick my nose into this mess but around here you have to bait for bears, no chance of spotting and stalking unless one is dumb enough to be in a blueberry field in the daylight.
Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I AM from BC and you've missed the point, we can't bait here but that point is moot as hunting black bears here in BC is less challenging than hunting grouse, zero exaggeration. I can set out with a bear tag and be more sure of not getting skunked than I can on grouse. My point is you're sitting on a pretty high horse thinking our black bear hunting is noble fair chase and areas with 10% of the bear density where they legally use bait are somehow inferior. Pretty amusing logic.
Stay out of our fellow hunter's business and let's all be happy we can hunt how we see fit.
My main dispute is that you correlate hunting over bait with crop fields........nothing could be further from the truth. If people wish to plant their own private plot or hunt over bait with intent then go for it, it's just not what I call fair chase hunting. You make assumptions that people hunt from their vehicle, again nothing could be further from the truth the way that I hunt. Case in point I prefer people to road hunt, it keeps them away from me when I'm in the bush. As I mention in a prior post, "intent" to hunt over bait is much different than hunting in a crop field, and I'm talking a harvested crop field.Actually Track, I don't hunt over baits for bears....its illegal here in BC.
I did however grow up in Alberta where it is legal to hunt bears by baiting. It takes just as much knowledge to set up a bait in a good location, as it does to pick a grain field to watch for mulies. One of the differences between baiting bears in alberta and hunting mulies is that your bear bait location normally isn't in a spot where you can drive your pickup truck to.
Enjoy that comfy seat while listening to your tunes!
The reason bear baiting in BC is illegal is political. Same for why it was made a requirement to retain black bear meat, and soon, grizzly.
Regardless of the reason, I consider baiting about as fair chase as any other method. The amount of work required is considerable, much more than 95% of the work involved in BC F250 spot and stalk hunting.
We've done all sorts of bear hunting. Across valley spot and stalk, drive around and glass clearcuts, jump out and shoot, walking old roads and spotting, hiking up ridges and glassing below, still hunting through forest near bear feeding areas and by sitting in stand over a swampy area they liked to feed (no bait except natural) and that was an endurance test at times, but also pretty exciting when the bears were active.
I don't see why some hunters get all worked up about baiting. It's just another form of hunting. Don't bait if you don't want to, but don't schit on those that do. They likely work harder at it than most.
Regardless of the reason, I consider baiting about as fair chase as any other method. The amount of work required is considerable, much more than 95% of the work involved in BC F250 spot and stalk hunting.
We've done all sorts of bear hunting. Across valley spot and stalk, drive around and glass clearcuts, jump out and shoot, walking old roads and spotting, hiking up ridges and glassing below, still hunting through forest near bear feeding areas and by sitting in stand over a swampy area they liked to feed (no bait except natural) and that was an endurance test at times, but also pretty exciting when the bears were active.
I don't see why some hunters get all worked up about baiting. It's just another form of hunting. Don't bait if you don't want to, but don't schit on those that do. They likely work harder at it than most.
I thought hunting was about enjoying the outdoors... If you end up sticking meat in the freezer and enjoy it at the dinner table isn't that the point, regardless of the way you succeed. I'm not defending either side but this site is so much attack and debate, it's just sad. No matter how you "hunt" your enjoying being outdoors and that's what matters.
Wow, did it ever get deep in here. I feel like I should put on waders and proceed with caution.
BC has banned bear baiting as has been said because of political pressure placed upon them by those that oppose it (and all hunting), I suspect that there was also a desire to not train more Grizzlies to view people as a food source. It has absolutely zero to do with fair chase, governments just aren't that thoughtful. It may cloud the judgement of people fortunate enough to live in places with similar terrain, habitat conditions and bear densities that allow them be highly successful without bait but fairness was probably no a government consideration.
As far as hunting farmers crops, berry patches, natural greens and streams of half dead salmon being some how a vastly superior position because you yourself didn't cause it to be there with the intent to hunt animals attracted to it I hope you don't fall of your high horse. I understand what your saying you perceive it as more ethical and rewarding, and that is good for you. Those of us that put the efforts into enhancing habitat by planting food plots or choosing to increase the possibilities of success by baiting feel that the work we put into creating and maintaining them makes them very rewarding. I have sat on a bait without seeing game for days and even then not seeing the quality of animal I had hoped for, I have also had a very active bait go cold instantly for unknown reasons, I have also taken deer while still in camp was that somehow unfair? What if it had been a bear? What makes things unfair or gives me an unfair advantage, bears have poor eyesight, do I need to wear bright colors and make noise and sudden movements to make it a fair hunt, I am just curious what steps those who so adamantly oppose baiting as unfair take to ensure that they hunt fairly.
