Baiting

[Machias]

 

[cohoho]

Machais-  Man I envy you on this subject.  Don't care what opinions are out there, I loved baiting for Bears and we were darn good at it, 22 Black Bears in 5 years off our stands.....  The absolute best stuff is mixture grain and dog food covered in old cooking grease.  I used upwards of 500lbs of dog food per site and 50 gallons of grease, plus another couple hundred pounds of left overs from the winter (baited in spring only, so man once they'd be on a site in the fall they'll never leave so better stock it well).  Throw in old items from the local bakery by the garbage bags full and lots of sweets, i.e apples and old expired jellies and Hersey's syrup.  A gallon of honey tied above barrel with a pin hole to keep it dripping throughout the season.  Start it all out with freshly brewed "Bear Crack".  a couple bags of Marshmellows, 2 packs of powder Jello (berry), bottle of molasses, bottle of vanilla extract, melt it all and burn the crap out of it right at the site, it will be the strongest smelling stuff you have ever smelled and smear it everywhere around the site.  I used a 75 gallon over pack steel barrel with a small eight inch hole cut into the barrel near the bottom, make them pick at it.  Cut two smaller holes (2") at the top for some chain to run through, chain to tree, put some logs off to the side you don't want them to come from, line up up the shooting zone to hole area, and use the boltable clasp type lid or they will figure out how to open it up one way or another.   Have fun, keep us posted and if you ever need some assistance I'd gladly volunteer...     

[pat2bear]

Back when it was legal we used the pastries too. But living in fruit country we mainly used pear and apple grounders and culls. The meat cutters waste and deep fryer or bacon grease would work great also but check the regs. first. The use of animal parts may be illegal. I don't know the laws on baiting in Idaho. 

[Machias]

Machais-  Man I envy you on this subject.  Don't care what opinions are out there, I loved baiting for Bears and we were darn good at it, 22 Black Bears in 5 years off our stands.....  The absolute best stuff is mixture grain and dog food covered in old cooking grease.  I used upwards of 500lbs of dog food per site and 50 gallons of grease, plus another couple hundred pounds of left overs from the winter (baited in spring only, so man once they'd be on a site in the fall they'll never leave so better stock it well).  Throw in old items from the local bakery by the garbage bags full and lots of sweets, i.e apples and old expired jellies and Hersey's syrup.  A gallon of honey tied above barrel with a pin hole to keep it dripping throughout the season.  Start it all out with freshly brewed "Bear Crack".  a couple bags of Marshmellows, 2 packs of powder Jello (berry), bottle of molasses, bottle of vanilla extract, melt it all and burn the crap out of it right at the site, it will be the strongest smelling stuff you have ever smelled and smear it everywhere around the site.  I used a 75 gallon over pack steel barrel with a small eight inch hole cut into the barrel near the bottom, make them pick at it.  Cut two smaller holes (2") at the top for some chain to run through, chain to tree, put some logs off to the side you don't want them to come from, line up up the shooting zone to hole area, and use the boltable clasp type lid or they will figure out how to open it up one way or another.   Have fun, keep us posted and if you ever need some assistance I'd gladly volunteer...     

cohoho
I completely agree, could care less what folks think, whether it is "ethical"  "fair chase"  etc....  It's a great way to harvest large boars, great way to size up and pass on small bears or sows with cubs.  Plus I love being close and watching bears at the bait sites.  Thanks for the advice and I will try and keep a running photo essay. 


Thanks Pat2bear

[Tman]

Dog food and bacon grease.

[lazydrifter]

Since I work for Franz I was dissapointed when our baiting laws changed. The guy I used to bait with was the bakery manager for a Safeway store.  We never used a barrel. Pick a low spot and cover your bait with logs.  Kept the coyotes and birds from cleaning it up.  Used to buy our molasses at the feed store by the 5 gallon bucket. That used to cost us 10.00 and lasted all season.  Used to pick up 5 gallon jugs of old fryer grease and pour big slicks around our bait. I used to hang old t shirts soaked in molasses up in the trees and they would eat those too.  Burn some honey or bacon grease in a soup can over a can of sterno.

