Machias' 2021 Idaho Bear baiting

[Machias]

Bait #2, only one small bear has been coming in.  Nice looking coat. Couple of coyotes.

[Machias]

My spring is over this year.  Pretty uneventful season.  I had so much going on I only hunted for 5 nights and passed on two smaller bears.  Hopefully I will not be quite so busy this fall and will probably run a bait.  I'm also going to begin the search for a new spot.  I will still bait the one not far from my house, but the quality of the bears is going down it seems to me.  I had more rubbed bears right off the bat than I have had in all the years combined.  Not sure if this is just an odd year or a foretelling of things to come.

[brew]

well that sux for your spring season...hope you have better luck this fall.  I always look forward to following your threads and hopefully you can get on going later this year.  Keep it up and let us know how it goes.

thanks
brew

[seastrike]

Hope you get into them this fall Fred.
Enjoy your threads.

[huntnnw]

lotta 100-200 lb bears this year. I got 1 that might be 225 -250 after almost 60 days of dumping food. I think way to many people hunt it and bears really never get a chance to get any age

[idaho guy]

thanks for the thread again Fred. Even though I have my own baits I really enjoy following along with your pics etc. I know you could take a bear every year off your bait but its nice to see someone let a few walk for a change. I am not pointing fingers at other hunters because I cant say I haven't misjudged a few over the years ha ha. Nice to see a little restraint anyways. I would agree that used to be a really good area but just based on the number of people that tell me they are baiting that general area its probably over hunted now days . You know that area better than me but I think it is just a function of the massive increase in the population and everybody immediately wants to run a bear bait(I don't blame them) and its just a lot less chance for bears to grow. That's in addition to the bears just having way more food available with all the baits. On a high note we jumped to a new area last spring and ended up with some really nice coat big bears. It was a lot further away and out of the main thoroughfares everybody seems to hit. I wouldn't totally abandon your better spots- one of my really old bait sites paid off pretty good this year despite a lot of new hound hunters and seemed like baiters  pounding the general area.  Want to buy some frosting for fall?  I only ran the 1 old bait this year and overestimated my bait needs. We are done and I am glad sick of feeding bears lol. Me and my son got 2 pretty good ones   

[Machias]

Thanks guys!

Awesome Ron, I might just hit you up for some frosting.  These guys that did come in really like the Butter Crème Frosting!!    Ya, I think I am going to try to find someplace, even if it is a bit of a drive and out of the way....those places are becoming harder and harder to find.  But there are still places out there that are not convenient to get into and should be fun to hunt, even if they are a bit more work.  It was not my best spring, but it was still a LOT of fun, heck even on the nights nothing came in, I really enjoyed myself.

[bearpaw]

It's always fun hunting bear, if you can watch them and get all that enjoyment sometimes it's better than pulling the trigger and creating a lot of work! 

[huntnnw]

Thanks guys!

Awesome Ron, I might just hit you up for some frosting.  These guys that did come in really like the Butter Crème Frosting!!    Ya, I think I am going to try to find someplace, even if it is a bit of a drive and out of the way....those places are becoming harder and harder to find.  But there are still places out there that are not convenient to get into and should be fun to hunt, even if they are a bit more work.  It was not my best spring, but it was still a LOT of fun, heck even on the nights nothing came in, I really enjoyed myself.

I can tell you a area that never gets pressured. Cant even get to it until early july most years. Then I never see a rig for days sometimes. I am going to bait it this year

[hunter399]

I always end up looking at your pics.
I know that baiting is Alot of time,money,work,when it pays off for ya it will be epic.
Thanks for posting.
I see a biggin in your future.👌👌👌

[SpicyTacos]

I’ve really enjoyed this thread. Good job and good luck this fall.

[Machias]