Mineral sites and bears

[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