my neighbors bear

[llamabob]

Been on the site a few days and it is great.I see a lot of great sportsmen mentoring and helping others.I have been lucky to have several.in bear hunting I have had 2.after reading his book in the early 70's I called and met Ron Flowers.He was the most famous professional bear hunter to live in Washington.Ron was gracious and full of wisdom.later in the mid 80,s I spent 1 week each for 5 years riding in a cab of a pickup truck with a young Dale Denny from bearpaw outfitters.The hunts were great but the knowledge I got from Dale,scouting, locating bear crossings,reading tracks,just general bear behavior  have made me a much better hunter.Dale  is a great hunter and true sportsman.He probably doesn't remember me but I will never forget.
With that in mind I try to mentor others I packed my neighbor into the wilderness on my llamas in 2008.I use scent posts with home made attractor scents and honey burns to get bears into range of my calls.On day 2 I had a hit on 2 of my posts so I set us up on what looked like a decent bear.we were in a small meadow about 20 feet apart with a tree between us. otherwise the next trees were 40 yards behind us.After 25 minutes of letting the honey burn I set up filter its sweet smell into the drainage below I started calf calling. after 10 minutes of calling I heard limbs breaking and looked up. this bear had snuck in and climbed the tree between us.I took a couple pictures waiting for a shot.I looked over and my neighbor was gone.He ran all the way to camp. later at camp he told me I was a crazy sob and has never asked me to take him again.I guess I am still learning to be a mentor.

[billythekidrock]

Welcome.
I think you mean Ralph Flowers.
And remember that scents are not legal in WA.

[Skyvalhunter]

As used in this subsection, "bait" means a substance placed, exposed, deposited, distributed, scattered, or otherwise used for the purpose of attracting black bears to an area where one or more persons hunt or intend to hunt them.

[D-Rock425]

Cool picture. 

[llamabob]

your right it was Ralph . hell as old as I am if my name wasn't Bob  I wouldn't remember it  either.I only met him once but he was a really great guy.I highly recomend his book not much in writing but the old photos and stories are cool.  a bear cannot eat smoke ,if I enjoy the aroma of honey incense as a cover scent and a bear comes to smell it is not any different than a bear coming to your bacon frying in camp .there has to be food present to be a bait. as far as scent posts how can spreading bear pee be considered a bait?I have spoken to a couple wardens on this and they agreed there was no bait.now that was a couple years ago and things change we all know how the dept works. so hey if I am wrong let me know

[D-Rock425]

I don't think burning honey is legal.  But I don't know for sure

[ICEMAN]

Anything used to lure a bear is considered baiting. Food substances, smells, odors, anything.

[runamuk]

Anything used to lure a bear is considered baiting. Food substances, smells, odors, anything.

except calling that is still legal and not considered baiting...yet 

[TheHunt]

Read the definitions and the law in the RCW and call Fish and game.  The use of lures can not be hunted over but there is some minimal distance that you can hunt thus doing what you did exactly in calling them in.  So you are not shooting over bait.  Or can be considered as you hunting and shooting over bait.  

Just read the law and call fish and game and go with that. Find that minimal distance and put on the wackage.

  

[llamabob]

While renewing my AHE a couple years ago I talked to a couple of wardens and a biologist about my methods.and no you can not use subatances to attract bears or leave any attractants. but you may use any scent as a cover scent and calling bears into the wind is impossible without masking your scent.besides that as I am cooking on a stove no one can tell you what you can cook on your stove and it is never left unattended .the warden I talked too said he is faced with apple baits for deer all the time and he knows people are really using them for bait but with out other proof such as burning honey, or scents it is legal.as far as my scent posts I make fake bear posts so any dominent male bears will mark the same tree as they are territorial and thereby telling me one is in the local area,the warden told me he wasn't going to sniff every bear pee on the trees in his district and do a dna he said it was kinky but not illegal.the Ephrata biologist even gave me advice on collecting bear urine.after all it is hard to teach a bear to pee in a bottle.and I guess my elk decoy and my deer decoy made from hides that I spray with elk or deer urine would be the ultimate bait!but the game dept is always changing and what 1 warden believes is legal another my not. personally I know I am not breaking the law and I will continue to use any legal means to persue my sport.

[ICEMAN]

So you are going to purposely cook bacon and let it splatter your shirt, use any artificial or real scent you want to help yourself get a bear?

[billythekidrock]

your right it was Ralph . hell as old as I am if my name wasn't Bob  I wouldn't remember it  either.I only met him once but he was a really great guy.I highly recomend his book not much in writing but the old photos and stories are cool.   a bear cannot eat smoke ,if I enjoy the aroma of honey incense as a cover scent and a bear comes to smell it is not any different than a bear coming to your bacon frying in camp .there has to be food present to be a bait. as far as scent posts how can spreading bear pee be considered a bait?I have spoken to a couple wardens on this and they agreed there was no bait.now that was a couple years ago and things change we all know how the dept works. so hey if I am wrong let me know

I have all 3 of Ralph's books and I reccommend them all the time.

No, there does not have to be food present to be considered bait.

[billythekidrock]

Read the definitions and the law in the RCW and call Fish and game.  The use of lures can not be hunted over but there is some minimal distance that you can hunt thus doing what you did exactly in calling them in.  So you are not shooting over bait.  Or can be considered as you hunting and shooting over bait. 

Just read the law and call fish and game and go with that. Find that minimal distance and put on the wackage.

 

You will not find a "minimal distance" as there is none. You are either hunting over bait or you are not and that discretion is up to the one writing the ticket.

[True Sportsman]

You are already aware that you are walking a fine line between legal and illegal. That being said, it sounds like you've done your homework and contacted the right people. It seems not many people care enough about the rules to even check. Good for you. I loved the story and the pic. I hope to see more of your posts in the future.

I love stories of high mountain bear hunting...

[link]

When I go bear hunting, I make a day of it so I have to pack a lunch, for me to eat of course. I've got a big appetite, I like lots and lots of day old donuts with maple syrup drizzled all over them. Of course, nothing goes better with old maple bars than thick cut bacon. Yumm. I can smell it now. Of course, my eyes are always bigger than my stomach, so there seems to be leftovers occasionally. after eating my fill, I really don't feel like packing whats left back out with me, so I just leave it for the critters under a nice fir tree. But, then about a hundred yards up the hill, I get really tired ( from eating all those donuts) and have to sit down to rest. Is it my fault that I can still see the gift I left for the forest critters from my resting spot? It was such a nice day, who would blame me for returning to the same spot tomorrow and the next day? 
One of my favorite movie lines is from The oulaw josey wales. " Don't piss down my back and tell me its rainin"