Smoke sticks and honey burns

B

brybenn

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
53   0   0
Location
southern ontario
Any one actually have success with honey burns and smoke stick attractants?
Ive tried a couple times just fooling around over the years. All i got was hungry. Got a last minute back pack hunt coming together and figured id try again if all else was failing
 
My group hunts spring and fall bear in WMU 46. We have tried honey burns many times over the years. Never seen a bear in person or on camera at any of the honey burn spots (and yes, there are bears there. In 6 years we have shot 5 bears and have seen others not shootable).

Also, we've had no success with jelly donut syrup. No luck with corn syrup. No luck with molasses and dog food. No luck with buttered popcorn.

Canned sardines have brought in bears a few times. Also had bears come to "predator" calls (dying rabbit).

I would say to try different things until something works. Using 3-5 of us hunting so we try different things at different blinds/tree stands.

YMMV.
 
i know you said a back packing trip... but if you want consistent results at a bear site, bring in used cooking oil and don't be shy with it. after the 1st year and the bears start to find the site, if you load it up before spring or fall hunt you will have consistent bears year after year. they will just sit there and lick the oil off the ground, stumps, or trees. a couple bags of oats help to as it will get stuck in the ground and they will eat it up
hell id even pack in a litre of it if that is all you can carry.
 
Molasses and dog food and popcorn has always worked for me. Roe filled carp work great to. Ive tried a predator call several times. Wolves show up fast. Never had a bear come in to a call though.
Ive used fryer grease before. In warmer tempts it worked well. Ive found the cooler nights of late september early october it hardens up and the bears dont touch it
 
Shot a small bear at a honey burn about a decade ago. Interesting enough the stomach was full of bees. It’s the only success I’ve had with it and gave it up a season or two later.

I second the oil comment. Get used from a restaurant. 5gal pales. Make sure your lids are on tight. Pour that out and let the bears track it into the woods for you.
 
Burning honey mixed with various fruits and oils. Makes a very aromatic smoke which drifts thru the area. Some say bears come in to it. Others have not experienced that
 
brybenn said:
Any one actually have success with honey burns and smoke stick attractants?
Ive tried a couple times just fooling around over the years. All i got was hungry. Got a last minute back pack hunt coming together and figured id try again if all else was failing
Click to expand...

Yes we have had success with just honey burn, no fruit and only used it on days with little to no wind.
 
Bear crack burn attractant

I like doing honey burns, its fun, lets me be mobile and able to go to different locations whenever desired. Meadows and beaver ponds in creek valleys work well, the scent can drift down the valley a long ways.

Need:
-Two metal cans, a medium sized coffee can and a standard size bean/corn/pea can.
-Two straight pieces of coat hanger
-sterno type fuel can, the new wick style with a cap work excellent
-molasses or maple syrup
-bag of small marshmallows
-box of strawberry jello powder mix

On the medium sized coffee can cut three or four squares out of the can about 1/2” or so higher than the height of the sterno can you have. This will provide air for the flame.

Above the cut out air hole squares, punch four holes through the can at 90 degrees to each other and at the same level to slide pieces of coat hanger through. This will serve as the rack that the normal sized empty bean can will sit on.

Using two straight lengths of coat hanger put a 90 degree bend on one side that will serve as a handle and will stop the wire from sliding inside the can and cut to length about an inch longer than the diameter of the coffee can.

Using the device
Take the bean can and fill it a quarter full of molasses or maple syrup, toss in some small marshmallows and a few spoon full’s of strawberry jello powder. Mix it together.

Light the sterno can and drop it into the medium sized coffee can.

Insert the coat hanger wires through the holes in the coffee can.

Place the bean can with the molasses/strawberry/marshmallow mix on the coat hanger wires.

Let it burn to create smoke, it’ll smoke for a half hour or so.

Note:
There is a definite fire hazard doing this, this molasses mixture will expand four fold when it is bubbling and cooking.
It can easily overflow and the mixture will start on fire if exposed directly to flame.
Do not hang this thing in a tree, put it on the ground and make the area around it is fire proof.

Once the molasses mixture has burned fully it will be a black hardened crust, you will need to have a screwdriver or similar scraping tool with you to break out all the burned residue to do another burn.

This can also be done using a honey and water mix.
The more water the longer the burn.

bear-crack.jpg
 
Last edited:
brybenn said:
Burning honey mixed with various fruits and oils. Makes a very aromatic smoke which drifts thru the area. Some say bears come in to it. Others have not experienced that
Click to expand...

Bears have to be close enough to smell it, a short term thing. Used to be a thing called 10 Dead Horses, guy I met swore by it.

Grizz
 
I have had success with the smoking sticks for deer. Made by Tinks or DeerQuest. I got them at Peavey Mart. They are easy to pack in as them take up so little room.

I walked in to my stand on a trail, lit a smoking stick and put the windbreak/chimney thing over top (this is key to get a good smoke). Not 15min later a buck walked up the same trail, head down and within 5 yards of the smoking stick...stupid me I hadn't even knocked an arrow yet!

Last year during muzzleloader season I lit one in the field in front of me. I was just sitting in a lawnchair, behind a brush pile that day on the edge of the field just back into the tree line. I was surprised by a coyote that came along the field parallel to the tree line. I didn't seem him until he was 10 yards from me. The coyote was totally focused on the smokin stick.

So ya, I'm a believer. If nothing else it covers your sent and offers something that they seem to find curious.

But again, you should use some kind of a cover chimney so the smoke gets a chance to build up and come out the holes. It also keeps it out of the wind and therefore burns slower. The DeerQuest larger packages come with a re-useable foldable plastic chimney, but you can make one from a bucket or a 4" piece of black ABS pipe with a cap and drill some holes in the sides near the top to let the smoke out.
 
Last edited:
Best bear bait I've ever used it not what most use,but will bring in the biggest bear around the area in shooting light.Ive had some smart bears at stands and usually save my best for last,after all other bait tactics.

FIND A TRAPPER,GET SOME BEAVER CARCASSES AND CASTOR GLANDS,no bear can resist beaver and castor scent.
 
buck knife said:
Best bear bait I've ever used it not what most use,but will bring in the biggest bear around the area in shooting light.Ive had some smart bears at stands and usually save my best for last,after all other bait tactics.

FIND A TRAPPER,GET SOME BEAVER CARCASSES AND CASTOR GLANDS,no bear can resist beaver and castor scent.
Click to expand...

Had 2 beaver carcasses hanging for a week completely untouched. Just a bad year i guess. Way to much traffic in the area and a heavy hunting presence that the area has never seen. No bears but the bird hunting was the best its ever been
 
brybenn said:
Had 2 beaver carcasses hanging for a week completely untouched. Just a bad year i guess. Way to much traffic in the area and a heavy hunting presence that the area has never seen. No bears but the bird hunting was the best its ever been
Click to expand...

I’ve had bears under beaver carcasss in the fall and they could care less. In the spring they seem to be like candy to them. I don’t bother in the fall anymore. They eventually eat them but they sure aren’t the attractant they are in the spring

I don’t know why that is but I’ve proven it to myself a few times now

This is black bear in Ontario I’m taking about
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom