Asking for guidance/mentoring?

Depends what you are asking. "Where" is usually a question that doesn't get a good reception.

But there are hundreds of knowledgeable hunters on here, just put up a post.
 
No, 'where' was not part of the question, we have a hunt camp and area already. The question was about bear hunting, I didn't post it here because bear baiting often goes off the rails here with what is ethical and what isn't.
 
This is the question asked, I know some here do not like bear baiting but this is what is done in Ontario.

Since we have not been having any luck pulling moose tags last couple years we thought it might be time to switch things up. We hunt in area 61 and our camp is off hwy 41 20 min north of Bon Echo Park. We use a 15km logging rd with a large mixture of ever greens and hard wood bush, as well as small lakes ponds. We have areas that we have spotted both bear and scat that know of. The season in that area opens Sept 1st. Since none of us live there we will only be able to bait on weekends only.

I was hoping you could give us a few tips, like how many weeks we should bait before. What kind of bait sights we should use ei: like barrel types and type of terrain/woods. What to use as bait, we have access to a lot of Tim Hortons day old donuts if that is a good idea.
 
I hunt bear in Eastern Ontario (WMU 67) after we have taken our first deer (usually in the first week of early bow) - we bait for bears after getting Bambi.

It would be really tough to only bait on the weekends. Once they find the "stash" they frequent it as long as there is something there to eat. Once it's gone they move on and may not come back if they find a "new" feeding site - bears are scavengers for the most part (or maybe lazy feeders is a better description) - if they can find easy food that's where they will be.

Myself, I would start a couple weeks before you want to go in and stock your barrels (or whatever you are going to use) as full as you possibly can. Also maybe supplement with the commercially packaged bear bait powders/jams (just got ahold of a couple of items from Monnet Outdoor's, a Quebec company - they have a product called Bevium in powder form I'm going to try this year - easier than carrying in 50 lbs of crud every couple of days). There is also those pails of peanut butter that you hang, small hole in the bottom, and the sun causes it to drip - has worked well for a couple of years (they come around to it a few times a week, just can't really pattern them - suspect it's because they aren't getting "a meal", but does keep them in the area until will fill up the "swill barrel" (which contains "left-overs", trimming's/bones bought for a few cents a pound from the butcher shop (getting scarce though - most of what used to be trimmed/trashed is turned into ground meat now or left on right on the steak) and a carton of molasses poured over the works).

When actively hunting we also use the "smoking sticks" (Tink's is one of the various brands). They burn and smell like bacon and has brought in a roving bear on a couple of occasions.

Bears are good to eat. And while they don't have the same status as Moose or Deer in Ontario (I think us here see them more as pests than truly viable "big game animals") which has always puzzled me. I likewise see them as a "secondary" hunt despite the fact that I like the meat better than deer or moose. Probably because I grew up "thinking that" - you used to get a bear tag "included" with either a deer or moose tag - kinda like "if you don't get what you are after you can always pop a bear as a far distant consolation prize".

Perspective I guess...
 
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There are a couple threads on the second page of hunting that may apply to your questions.

I would try to bait for 3 or 4 weeks with some cameras so you might have an idea if and when bears are coming around.

Any baits that last long are best for your situation. I made some large candy buckets last year. I found the bears loved them and they lasted quite a while. They take a lot of effort to make but a 5 gallon pail could last a month. The candy is poured into the bucket so the bears have to lick them out and will stay for hours and hours... Or large barrels with small holes, making it harder for the bear to take off with all the food.

As for terrain, if you see bear sign or bears, anywhere close that works will do.
 
If you want to ask about hunting specifically in Ontario go to the oodmag.com forums. Because its Ontario centric, you dont get the western Canada chest thumping and holier then thou attitude when it comes to things like bear baiting or legal restrictions. Its also a better hunting forum, in the way that CGN is a better gun forum.
 
You'll find most of the judgement on baiting comes from BC, where it is illegal. More importantly and tellingly, BC is home to a third of our country's black bears and it seems most here presume it's the same everywhere. Somehow many BC hunters feel driving in a pickup sippin double doubles (or often beer) less than an hour from home is more noble than a fellow like yourself traveling long distances and setting up baits and cameras. There's a lot of this misunderstanding in our sport sadly, and many won't open their minds to other ways and reason- but I digress!

Good luck in your hunts this fall Freddy, remember you're always welcome out here for mountain goat.
 
Maybe he didn't "blow you off" at all... maybe he is working a full time job plus three side contracts for 100+ hours/ week... and he has a wife and three kids and volunteer charitable work also... maybe he wanted to give your question his full attention, as he has with so many others on CGN over the years, but is having difficulty finding the time to do so... maybe...
 
Some don't answer if it's too personal (as in where?) but what gets me and maybe I expect too much is if someone here or on the BC hunting site asks a question about a type of hunting or camping or backroads or even a "where?" question and I provide a comprehensive answer and don't get a reply. No thank you, no no thank you, no #### off and die, nothing.
 
Blasted Saber: Maybe you should keep your over generalizations to yourself and not paint all Western Canadians with the same brush. I don't have a problem with baiting and neither do all of the hunters I know, its just not legal in most of Alberta. The primary reason, as I understand it, has to do with having bears become too comfortable around humans and increasing the threat of bear attacks on campers/tourists - we only have the NATIONAL parks in our primary bear hunting grounds. I have yet to meet a fellow AB hunter advocating for no baiting. If I could bait I know I would.
 
blasted_saber said:
If you want to ask about hunting specifically in Ontario go to the oodmag.com forums. Because its Ontario centric, you dont get the western Canada chest thumping and holier then thou attitude when it comes to things like bear baiting or legal restrictions. Its also a better hunting forum, in the way that CGN is a better gun forum.
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Chest thumping holier than thou attitudes are better when coming from Ontario? We have the opportunity to bait bears in Manitoba, but I choose not to, and have the success rate to prove it. However, I don't criticise those who bait, not even while I'm admiring their rugs.
 
Different tactics for different areas. Being from BC where there are lots of Black Bears and baiting is illegal, my own personal biases show.

Firstly i would not eat a Bear, again a personal bias, since almost all the bears i see are either in dumps or eating puss bag putrid salmon.

Secondly many of the areas i hunt are excellent for spot and stalk, not baiting.

Thirdly, when one lives in really thick areas, only baiting works. Driving there to hunt and replace bait only on the weekends does not sound like a successful strategy. Perhaps someone local going mid week, or starting the bait really early in the season....like now.
 
Maybe I was a little premature on the complaining about ones help, often the are more things important then surfing CGN.

But I appreciate everyone's thoughts on the matter and Angus I will give you my wife's number so you can talk her into it for me about the mountain goat hunting!
 
If'in yer yung and have property, plant orchards.
Bears seem to like fruit that's left to rot.
Plumbs ferminting awn the ground here locally brings them in.
 
Boomer said:
Chest thumping holier than thou attitudes are better when coming from Ontario? We have the opportunity to bait bears in Manitoba, but I choose not to, and have the success rate to prove it. However, I don't criticise those who bait, not even while I'm admiring their rugs.
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So what you're saying is that chest thumping isn't province specific? ;)
 
Bears are like cops they love donuts. I lived in Alberta for 51 years but always hunted in grizzly country so we could not bait bears but wish we could have to make it a bit easier to get one. What the difference between waiting in a hay field or fall rye for a deer and sitting over a pile of food in a tree is beyond me. Fish and Wildlife told us that it was actually not legal to stake out a farmers grain pile waiting for a deer as that was baiting even.
Here in Quebec they bait deer and I have seen guys haul truck loads of apples and carrots into the bush to attract deer. Out behind my place they had a pile 4 feet high of bait near a house on stilts even. I baited deer the one time I hunted and still only seen does.
 
freddyfour said:
Maybe I was a little premature on the complaining about ones help, often the are more things important then surfing CGN.

But I appreciate everyone's thoughts on the matter and Angus Iwill give you my wife's number so you can talk her into it for me about the mountain goat hunting!
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Me too, just joking !

We hunt south of you on hwy 41/62 rarely seen them.

And in case you happen to come across an Elk - Please
 
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