Rookie Ontario bear hunter - Success!

S

Stripes

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
27   0   0
Location
Toronto Ontario
Gentlemen after the success of my rookie ontario deer hunter thread I felt the need to make another for spring bear season. You guys provided a treasure trove of information and I'm hoping you pull through for me again! Feel free to share any tips, tricks and to tell me if there are any glaring problems with my plan.

My buddy and I are planning to try baiting for bears for the upcoming season. We've got a loose plan in place already but I'd like opinions from people that have actually done it.

The location.
Last year while scouting for deer we found what we think is a pretty good location for bears. There certainly was sign in the area and we got some pictures of them on trail cameras. We even found an old bear bait site that had been long since abandoned (area completely overgrown, tree stand that was moss covered and rotten, remnants of a metal barrel).

The spot is at the end of a ridge that gently declines (steep but manageable). On one side of the ridge there is dense bush with a creek that flows at the bottom. The other side dense bush that leads into a swampy lake. Directly below is just thick woods with a tiny creek. (Hopefully my description is understandable)

I think this area sounds pretty promising. We are planning to find a second spot to bait as well. Should we look for something similar or totally different?

Baiting.
This is where we're most clueless. We will only be able to bait the sites weekly. Should we just go heavy and pile as much bait as possible? Should we start small and then as bears start hitting it ramp up how much we use? How early should we start baiting? We'll be using 50gal plastic barrels

Because we can only get to it weekly we're worried about bait going rancid if the bears don't hit it right away. I've got a line on 50lb bags of corn and trailmix, jugs of molasses, along with a friend whose wife works at a cookie factory. How much should I stock up on before the season? I don't want to run out but I also don't want to have 500lbs of corn in my garage all summer. (I was also thinking about trying horse sweet feed for bait, anyone ever use it?)

I'm thinking 50/50 corn/trailmix mixed up with molasses for the bulk of the bait. Few bags of cookies, candy, pastries, whatever on top.

Thanks gentlemen
 
Last edited:
Most around here use steel drums with a lid, attached to a tree with a chain or cable, a hole cut in the side of the drum about 4” square for the bears to scoop out a little at a time. Use what ever grain is handy and cheap, sweets are good, deep fryer grease is a standard(KFC) one guy had a line on free gummy bears he said the were great.
 
I'm my experience only having 1 bait site will severely hamper your chances. I usually do 4 sites just for my self and put them 2km away from each other minimum. I use fryer oil dog food( wife owns pet store so I get expired food for free) or I was buying 50 pound bags of hog food from the mill it was cheap something g like 16 per bag and I did use molasses as well. I never put any meat out in the spring only pellet food with sweet stuff. I always use to throw 6 packs of powder jello out every time I went it seemed to soak into ground and bears would rip the dirt up where I threw it. I was hunting crown land so I never put cameras up but its pretty clear when a bait is getting hit. your spot sounds great but I would try and out more then 1 bait out. I use 50 gallon plastic drums drill holes in it about 1 inch in diameter with hole saw then chain it to the tree. then when Mr bear shows up he has to roll the barrel around to get food and the food will last longer.
good luck!
 
I have a bear hunting tutorial that I wrote for a thread a few years ago... I have it saved... I can send it if you PM an email address.
 
brian27 said:
I'm my experience only having 1 bait site will severely hamper your chances. I usually do 4 sites just for my self and put them 2km away from each other minimum. I use fryer oil dog food( wife owns pet store so I get expired food for free) or I was buying 50 pound bags of hog food from the mill it was cheap something g like 16 per bag and I did use molasses as well. I never put any meat out in the spring only pellet food with sweet stuff. I always use to throw 6 packs of powder jello out every time I went it seemed to soak into ground and bears would rip the dirt up where I threw it. I was hunting crown land so I never put cameras up but its pretty clear when a bait is getting hit. your spot sounds great but I would try and out more then 1 bait out. I use 50 gallon plastic drums drill holes in it about 1 inch in diameter with hole saw then chain it to the tree. then when Mr bear shows up he has to roll the barrel around to get food and the food will last longer.
good luck!
Click to expand...

We will only be able to bait the sites weekly

Baiting is a lot of hard work, to do right, no way around it. if you can't put in the effort, best use another technique.

Grizz
 
Plastic bait barrels & molasses don't mix... We had a bear eat a barrel, lol...