[cohoho]

Here is pic of my old set up with a little guy hanging around....  Mind you this is one site that had a 30 gallon barrel, the big barrel was too darn heavy to get it up the hill from the lake.  We used barrels in AK due to the Grizzlies that would literally eat everything in one sitting and trash anything that wasn't chained down completely.  It also kept out the scavengers, birds and rain and besides made for alot easier cleanup.  In AK you must remove all residue to include dirt that was saturated with grease on the last day of the baiting season.  Granted never had to do much in regards to cleanup as they excavated everything all the way around the site.  We would go up in two's oe three's and one would leave after baiting making noise all the way down the hill as to show the baiter was leaving, alot of times the kids we took would get their bears within 30 minutes of being in the tree stand...

[SHANE(WA)]

meat right now is the hot item, when we use to bait, they would tear up the pastries in Aug and early sept and leave the meat or let it sit before they ate it, as it gets colder they would eat the meat first, packin on the weight. Try vanilla to, spray a bottle all over the trees

[DOUBLELUNG]

Machias, when I was trapping fall bears one of the most enticing baits was over-ripe canteloupe.  Talk to the produce manager at your local market about getting bruised, damaged and over-ripe canteloupe and honeydew melons.  Incredibly attractive to Mr. bruin, scent seems to carry a long ways and lasts a long time.  

It was a deal-sealer for previously moved, trap-shy bears that wouldn't enter a trap for bacon, grease or syrup baits.

[Machias]

Nice guys, thanks Doublelung and Shane.  Don't you guys just cry when you think about loosing bear baiting as a management tool.  I do!

Great photo Cohoho, thanks!

[EastWaViking]

Even if it was legal in this state, I would never shoot a bear over bait.  It doesn't seem like hunting to me.  Not saying I think less of people who do (where it is legal) Just not my cup of tea.

Maybe I just hate seeing a nice maple bar going to waste!   

[Machias]

 

[cohoho]

It isn't as easy as what is perceived for sure.  I know ogles of guys that bait in AK and never get a bear off bait.  It is extremely hard work to do it right.  Oh by the way we have only taken ONE sow out of all the bears we shot, give me that same stat on a any other bear hunt.  Don't knock till you tried it.  It is exceptionally great for kids.  We took alot of kids out and introduced them to hunting from my sons hockey teams.  These kids got some great bears and have memories that will last their life times as neither of their parents in most cases ever hunted.  It is so cool when they first see a good bear and you have to tell them to hold off for a better one due to it being a sow or having cubs, they learn respect for the animals, they learn how to gauge and judge animals.  Huge learning across the board for them for sure... 

[DOUBLELUNG]

Nice guys, thanks Doublelung and Shane.  Don't you guys just cry when you think about loosing bear baiting as a management tool.  I do!

Great photo Cohoho, thanks!

Baiting is such a great management tool.  No other method allows a hunter to better determine sex of a bear, and reproductive status of a sow.  No other method is better for managing bear-human conflicts in suburban/rural residential - wildland interface.  Even in fairly high density residential areas, baits can be strategically placed to 1) put bears onto relatively small acreages that allow hunting; 2) locate bears in draws and other low areas where a safe backstop exists; and 3) locate bears in an open shooting lane where a hunter in a treestand can safely make a clear shot and kill that bear dead right there. 

Truthfully, although I am very aware of the amount of effort required to effectively bait, it has never been my chosen method of hunting.  However, as a former big game population biologist, I hate the knee-jerk, emotion driven depletion of the management toolbox that comes from management by initiative.  Dogs, traps, spring seasons, bait, etc. all have their place in effective management.

[Austrian Hunter]

I can get you a ton of bacon fat drippings!!  Let me know if you want it, I can have several gallons really quick.