Mineral sites and bears

[Dreaded Archer24]

Has anyone had bears hit their old/ current mineral sites that you set up for deer ? If so what do you do ?


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[BreezyBear]

They occationaly stop by mine, but they just pass through, not actually using or interested in the salt.

[jrebel]

Has anyone had bears hit their old/ current mineral sites that you set up for deer ? If so what do you do ?


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Bears are very curious animals and will inspect anything new or different in their back yard.  I'm convinced a guy could attract bear to a certain spot by putting a jungle gym in middle of the woods.....they would be playing on it within days.   

Salt / mineral sites will have bears visit them, but in my experience it isn't an attractant to bears.  Never seen a bear eating or licking my mineral blocks....just see them rolling them down the mountain.      Have not had a problem with bears frequenting mineral sights on a regular basis either, almost like they check them out as they are walking by. 

Coyotes....will piss  right in the middle of your mineral site.....they are dirty little buggers.   

[MIKEXRAY]

The bears in my area of Eastern Wa just pass through , with no interest whatsoever in my mineral site.  If I have a shot at a bear using the trail I sit on during early archery I'm taking it . If it actually did come directly into the mineral site I would not shoot.  It's a fine line obviously.  Good luck

[dilleytech]

The bears in my area of Eastern Wa just pass through , with no interest whatsoever in my mineral site.  If I have a shot at a bear using the trail I sit on during early archery I'm taking it . If it actually did come directly into the mineral site I would not shoot.  It's a fine line obviously.  Good luck

Not really a fine line if the bears coming to your bait site it’s baiting. If you sitting at salt and see a bear and shoot it it’s baiting.

[GOcougsHunter]

The bears in my area of Eastern Wa just pass through , with no interest whatsoever in my mineral site.  If I have a shot at a bear using the trail I sit on during early archery I'm taking it . If it actually did come directly into the mineral site I would not shoot.  It's a fine line obviously.  Good luck

Not really a fine line if the bears coming to your bait site it’s baiting. If you sitting at salt and see a bear and shoot it it’s baiting.

What if you put up a sign that states that the mineral site is intended for deer and elk only? 

[callturner]

I have bears coming to my salt block constantly lots of pictures on the trail cams. Sows with Cubs, boars you name it.

[hunter399]

Yes ....yes....and yes bears will show up at mineral sites.
At least they do at mine.
They show very little interest in salt ,as in actual eating or using the minerals.
Just like other predators,cougars,bobcat,ect. I think there interested in all the ungulates that have pissed there and left scent.
I had a small bear all summer that would constantly roll in the salt,and dirt so that's was different to me.

Now if you make your minerals apple flavored ,which I have a recipe for. Wink...wink... 😉.
They'll probably be more interested.
That secret stays with me.

[dilleytech]

The bears in my area of Eastern Wa just pass through , with no interest whatsoever in my mineral site.  If I have a shot at a bear using the trail I sit on during early archery I'm taking it . If it actually did come directly into the mineral site I would not shoot.  It's a fine line obviously.  Good luck

Not really a fine line if the bears coming to your bait site it’s baiting. If you sitting at salt and see a bear and shoot it it’s baiting.

What if you put up a sign that states that the mineral site is intended for deer and elk only? 

Your honor! This sign clearly states!!! 😂

[Dreaded Archer24]

Yes ....yes....and yes bears will show up at mineral sites.
At least they do at mine.
They show very little interest in salt ,as in actual eating or using the minerals.
Just like other predators,cougars,bobcat,ect. I think there interested in all the ungulates that have pissed there and left scent.
I had a small bear all summer that would constantly roll in the salt,and dirt so that's was different to me.

Now if you make your minerals apple flavored ,which I have a recipe for. Wink...wink... .
They'll probably be more interested.
That secret stays with me.

Apple flavored salt you say?


