You'll find that it takes a lot of time and travel to get a bait going and keep it running. I made a simple, but somewhat effective, feeder that allowed me to only have to get to the bait site once every 10-14 days. I used a cheap feeder motor and spinner plate designed for feeding corn to whitetails like you see in Cabela's. I mounted it to the bottom of a 55 gallon drum that would hold a ton of dry dog food. Inside the drum I put a big sheet metal cone to keep the contraption from clogging and keep to a minimum the amount of dog food that didn't get dropped from spoiling. The thing would turn on and spin for maybe 20 seconds every morning dropping maybe 5 or 6 cups of food. It ran on a 6V lantern battery that would die before 40# of food was dispensed (about 10 days). The lid of the barrel kept the food dry, and the bears loved having a new meal available every day.
I usually start the bait by bringing some dry kindling and building a small fire. I'll throw a pound of bacon on the fire and let it burn (pulling a few out for snacking has been known to occur). I'll use an old pan to boil maple syrup, marshmallows, jello, and anise oil over the fire. I pour this all around after about 20 minutes. A few drops of anise sprinkled around completes the process. There's always a bear in close enough to be interested, and he'll generally come in after dark the first night to check it out. A few mornings of dog food feeding, and he's hooked. He's also creating nice trails of BBQ-Joint fryer grease through the hills to bring all the rest of the bears in the area within a week or two. It takes a constant source of carbohydrates to keep them coming back, though. Smells get the attention, but you've got to have food available to consistently kill them.
