Spring bear hunt... what will you be baiting them with?

Furync

Furync

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The thread about "which gun will you take" made me think about "what will I use for bait" this year...

So let's hear it, if baiting is legal in your area, what will you be using to draw them in?

I'm going to try a barrel with a big bag of dog food in it and covered with molases... and maibe something else I find along the way (I'll probably add cheapo toothpast, that seems to have worked well in the past)


What works for you?
 
Rifle for close range (over bait): 30-30 with 170gr SP or 30-06 with 180gr Nosler Partition

Bait: 4-5 cans of Sardines - open and hang them on trees in front of your blind (smell attracts bears, very easy set up and clean up)

P.S.: You can buy cheap Sardines at the dollar store. No need to drag a big barrel through the bush, you can set up anywhere. On my last bear hunt, two bears came together after about 40 minutes of wait. I shot the bigger one (nice male) and then a third bear came when I was climbing down from the tree stand. After the shot. :eek: I had to chase him away by throwing rocks and yelling at him. :D
 
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Attractant
Stink Bucket.... rotten eggs, fish, meat and a cup of yogurt (+bacteria). Hanging 15-30' in a tree, once the bears start to visit the site regularly, I remove it.

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Sweets
I use a 55gallon bait barrel, filled once a week with sweets. Cake, muffins, donuts, bread + molasses. The drum must be chained to a tree or they will take it with them. I remove the lid and stuff 7'x5" logs in it, that way only a bear can have access to the food in the bottom of the drum by removing the logs... this also makes them accustomed to spending more time at the bait site.



Scent trails
I paint the forest floor around the bait site with old fryer grease that I get at a friends restaurant. Bears walking in and out of the bait site create scent trails which contributes to helping other bears finding the bait.



Regularity
I'm currently rebuilding an automatic hanging deer feeder to Bear Proof standards. I mentioned rebuilding because Mr.Bear had his way with this particular feeder last fall. It is now made from a 55gallon drum with a sturdy cage protecting the motor underneath. I built a nice funnel inside so I don't get any rotting in the corners of the barrel. I will fill it with either corn or cheap dog food... maybe a mix of both, haven't quite decided yet. Seeing that I can only make it to the bait site once a week, this should keep them hitting the bait site every evening.



Extra option
I have the option of spraying the area with a bit of Anise oil.... I could also do a honey burn, or paint a couple trees with molasses.


Trail Cam
I will be setting up a bear proof trail cam. Kinda neat to see whats hitting your bait site.




This might seem like a lot of work or preparation... But I consider it part of the hunt and I really enjoy doing it.
 
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here in BC its not legal to bait bears..so I must ask is it THAT effective ..baiting ?? I once found a sardine tin STILL dripping juices where it had been nailed to the side of a tree 12 feet up..

what is "anise" does dog food have a 'smell" or do you add "smelly stuff" to it??


Very interesting thread...alaways learn something new..

Elmer Fudd Ruppster
 
srupp said:
here in BC its not legal to bait bears..so I must ask is it THAT effective ..baiting ?? I once found a sardine tin STILL dripping juices where it had been nailed to the side of a tree 12 feet up..

what is "anise" does dog food have a 'smell" or do you add "smelly stuff" to it??


Very interesting thread...alaways learn something new..

Elmer Fudd Ruppster
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You can have 0-4 bears visiting your site regularly... does it work? YES!

Anise is a flowering plant/spice.... smells like black liquorish.
 
riden said:
Goose

Can you explain how you bear proof your cam? I would be scared to leave my cam there.
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I wish I had a pic... I basically made a steel box (1/8" thick) that the cam will fit in. I put the front panel on a hinge so that I may open the front panel and have access to the cam/timer. you could literally whack the crap out of it with a crowbar with no damage to the cam.
 
Goose25 said:
I wish I had a pic... I basically made a steel box (1/8" thick) that the cam will fit in. I put the front panel on a hinge so that I may open the front panel and have access to the cam/timer. you could literally whack the crap out of it with a crowbar with no damage to the cam.
Click to expand...

That's a good idea.
 
art.h said:
go out net some suckers they're so cheap and after a few days have the right stuff. Also a good use of carp. Maybe the only use for carp.
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Hahaha... A group of us (6-8 guys) tried that once, about 20 years ago. We went down to Credit River (Toronto), netted about 10-12 buckets full of sucker in no time. Sealed the plastic buckets with lids and left them outside for a few days before we went hunting. We even picked up a few road kill ground hogs on the way. :D :D :D
The stench from the buckets was so strong that nobody wanted to open them. We hanged them up in the forest and shot them with 00-s so the juice would come out. :D :D :D
Black flies by the thousands did show up for the invitation and tortured us till our hands and face looked like balloons but we never saw a single bear. :D :D :D
So much for the hard work... Never again. :D :D :D

BTW, we were hunting on Crown land next to a large area where an outfitter had a whole bunch of baits and tree stands. We had seen bear signs there so obviously, the area was good but the bears just didn't know that they're supposed to like sucker for dinner. :D :D :D

Put a few cans of Sardines in your pocket and off you go. ;)
 
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Hang a dead pig or what ever you get you greasy paws on first thing. Put some sweets with it next. Bait on a regular basis and try to be there at the same time each day, bang on your steel drum(A.K.A. Dinner Bell) when your leaving your bait and make noise when your coming in. You don't want to surprise mom and the cubs. Sweets, bread , molasses, donuts, table scraps and anything that you would like to eat, never been a big fan of raw or rotten fish. You would be suprised how close Yogi might be if you keep him supplied with free meals, so when you start seeing signs of a Big Bear around get a friend to start coming to bait with you, when your ready to hunt and it should as soon as the big fellow has a pattern thats huntable. You stay in the stand and let your friend go through the same routine banging on the drum and leaving after baiting etc.. Good Luck
 
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i am not the expert but do have friends who have had many bears come in to the bait. The forty five gallon barrel is a must. but what my buddies do is leave the lid sealed and cut a hole in the bottom only big enough for the bear to get a little bit at a time, without getting his hole head in there. It is chain and boomered to the tree. filled with oats, rotten fish guts, beaver carcuss, etc. Spread the deepfryer grease on the logs and ground, and string a steel cable between two trees just high enough that the bear can't reach it on his hind legs. To this cable attach one or two beaver carcusses (in alberta these must be pre skinned or you will get a ticket from the fish cops for wasting fur). to a bear the beaver is like triple grade a alberta beef on the bbq with lobster. i don't know for sure if it's the castors or their flesh, but I have met some elders in the first nations that say you can throw a beaver on a campfire an a black bear will smell it from four miles away. I knew a guy who shot a beaver out on a fall hunting trip and just dragged it behind his quad for the entire day. On his way back to camp at the end of the day, sure enough, there was a black bear on the cutline with his nose to the ground. I have also heard they love pumpkin.
 
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