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[hunter399]

Yes ....yes....and yes bears will show up at mineral sites.
At least they do at mine.
They show very little interest in salt ,as in actual eating or using the minerals.
Just like other predators,cougars,bobcat,ect. I think there interested in all the ungulates that have pissed there and left scent.
I had a small bear all summer that would constantly roll in the salt,and dirt so that's was different to me.

Now if you make your minerals apple flavored ,which I have a recipe for. Wink...wink... .
They'll probably be more interested.
That secret stays with me.

Apple flavored salt you say?


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Yup yup
Hint hint
Wink wink.
🤔😂🤔

[huntnnw]

there is some on my trail cam thread on here. I had 5 come through in a week

[MIKEXRAY]

There actually is a fine line I believe,  there are circumstances where u aren't actually baiting the bear in. What if someone puts out only " doe in heat " , would that be illegal to shoot a bear if it came in ?  I hunt a steep ridge flat spot about the size of a football field. The main trail is on the backside of the flat spot / bottom of the next steep rise. I sit on the main trail , my salt and camera are in the middle of the flat about 50 yards away. I also have a camera on the trail , the bears never leave the trail ever . If I have a bear come down the trail I'm shooting an arrow , confident the salt had nothing to do with it.

[Dreaded Archer24]

There actually is a fine line I believe,  there are circumstances where u aren't actually baiting the bear in. What if someone puts out only " doe in heat " , would that be illegal to shoot a bear if it came in ?  I hunt a steep ridge flat spot about the size of a football field. The main trail is on the backside of the flat spot / bottom of the next steep rise. I sit on the main trail , my salt and camera are in the middle of the flat about 50 yards away. I also have a camera on the trail , the bears never leave the trail ever . If I have a bear come down the trail I'm shooting an arrow , confident the salt had nothing to do with it.

I honestly think there is so many gray areas in the law they need to do a better job on being more specific maybe possibly listing things that cannot be used during bear season maybe I don’t know. I think the whole bait in the bear thing is ridiculous anyways when you have tribes on the coast that are able to bait bear  all year around and they go hunting all throughout the summer. It’s a money thing it’s not about conservation.


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[dilleytech]

There actually is a fine line I believe,  there are circumstances where u aren't actually baiting the bear in. What if someone puts out only " doe in heat " , would that be illegal to shoot a bear if it came in ?  I hunt a steep ridge flat spot about the size of a football field. The main trail is on the backside of the flat spot / bottom of the next steep rise. I sit on the main trail , my salt and camera are in the middle of the flat about 50 yards away. I also have a camera on the trail , the bears never leave the trail ever . If I have a bear come down the trail I'm shooting an arrow , confident the salt had nothing to do with it.

Yes that is considered baiting. Shooting a bear that close to any attractant is considered baiting. Now what are the odds of you getting caught or seeing serious consequences? Very very low I would say.

[85yota]

There actually is a fine line I believe,  there are circumstances where u aren't actually baiting the bear in. What if someone puts out only " doe in heat " , would that be illegal to shoot a bear if it came in ?  I hunt a steep ridge flat spot about the size of a football field. The main trail is on the backside of the flat spot / bottom of the next steep rise. I sit on the main trail , my salt and camera are in the middle of the flat about 50 yards away. I also have a camera on the trail , the bears never leave the trail ever . If I have a bear come down the trail I'm shooting an arrow , confident the salt had nothing to do with it.

Yes that is considered baiting. Shooting a bear that close to any attractant is considered baiting. Now what are the odds of you getting caught or seeing serious consequences? Very very low I would say.

Is there a neccessary required distance from a deer bait sight to be able to hunt bears? It's a massive grey area, if your baiting deer with apples and walking in you shoot a bear, how's that work.? Sitting on a game trail 100 yards away and a bear walks by, are we baiting now?.

[dilleytech]

There actually is a fine line I believe,  there are circumstances where u aren't actually baiting the bear in. What if someone puts out only " doe in heat " , would that be illegal to shoot a bear if it came in ?  I hunt a steep ridge flat spot about the size of a football field. The main trail is on the backside of the flat spot / bottom of the next steep rise. I sit on the main trail , my salt and camera are in the middle of the flat about 50 yards away. I also have a camera on the trail , the bears never leave the trail ever . If I have a bear come down the trail I'm shooting an arrow , confident the salt had nothing to do with it.

Yes that is considered baiting. Shooting a bear that close to any attractant is considered baiting. Now what are the odds of you getting caught or seeing serious consequences? Very very low I would say.

Is there a neccessary required distance from a deer bait sight to be able to hunt bears? It's a massive grey area, if your baiting deer with apples and walking in you shoot a bear, how's that work.? Sitting on a game trail 100 yards away and a bear walks by, are we baiting now?.

I don’t know of an exact legal distance. Like most things it’s going to come to the discretion of the officer. If you know you have an attractant in the area or are heading to a deer bait you shouldn’t even have a bear tag in your pocket legally speaking. If you’re sitting on a deer bait with a bear tag in your pocket you can get ticketed. This has happened before. So if you want to be safe consider bear off limits around bait.

Now if you are walking through the woods and shoot a bear but you didn’t know someone else had a bait 100 yards up the trail. Then you wouldn’t knowingly be baiting. The law would want you to self report in that situation. But you have to convince the officer if caught that you had no idea about that bait. You get the idea? 

It all makes plenty of sense if you think about it.

[MIKEXRAY]

I understand all the points made , good conversation.  I've never even come close to breaking any wildlife laws my whole life. Will think about this with different perspectives in mind.  Hope everyone has a great season , coming quickly  !

[dilleytech]

I understand all the points made , good conversation.  I've never even come close to breaking any wildlife laws my whole life. Will think about this with different perspectives in mind.  Hope everyone has a great season , coming quickly  !

You are probably the only one then lol it’s hard not to break a law at least accidentally .

[hunter399]

There is another option that may work.
If your using loose salt,just let it dry up before season starts.
If your using a salt block,go pick it up before the season.

That's all I got.
I know for a fact that any spot I'm using loose salt,if I throw it down today. Deer,elk,moose will have it gone by August. Even a few spots I use blocks will be gone by August,cause I only put a quarter block at a time. Put them out in April.
So if your checking cams or sitting in a tree stand actively hunting bears, probably not a good idea to take in more salt and refresh the area with an attractant in August.

It's does suck that's the way the law is written.
I can say all my spots this year ,I only get three pics of a bear,then there gone. Even though salt is an attractant,it's not the same as corn or something else that the bear will eat.
I could spread out some corn,that bear will eat every kernel.
Would result in hundreds of pics,and the bear being there for an hour or more.
Salt is an attractant,but for bears it's a poor one.
I have more pics of bears trying to mess with the cameras,then the salt. So that's pretty sad.

[hunter399]

I just wanted to add....
The wife and I where talking the other day.
What we came up with is,that bears show up to the salt.
Then there is nothing to really eat,so they think the camera is gonna dispense some food and have to check in out.
Then I've noticed an uptick of bears pics in June normally.
It's not the salt,it's fawn and calves season, something to think on,by August bear pics slow down. Cause there normally looking for better food sources,like berry patches and what not.

Another note here,is that it is totally up to the warden . What's an attractant and what's not.
So if your adding a protein or a scent to your salt,its probably more of an attractant than a plain salt.
Salt is an attractant according to the law.

[pawpaw1934]

   One question for entire thread participants........
While out in woods, east or west, hunting bear, knowingly or unknowingly hunting near a deer bait site, or no bait within 5 miles.....shooting a bear or seeing nothing but beautiful country, have you run across a game warden?  I have never seen one more than 15 yds off a dirt road.   

[dilleytech]

  One question for entire thread participants........
While out in woods, east or west, hunting bear, knowingly or unknowingly hunting near a deer bait site, or no bait within 5 miles.....shooting a bear or seeing nothing but beautiful country, have you run across a game warden?  I have never seen one more than 15 yds off a dirt road.   

No. But I have seen other people that would love to turn me in if they thought I was poaching. Like a guy with a bait near by that doesn’t want you ever hunting that spot again.

I haven’t been checked by a game warden once in my life big game hunting. Only while bird hunting.

[duckmen1]

  One question for entire thread participants........
While out in woods, east or west, hunting bear, knowingly or unknowingly hunting near a deer bait site, or no bait within 5 miles.....shooting a bear or seeing nothing but beautiful country, have you run across a game warden?  I have never seen one more than 15 yds off a dirt road.   

No. But I have seen other people that would love to turn me in if they thought I was poaching. Like a guy with a bait near by that doesn’t want you ever hunting that spot again.

I haven’t been checked by a game warden once in my life big game hunting. Only while bird hunting.

I was in an area a number of years back. Calling for bear at a clearcut. After a while of not seeing a bear I tried to get better vantages and was able to crawl up quietly onto a few slash piles. I noticed apples in all of them. I realized what was going on after the 3rd pile. Was goanna leave when I looked a couple hundred yards up to the top of the ridge and had a guy with his scope right on me. Scared me to death. Dropped down onto the road and crawed out of there out of sight picking the call up on the way out. Called the warden to let him know what happened and he went to stake that spot out for the week. I had one follow up call about the warden locating a number of bait sites. But no updates after. I never stepped foot into that area again.

[hunter399]

Letting the salt dry up is my plan,if I have to hunt a salt spot.
As far as checking a camera ,I'm there less than 10 minutes.
Switch cards and I'm out. Don't have any blinds/tree stands.
I'm not sitting on the salt,even for deer season.
Not sure if that's a problem during bear season or what.

[dilleytech]

Letting the salt dry up is my plan,if I have to hunt a salt spot.
As far as checking a camera ,I'm there less than 10 minutes.
Switch cards and I'm out. Don't have any blinds/tree stands.
I'm not sitting on the salt,even for deer season.
Not sure if that's a problem during bear season or what.

I would doubt someone would give you any gasket for checking a camera with a bear tag in your pocket. But sitting on salt with a bear tag maybe. Specially if said warden has been receiving calls about baiting in the area or something. I wouldn’t think to much about it and trust your guts. We have fantastic beer hunting. Kill a couple this fall.

[kodiak06]

There actually is a fine line I believe,  there are circumstances where u aren't actually baiting the bear in. What if someone puts out only " doe in heat " , would that be illegal to shoot a bear if it came in ?  I hunt a steep ridge flat spot about the size of a football field. The main trail is on the backside of the flat spot / bottom of the next steep rise. I sit on the main trail , my salt and camera are in the middle of the flat about 50 yards away. I also have a camera on the trail , the bears never leave the trail ever . If I have a bear come down the trail I'm shooting an arrow , confident the salt had nothing to do with it.

If you're 50yds from bait/mineral it's not a fine line. You're 100% on the baiting side of the line when LE is involved

[idahohuntr]

Now if you are walking through the woods and shoot a bear but you didn’t know someone else had a bait 100 yards up the trail. Then you wouldn’t knowingly be baiting. The law would want you to self report in that situation. But you have to convince the officer if caught that you had no idea about that bait. You get the idea? 

I've got a little different idea...the burden of proof is on the prosecution and in such a scenario I'd fight them every inch of the way. Definitely not self-reporting and definitely not saying anything to any officer...I don't have to convince them of anything.

[dilleytech]

Now if you are walking through the woods and shoot a bear but you didn’t know someone else had a bait 100 yards up the trail. Then you wouldn’t knowingly be baiting. The law would want you to self report in that situation. But you have to convince the officer if caught that you had no idea about that bait. You get the idea? 

I've got a little different idea...the burden of proof is on the prosecution and in such a scenario I'd fight them every inch of the way. Definitely not self-reporting and definitely not saying anything to any officer...I don't have to convince them of anything.

Right but self reporting shows no illegal intent. If you don’t self report and someone else turns you in it just looks worse for you. But if you don’t self report and no one turns you in then your hunting season was just that much better.

[jrebel]

I'm super confused.....

I have been hunting bear on a hillside for decades because it is full of service berries.  It is also a great spot for deer and elk (because you know..deer and elk live in the same areas bear do).  A new elk hunter comes in and drops a block of salt and I stumble across it.  Does this hunters salt now render the hillside un-huntable by myself for bear??  But it is huntable for other bear hunters that don't know the salt is there??  Color me confused..... 

Can I now claim a hillside as my own if I drop some salt and then post signs saying "this hillside has salt on it....no bear hunters allowed"??  I have never had a bear frequent salt blocks / licks.  Yeah, do they walk the same trails as deer and elk and walk buy salt....100%!!  Can you pattern a bear on salt....NO!!  I challenge someone to prove me wrong.

[Ridgeratt]

Jrebel, I think it all boils down to the will of the wdfw official. If he feels that you are hunting with the knowledge he will try to teach you a lesson. The same thing I think applies to trail cameras.  You put up a camera and someone else hangs one 200 yards away does that then become their spot?

[hunter399]

I'm super confused.....

I have been hunting bear on a hillside for decades because it is full of service berries.  It is also a great spot for deer and elk (because you know..deer and elk live in the same areas bear do).  A new elk hunter comes in and drops a block of salt and I stumble across it.  Does this hunters salt now render the hillside un-huntable by myself for bear??  But it is huntable for other bear hunters that don't know the salt is there??  Color me confused..... 

Can I now claim a hillside as my own if I drop some salt and then post signs saying "this hillside has salt on it....no bear hunters allowed"??  I have never had a bear frequent salt blocks / licks.  Yeah, do they walk the same trails as deer and elk and walk buy salt....100%!!  Can you pattern a bear on salt....NO!!  I challenge someone to prove me wrong.

I agree ,super confused.
One person that could clear up some questions. Warden...LEO.
Will lurk in the shadows,not respond to topics such as these.
So all we can do is try to interpret the law best to our ability and hunt.

[dilleytech]

I'm super confused.....

I have been hunting bear on a hillside for decades because it is full of service berries.  It is also a great spot for deer and elk (because you know..deer and elk live in the same areas bear do).  A new elk hunter comes in and drops a block of salt and I stumble across it.  Does this hunters salt now render the hillside un-huntable by myself for bear??  But it is huntable for other bear hunters that don't know the salt is there??  Color me confused..... 

Can I now claim a hillside as my own if I drop some salt and then post signs saying "this hillside has salt on it....no bear hunters allowed"??  I have never had a bear frequent salt blocks / licks.  Yeah, do they walk the same trails as deer and elk and walk buy salt....100%!!  Can you pattern a bear on salt....NO!!  I challenge someone to prove me wrong.

You can place scent all around a block of salt and attract bears. The point is you’re sitting on something that attracts animals in an effort to attract animals and If you shot a bear over it would you be shocked if you got charge with bear baiting?

[hunter399]

I'm guessing the big question is.
How far is far enough from a known bait site that your not hunting over bait.

Obviously sitting over it,blind or tree stand over looking it.
Is baiting even if your not intentionally targeting bears.

[jrebel]

I'm super confused.....

I have been hunting bear on a hillside for decades because it is full of service berries.  It is also a great spot for deer and elk (because you know..deer and elk live in the same areas bear do).  A new elk hunter comes in and drops a block of salt and I stumble across it.  Does this hunters salt now render the hillside un-huntable by myself for bear??  But it is huntable for other bear hunters that don't know the salt is there??  Color me confused..... 

Can I now claim a hillside as my own if I drop some salt and then post signs saying "this hillside has salt on it....no bear hunters allowed"??  I have never had a bear frequent salt blocks / licks.  Yeah, do they walk the same trails as deer and elk and walk buy salt....100%!!  Can you pattern a bear on salt....NO!!  I challenge someone to prove me wrong.

You can place scent all around a block of salt and attract bears. The point is you’re sitting on something that attracts animals in an effort to attract animals and If you shot a bear over it would you be shocked if you got charge with bear baiting?

In my scenario....I didn't place anything anywhere.  So because another hunter has a salt lick in an area that has produced bear consistently, do I now have to abandon that area??  I'm not advocating for breaking the law.....but I'm also not letting another hunters salt stop me from hunting a berry field that produces bear. 

[Brushcrawler]

Had something like this happen to me last season. I hiked several miles into a great bear area and someone had dumped a big pile of dog food right next to the best glassing spot. I moved on as I was not comfortable hunting in the area once I knew there was bait. Not cool that they ruined the spot.

[addicted1]

I'm guessing the big question is.
How far is far enough from a known bait site that your not hunting over bait.

Obviously sitting over it,blind or tree stand over looking it.
Is baiting even if your not intentionally targeting bears.

This to me is THE question right? The regulations state how far away a bait pile can be placed from another bait pile…like 200-250 yards from memory. There has to be distance in theory, but the intention is key here. You can hunt bait bears for hunting, no other way around it.

[hunter399]

I'm guessing the big question is.
How far is far enough from a known bait site that your not hunting over bait.

Obviously sitting over it,blind or tree stand over looking it.
Is baiting even if your not intentionally targeting bears.

This to me is THE question right? The regulations state how far away a bait pile can be placed from another bait pile…like 200-250 yards from memory. There has to be distance in theory, but the intention is key here. You can hunt bait bears for hunting, no other way around it.

The intent would be to scout for deer/elk .
Salt is an attractant,but a poor one for bear.
If I was targeting bears ,salt wouldn't even be on the list for an attractant.

No worries though,Salt will be gone at most of my spots by August.
I guess I can thank all the moose for that.

[dilleytech]

I'm guessing the big question is.
How far is far enough from a known bait site that your not hunting over bait.

Obviously sitting over it,blind or tree stand over looking it.
Is baiting even if your not intentionally targeting bears.

There can’t be a set distance because you can place a bait site on an open hillside because there are people who think they can shoot 1,000 yards.

I mean if you find salt or a pile of corn next to the spot your hunting you can do whatever you think is right. Do what feels morally right to you if the consequences aren’t the biggest deciding factor.

[hunter399]

I'm guessing the big question is.
How far is far enough from a known bait site that your not hunting over bait.

Obviously sitting over it,blind or tree stand over looking it.
Is baiting even if your not intentionally targeting bears.

There can’t be a set distance because you can place a bait site on an open hillside because there are people who think they can shoot 1,000 yards.

I mean if you find salt or a pile of corn next to the spot your hunting you can do whatever you think is right. Do what feels morally right to you if the consequences aren’t the biggest deciding factor.

That is true.
Ya I don't put any cams in clearcuts. It never works out .
You'll end up with a bunch of night pics draining your batterys.
A lot less picture count to boot.

Had a guy setup tree stand,deer block,corn,whole nine yards last year. Maybe 50 yards from a cam I had out.
Long story short here. I didn't disturb the area for archery.
Came back to retrieve my cam before modern.
Deer block was about gone,big pile of bear poop,maybe three yards from where his block was.which looked like deer block digested.
After all this,I don't think he ever known I was there,cause you would of had to go 50 yards up the trail farther.

Was he baiting cause I put a salt block down in April,that he was unaware of.
Was I baiting,when I backed off and just let him have the spot till I was ready to retrieve my cam.
This has become a