I know a few local farmers who like to hunt deer on their crops after harvest, would the same folks who look down on planting crops for hunting refuse to hunt these farms? Do you ask if the farmer has planted any of the crops they plant with the intent to attract or benefit wildlife when you drive up and ask permission to use their hard work and property to increase your odds of success in killing the game you set out to hunt? Would you not take the advice offered that the game you're seeking comes into X field at dawn and if you set up a blind on the fence row or drainage ditch depending on the wind it should give you a good opportunity and instead stand naked in the middle of field Y because anything that you did manage to take would be morally pure? Do you use decoys and calls, if you do , do you choose only the most unrealistic?
BC has banned bear baiting as has been said because of political pressure placed upon them by those that oppose it (and all hunting), I suspect that there was also a desire to not train more Grizzlies to view people as a food source. It has absolutely zero to do with fair chase, governments just aren't that thoughtful. It may cloud the judgement of people fortunate enough to live in places with similar terrain, habitat conditions and bear densities that allow them be highly successful without bait but fairness was probably no a government consideration.
As far as hunting farmers crops, berry patches, natural greens and streams of half dead salmon being some how a vastly superior position because you yourself didn't cause it to be there with the intent to hunt animals attracted to it I hope you don't fall of your high horse. I understand what your saying you perceive it as more ethical and rewarding, and that is good for you. Those of us that put the efforts into enhancing habitat by planting food plots or choosing to increase the possibilities of success by baiting feel that the work we put into creating and maintaining them makes them very rewarding. I have sat on a bait without seeing game for days and even then not seeing the quality of animal I had hoped for, I have also had a very active bait go cold instantly for unknown reasons, I have also taken deer while still in camp was that somehow unfair? What if it had been a bear? What makes things unfair or gives me an unfair advantage, bears have poor eyesight, do I need to wear bright colors and make noise and sudden movements to make it a fair hunt, I am just curious what steps those who so adamantly oppose baiting as unfair take to ensure that they hunt fairly.
I know a few local farmers who like to hunt deer on their crops after harvest, would the same folks who look down on planting crops for hunting refuse to hunt these farms? Do you ask if the farmer has planted any of the crops they plant with the intent to attract or benefit wildlife when you drive up and ask permission to use their hard work and property to increase your odds of success in killing the game you set out to hunt? Would you not take the advice offered that the game you're seeking comes into X field at dawn and if you set up a blind on the fence row or drainage ditch depending on the wind it should give you a good opportunity and instead stand naked in the middle of field Y because anything that you did manage to take would be morally pure? Do you use decoys and calls, if you do , do you choose only the most unrealistic?
blasted_saber
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- A blue part of Ontario
Heres my scenario for bear hunting. I live and hunt in central Ontario where almost all property is privately owned. There are few natural fields. Terrain is hills with moderately dense mixed forest. Deciduous mixed with conifer thickets.
My family owns 500 acres (considered a large tract for this area) which is accessible via one road which abruptly ends at the corner of one lot. IE you drive to the start of one lot and then the rest of the 500 acres you're walking/ATVing. At any time we usually have 2-3 seperate mature bears in our area (their range is larger, but they frequent our property usually every other day). We know this because of trail cams
I spend a considerable amount of time around our property all year, and obviously in the fall we hunt it heavily. I havent "stumbled" across a bear in over a decade. No one has, actually. The only way to find a bear is to bait. You can't see any further then 100m anywhere with the exception of one field in the centre of our property. Visibility is usually in the 30 to 50m range without leaf cover, with leaf cover try 10-15m. Spotting and stalking is an entirely hopeless venture.
My family owns 500 acres (considered a large tract for this area) which is accessible via one road which abruptly ends at the corner of one lot. IE you drive to the start of one lot and then the rest of the 500 acres you're walking/ATVing. At any time we usually have 2-3 seperate mature bears in our area (their range is larger, but they frequent our property usually every other day). We know this because of trail cams
I spend a considerable amount of time around our property all year, and obviously in the fall we hunt it heavily. I havent "stumbled" across a bear in over a decade. No one has, actually. The only way to find a bear is to bait. You can't see any further then 100m anywhere with the exception of one field in the centre of our property. Visibility is usually in the 30 to 50m range without leaf cover, with leaf cover try 10-15m. Spotting and stalking is an entirely hopeless venture.
ah the beloved bear threads, always good for a chuckle.OP just get out there, enjoy the bush and make a bruin take a dirt nap anyway you want. Some of my most exciting bear hunting memories are hunting with dogs.
- Status
