Bears and Bait

[mrpenguin]

I have a problem... I really would like to go on a bear hunt, but am not crazy about the practice of baiting.  Before I go any further, I would like to say that I respect all who respectfully hunt animals and the methods they choose to use.  That said, it seems baiting is the MOST common and effective strategy for hunting Ursus Americanus, but I tend to think it is, well, not ethical.  Now, THAT said, after some contemplation, I am beginning to think, well, how is it different from say, using a tree stand off a bedding area or in an orchard or just off a field of abundant alfalfa?  Furthermore, how many more bears are fed versus taken?  I'd be willing to bet more bears subsist off bait than are taken...

So as I ponder my conscious on this issue, I would like to get feedback from all of you... what are your thoughts on the use of bait when hunting bears?

[Ray Hammond]

Erik,
Bear baiting began as a technique because it allows the hunter a real opportunity to avoid shooting a sow -with or without cubs.

Ethics are personal- do you mean it's not ethical for YOU? That's OK...then do it without baiting. You can, you just have to invest a bunch of time learning how to judge bears and their behavior- as you likely also have an ethic about shooting mother animals with small offspring as well, right?

It's extremely difficult to discern the sex of a bear - unless you have a ton of experience seeing bears.

Baiting means they walk in, stand around, maybe get on their butt and hold food in their hands- and most important, let their cubs come in so YOU don't have to lay awake at night wondering how those two little cubs you left in the woods motherless- are doing.

Even experienced bear hunters sometimes have difficulty with sexing bears right off...and that's what you have to do if you don't bait- cause bears usually are on a mission when they are walking somewhere. You probably need to do some spot and stalk along beaches, or in berry patches on mountainsides- someplace you can watch them from far off to be sure of what you are dealing with.

[mrpenguin]

Ray,

Thank you very much for this response.  Let me say that when I said "ethical" it referred to me.  That said my mind has been changing about the use of baiting bears and really I hope this thread will open up that discussion.

Your explanation as to why we bait is excellent and cogent.  Clearly, as a resident of CT, my experience with bears is very minimal.  I am reading up now and learning as much as I can about them, but they are difficult to find in CT to observe.  I fully agree that having an opportunity to judge a bear BEFORE the shot is essential, and I can see how baiting allows for that, unlike spot and stalk.  It seems it also reduces the risk of a mother-cub scenario for the hunter... one of the few situations where black bears become very dangerous.

Much to think about in your response... thank you.

[mcgroundstalker]

I remember the first time a friend told me he was going bear hunting over bait. Guess I didn't know "the whole story" about baiting back then... It is NOT fish in a barrel! No Way!

First... The bait station "belongs" to the bear(s) and they will fight each other for it. Think about that when you walk in to your stand.

Second... Many of the wooden stand platforms are used by the bears at night. One just might want to climb up yours when you are in it.

Third... Just being within 10-12 yards of an amimal that can "have its way" with you is a rush you will never get hunting deer.

So... Go for it and have a blast! I've been to Canada and Maine. Best times of my life. In fact, I'd like to plan another trip for bear sometime soon. Over bait... You Bet!

... mike ...

[mwmwmb]

This is great topic. I have been wondering the same thing. Baiting bear is illegal in AR and I have never seen one during season. But i have often wondered about baiting and ethics. Thanks for the explination Ray.

[Izzy]

Save your pennies and go to Prince William Sound.No baiting there.Vancouver Island is another place where you can spot and stalk.Back to baiting.Ive done it and enjoyed it.Both times I shot the first bear I saw so I didnt spend alot of time in the tree but it was in beautiful country and if I would have spent more time in the stand I would have enjoyed it all, watching moose, coyote, fisher and everything else that calls the northwoods home..Its a lot like you said,hunting from a stand next to a alfalfa field or a standing cornfield.

[Davo]

Baiting is always touchy subject for some. Ethics seems to be a restriction we put on ourselves. I ran bait stations in high school. Baiting is not the easy way out.  Can be endless hours in stand unless high density, shot selection, sex determination.  Success can be high in areas but that is more due to bear numbers than anything.  I consider it fair chase, the bear still utilizes all of his defenses and has the advantage. It is not harmful to the overall population and is legal.  Still there are other methods.  I used to see lot hunting near oat fields bear love to roll around and eat.

[acadian archer]

I just hunted bear over a bait two weeks ago in Nova Scotia.In three days I saw nine bear and 20 minutes before dark on my last day I took an old (DNR will age the tooth for me) 320 pound boar.

Ethically I have no problem with shooting over bsit. Like some have said it let me pass over some big sows as well as a sow with cubs.

There is a HEALTHY bear population in Nova Scotia, my hunt was economical as the outfitter was charging 200 per day including accomodations.  Spot and stalk would likely result in more costly hunt but this might be justified if the bear population was in trouble.

Spot and stalk may work well in the west where you have vast open areas and clearcuts but out east it's heavily forested. A big bruin easily disappears out here.

Some may not like hunts over bait but where do you draw the line? There is no difference between hunting over bait, in my opinion, and the following;

hunting orchards or hardwood ridges, watering holes, using doe in heat or other deer attractants, salt licks, baiting with apples or Cmere Deer, deer calls, food plots, decoys, etc.
Would shooting the bear 1km from the bait be more or less ethical?

All of the above are baiting techinques of some sort. Spot and stalk may be possible in some areas but in most cases it's not.  

As I said I watched nine different bears over three days and I saw most of them several times before I made a clean ethical 20 yard shot. I learned more about bear behaviour (and myself) in those three days than I did in year of hunting.

If I have an unfilled tag and the opportunity to harvest a bear by spot and stalk I will gladly do so. I will, however, be hunting with the same outfitter next year over bait and I will hopefully make another clean kill on a large boar

[Paul Mattson]

At this time I am trying to take a Bear off Bait.  Today I went with the guys running hounds.  It was raining to much for the dogs to get on a Bear.  I waited 8 yrs to take a Bear in WI, and I am going to use what ever method produces.

I have taken Bears in Alaska using the spot and stalk method.  But, this was with a rifle.

[ron w]

What all above have said is true. I went on my first bear over bait hunt in New Brunswick last year. I had thoughts that I wast'nt sure about the ethics of the hunt ,but said I would try it .I never saw a bear..... But after spending a week there it became very clear if you were to see a bear it would be over bait or not at all. It was the thickest, darkest, wet forest I have ever seen. Up there no bait...no bears.

[Coonbait]

Funny you brought this topic up. I just returned from a bear hunt in New Brunswick and I asked our outfitter about baiting. It is very thick boreal forest in central New Brunswick and your odds of seeing a bear, let alone getting within shooting range is almost 0. I asked him how many bears he saw this year away from the baits ( walking on or across the roads, cut-overs, or swamps ) the answer was 2. This was coming from someone who lives every day drving some of the most remote logging roads I've ever seen. I did not bring home a bear, but we took 5 out of 7. I missed twice. The nice thing about baiting was that we all saw bears in shooting range and passed on bears that were sows with cubs or smaller bears. It affords you time to judge what you want, not just a quick glance that you might regret later. just my 2 cents.
  GLENN

[Olin Rindal]

I don't understand when people say bating bears isn't ethical, but then its all right to sit over a water hole or a food plot. I think all of us have drowned worms or fished with flies or a lure. So tell me are bears more special then fish. I don't get it, its all the same in my book.

[elknutz]

I'm in the "its ethical for me" camp. Tree stands, hunting in the rut, calls, rattling, decoys, waterholes, camo, carbon arrows, steel broadheads, fastflite strings, glass limbs, driving my truck to the woods.  Where the heck did my horse go, I don't use a saddle. Not all of these things are my cup of tea, but I've done them all and have no problem with others doing them.  I have some lines I will not intentionally cross, including game laws. Those are my lines, you can feel free to set yours.  I will respect that.

[woodsman 365]

I have spent thousands of hours in the woods here in NewBrunswick in my lifetime. I've fished hunted and trapped during that time and not once saw a bear in the woods. I have hunted bear over bait for 12 years and have seen bear every season. I have only taken 3. I get to enjoy seeing more bears and be more selective.

[Bowmania]

If you hunt bear where I live it may take you 5 years to see one without bait.  It takes about 7 years to get a permit.  As they say, "Do the math!"

Bowmania

[Jesse Minish]

I love baiting bear. It is a lot of work if you do it your self, with a lot of time on the stand and you still have no guarantee of harvesting a bear.

[Izzy]

The more I think on it most hunting is done with the aid of bait.We hunt where the animals are and theyre there for any of 3 reasons.Unless you hunt animals in their dens or birds on their roost while theyre asleep theyre probably looking for food (BAIT).During breeding theyre looking for estrous females (BAIT).So it would seem intentional baiing involves alot more work than hunting active , natural feeding areas.After all we have to drag buckets of whatever up and back from the bait site countless times where as hunting a beech flat, all you gotta do is pick a blind or a tree to hang your stand in.