If you are only going to bait once a week, I'd have a steel barrel on a steel pole, fixed between two trees.

Drill holes & fill with dog food. Put a rain covering above the barrel so the dog food doesn't get wet & swell inside the barrel.

Cheers
Jay
 
brian27 said:
I'm my experience only having 1 bait site will severely hamper your chances. I usually do 4 sites just for my self and put them 2km away from each other minimum. I use fryer oil dog food( wife owns pet store so I get expired food for free) or I was buying 50 pound bags of hog food from the mill it was cheap something g like 16 per bag and I did use molasses as well. I never put any meat out in the spring only pellet food with sweet stuff. I always use to throw 6 packs of powder jello out every time I went it seemed to soak into ground and bears would rip the dirt up where I threw it. I was hunting crown land so I never put cameras up but its pretty clear when a bait is getting hit. your spot sounds great but I would try and out more then 1 bait out. I use 50 gallon plastic drums drill holes in it about 1 inch in diameter with hole saw then chain it to the tree. then when Mr bear shows up he has to roll the barrel around to get food and the food will last longer.
good luck!
Click to expand...

I'm going to aim for having at least 2 sites set up, if we can manage it we'll try for 3. I like the jello powder idea, plus the dog food. Both are pretty cheap and readily available.

I was going to chain the barrels fairly tight to the tree but your idea sounds better. Anything that helps stretch the mileage of the bait sounds good to me!
 
hoytcanon said:
I have a bear hunting tutorial that I wrote for a thread a few years ago... I have it saved... I can send it if you PM an email address.
Click to expand...
Pm sent! Thank you!

Jay said:
Plastic bait barrels & molasses don't mix... We had a bear eat a barrel, lol...

If you are only going to bait once a week, I'd have a steel barrel on a steel pole, fixed between two trees.

Drill holes & fill with dog food. Put a rain covering above the barrel so the dog food doesn't get wet & swell inside the barrel.

Cheers
Jay
Click to expand...

This is why I'm glad I made this post! I should be able to drum up some steel barrels.
 
I've tried beavers several times and never had any bear touch them so I stopped using them and just use more oil. I have been using plastic barrels for 6 years and never had a bear do much damage .
 
brian27 said:
I've tried beavers several times and never had any bear touch them so I stopped using them and just use more oil. I have been using plastic barrels for 6 years and never had a bear do much damage .
Click to expand...

you need to put the beaver in the tree up. the smell and the birds around will attract bears same with seals ...
 
I think your biggest weakness if only being able to bait once a week. You need to hire a local lad to do your baiting. Given the amount of money you are going to spend on the hunt, promoting the local economy a bit cant hurt.
 
colombe said:
I would really like to have a copy of your bear baiting info... your old freind, Lou Roy
Click to expand...

Hey, Lou... tutorial sent... if you want you can edit your post and remove your email address. Best wishes for 2021, in this crazy new world! ��
 
So time for an update. We've got our spots roughly figured out and managed to secure help baiting the sites during the week, so I think that's a huge win for us.

So my next questions. How much bait should I be stocking up on for 3 bait sites roughly? Assuming all three sites get hit hard. (Best case scenario)

Any special precautions I should take for after the shot care with potentially hot weather? If we get lucky and get a bear it'll be field dressed right away, taken to camp hung up quartered and broken down there. Butchering it will happen back at home. Any tips for keeping the bugs off it and keeping it cool? Once it's quartered it'll be going on ice into a cooler for the ride home.

What to do with the hide? The cost of having it turned into a rug seems pretty dang high, I'd really like to not waste anything though. Any ideas?
 
you can first gut it and put inside the cavity some frozen bottle of water well cleaned before and no leak.

never hang up a bear so cant tell you. always find easy if you have a table to put the bear on it to skin it then broke down in the parts you want and need.

for the skin have it tanned should not be that big money and you can use the hide to do mittens or other useful stuffs no waste and not mount done.

enjoy it.

ps: never sold the skin of a bear before killing it ...
 
I have no interest in a tanned bear hide and it’s not cheap. Hats for hides stopped taking them so for me the hide gets recycled in the bush. May change if I get a trophy someday

As for meat care. Gut and skin ASAP to start the cooling process. Game bags to keep the bugs off and get the meat into a cooler as fast as you can. Since I solo hunt most of the time I won’t hunt on too hot of a day as I know I’ll have meat spoiling before I can process it all
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom