Species8472
CGN Regular
- Location
- Nipissing Township + 82a
A week ago i put out a prototype coon proof bear bait. I call it the "Pinata" as the bears will be batting it around like a pinata. Basically its a 55 gallon drum that can be lifted so the bottom is up to 5 feet off the ground. It will also prevent the bears from moving a shaker barrel on a lead to somewhere behind the anchor tree where they can hide.
Used the Zodiac to conduct the operation as the locale is 5k+ from the nearest ATV access.
The finished product:
Did the whole thing with a 6 foot step which was a tad shorter than ideal but i managed. Had to use the "this not a step" part a few too many times and also had to hoist myself off the ladder onto the beams to put up the support strap and drill/bolt the cross piece that the pulley hangs from:
You can just seen the ladder 3 or 4 feet below the beam to the left of my left foot. I brought a 6-pack with me for the day but after one beer quickly decided to switch to water as walking/working/drilling/bolting while up on the 4x4s was perhaps a little sketchy.
The view from about 50 yards down the shooting lane:
All bolts and threaded rod are 5/8 inch, support strap is rated for 1000 lbs working load and 3000 lbs break strength, shackle/clevis and eyebolt are all forged and rated for 2000+lbs, cable is 3/16 inch and winch is rated for 2000 lbs. Main beams and clamp are 4x4 cedar. Once the clamp was set i also added 6x 3/8 inch by 10 inch long lag bolts (3 through the 4x4 on each side of the trunk) to prevent any rotation of the clamp. The weak link in the whole works is the pulley - it is only rated for 700 lbs. May have to change that if the bears get too aggressive.
Went out to check the prototype bait yesterday. Only had one set of coon visits and all the pics looked like this:
I also put a new camera up as my existing cameras don't take video (7 year old bullet proof reconyx that i splurged on after getting sick of replacing 100 to 200 dollar cameras every 2 or 3 years. I have 2 of them and they both work the same as new and have taken upmteen 1000 pics in all seasons). So next update will hopefully include video.
Momma and the 3 cubs are back and should be pretty entertaining on video. Here is how the cubs looked in spring:
And now:
Momma is decent size as well. For reference the bottom of the barrel is 40 inches off the ground:
This is my target bear:
I also discovered that the bait is so dense and sticky that it does not gravity feed at all resulting in 80% stuck up in the barrel and the bears not being able to get at it. I greatly enlarged the access holes and hopefully the bears will be able to work it enough to solve the problem. Did not have my sawzall with me so improvised with a hole saw on the drill:
Also had one acrobat that i think was a pine marten but not sure. On the barrel:
Used the Zodiac to conduct the operation as the locale is 5k+ from the nearest ATV access.
The finished product:
Did the whole thing with a 6 foot step which was a tad shorter than ideal but i managed. Had to use the "this not a step" part a few too many times and also had to hoist myself off the ladder onto the beams to put up the support strap and drill/bolt the cross piece that the pulley hangs from:
You can just seen the ladder 3 or 4 feet below the beam to the left of my left foot. I brought a 6-pack with me for the day but after one beer quickly decided to switch to water as walking/working/drilling/bolting while up on the 4x4s was perhaps a little sketchy.
The view from about 50 yards down the shooting lane:
All bolts and threaded rod are 5/8 inch, support strap is rated for 1000 lbs working load and 3000 lbs break strength, shackle/clevis and eyebolt are all forged and rated for 2000+lbs, cable is 3/16 inch and winch is rated for 2000 lbs. Main beams and clamp are 4x4 cedar. Once the clamp was set i also added 6x 3/8 inch by 10 inch long lag bolts (3 through the 4x4 on each side of the trunk) to prevent any rotation of the clamp. The weak link in the whole works is the pulley - it is only rated for 700 lbs. May have to change that if the bears get too aggressive.
Went out to check the prototype bait yesterday. Only had one set of coon visits and all the pics looked like this:
I also put a new camera up as my existing cameras don't take video (7 year old bullet proof reconyx that i splurged on after getting sick of replacing 100 to 200 dollar cameras every 2 or 3 years. I have 2 of them and they both work the same as new and have taken upmteen 1000 pics in all seasons). So next update will hopefully include video.
Momma and the 3 cubs are back and should be pretty entertaining on video. Here is how the cubs looked in spring:
And now:
Momma is decent size as well. For reference the bottom of the barrel is 40 inches off the ground:
This is my target bear:
I also discovered that the bait is so dense and sticky that it does not gravity feed at all resulting in 80% stuck up in the barrel and the bears not being able to get at it. I greatly enlarged the access holes and hopefully the bears will be able to work it enough to solve the problem. Did not have my sawzall with me so improvised with a hole saw on the drill:
Also had one acrobat that i think was a pine marten but not sure. On the barrel:
