Black Bear site prep and starter baits

pinkmoon

pinkmoon

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Location
Fredericton , New Brunswick
With Spring Black Bear season fast approaching I was wondering what some folks like to use to get the bears attention and make them aware of a new bait station. Even with some of my established sites it can take the bears a while to find it again. In the past I have used bacon grease that I have saved up through the winter and mixed it with anise oil extract that I have bought from bulk barn. I have also had good results with lobster carcass's that I set out in the sun for a day or two. On the rare occasion that we have been given a beaver carcass we used it as an attractant with good results. I have not used any commercial purchased products as I kind of enjoy experimenting with home made DIY attractants.

Once we have a few bears hitting the bait we normally just switch to whole corn mixed with juice crystals and cheap cream soda pop.

I would be interested to hear what others use to open a new site or just attract bears in general.

To get folks jazzed up for spring her is a pic of my 2017 spring bear.

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I haven't done a whole lot of baiting, but when I do the initial setup is a good amount of popcorn with the bacon grease poured on. Seems to do the trick.
 
Used cooking oil always seems to get them to come in. I usually drag an oil soaked beaver all around the area to spread the scent. They will show up earlier every year if you are baiting in the same spots. They remember it's there from one year to the next. They also like oats soaked in oil and dry dog food soaked in.... you guessed it, Cooking oil.
 
bear season fast approaching .... with the foot of snow we just got and snow drifting that is not the defintion of winter ended ...

anyway i wish you good preparation. here it is just spot and stalk.
 
Good eye Phinton81. Although I would be happy if my 2018 bear was similar to the 2017 guy.

Medveqc we still have snow in the woods at the beginning of most spring bear seasons around here but nothing like you guys up north. Im not sure i could hack those winters up north.

I have used fryer oil in the past with good results. I just find it can be hard to source at times.Around these parts a lot of restaurants don't seem to like to give it away or have folks that have already spoken for it. More leg work on my part might be required.
 
I had great luck with jam, corn, honey, oil and sardines... the raccoons and Martins love it but when they track it over the woods the bears show up in no time.
 
Fill a large mesh onion bag with pork fat, place it in a black garbage bag and leave it in the sun for three days... haul it in to the bait site and spike it and tie it to the tree as high as you can get it, 8-10 feet is fine... pull of the garbage bag and you are done. Leave lots of fresh bait below.
 
We start them on beavers; oiled oats , blocks of licorice and Skittles. Beaver is the headliner for the first while, eventually they seem to switch over to tbe sweets. The oats are sort of a staple, they don't really go wild over them but never seem to quit eating them either whether there's oil or not.
 
Last year I used whole corn and a dairy mash feed with molasses in it, as well as saving scraps/leftovers and freezer/cupboard cleanings

To get their attention, I place half a dozen mackerel in a mesh bag and hang it high in the trees, and spray liquid smoke all over the surrounding trees and it seems to draw them in rather well.

Good luck, keeping up baits is a ton of work, but pretty interesting to watch the bears on camera and in person, wish we had a spring season here.
 
I always used nature.

Bears coming out of hibernation use green grass and carrion to blow their plugs and get their systems going again.

Their sniffers only work really well down wind so they in order to find winter kill, they investigate any gathering of Corvids. (Ravens, Crows etc)

If you want bears on a new bait, you want birds.

The fastest way I have found to bring the birds in once the snow is off, is to scatter a loaf of white bread around your bait site. It's easy to see from the air and brings the birds fast. Once the birds hit it's not long before the bears come to see what the birds are dining on.

Scent goes which ever way the wind is blowing. Sound travels everywhere, and if you've ever heard a conspiracy of Ravens, or a murder of Crows, you'll know why they are so easy to find.
 
I am lucky, a local company makes peanut butter so I get waste peanuts and peanut butter from them. Lat spring I got about 1000-1500 LBs of over-roasted peanuts, the smell was quite strong so I didn't need any other attractant, lasted about 3 weeks. :)
 
I think this season I will add a small 20 gallon barrel to a few of my baits . I will still keep the 45 gallon barrel there but I want to have a 20 there as well. I will cut a few small 1 inch holes in the 20 gallon and chain it to a tree. The bears will have to roll it around to get the bait to come out. I have seen a few of these in videos and pics people have posted. The setup is similar to one of the dog treat balls that make the dog work for its treats.
 
I'm hunting central Ontario and I can't get bears to touch any meat in the spring!

Had 3 beavers and about 100lbs of deer scrapes from the butcher and none of it was touched. Bears would walk right past it and go for the horse feed and the popcorn

Maybe I had too much of different stuff that they had a good choice, but I chaulked it up as being too early for meat for them as they are still adjusting from hibernation.


They did start to hit the meat later on in the spring, but after my supply was getting low and mostly fishers and coyotes ate the meat
 
Whole or cracked kernel corn mixed with cheap table syrup. Ladies napkins soaked in cheap vanilla extract hung in two or three places around the bait site. Paint liberal amounts of bacon grease on the trees around your bait barrel up as high as you can reach. Usually takes two to three days to get the bears on site. Works for me anyways. Bears do not seem to be overly fussy and many, many combinations of food items work.
The post about the ravens and crows attracting bears and wolves into a site has a lot of merit. Around here a couple high power rifle shots and squawking crows and ravens are diner bells for wolves. Gut a deer or bear and come back and hour later and there's nothing but a blood spot on the ground.
 
I use beaver up high in a tree
I dump alot of use used cooking oil on the ground bear walk on it
Corn and molasse inside bait
Is my setup
 
Pre Rot your meat in Rubbermaid container in warm shed or garage.....

Make a drag and make several long trails....rotten beaver carcass works well. Drag behind your Quad.

Put lots of oil in and around your barrel....mixed with rotten meat....the scent trails will spread out everywhere and you could get bears from 10 miles away.
 
No spring season here in Nova Scotia but I start baiting in July or first of August to get them coming in for the fall. I left an old mix of lobster shells and fish in a 5 gallon bucket half filled with water. Left it in the back of my truck to ferment we will say ( big mistake leaving it in the truck everywhere I went it stunk) tired it up in a tree and shot it a couple times with the .22 after a week I started with old Tim Hortons and bread and they kept coming in. Mix in some sweets and that's what I've had luck with
 
I have a black bear tutorial that I wrote a few years ago... it is too long to repost here, but if anyone is interested, send me a PM and I will send it to you.
 
Old nag was THE BAIT, when such things were allowed here. It even carried itself to the bait site.

Lots of Master Baiters on this thread.
 
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