Bear hunting, baits, setups!

[mnbearbaiter]

Im an avid bear hunter here in my home state of MN, but will be tryin western bear hunting this spring! Maybe either S&S in central MT, or over bait in Wyoming(i have onnections for both)! I was just wondering who on here is a bear hunting junkie like myself, and maybe if anyone had any insight into setups they use, types of bait/burns/attractants, bow/arrows too of course!

[mnbearbaiter]

I will start! I like to keep my methods simple! I use cheap dogfood, used fryer grease from restaurants, brown sugar, marshmallows, and beef scraps from a butcher shop! Mix it all together in a 5gal pail, and put into bait pit and cover with logs(no containers here in MN)! I also put a couple gallons around the bait so that the bears get it on their pads and track it back into the woods with them for other bears to find! For a "Stinkbait", i used to get fish, beef, liquid smoke, etc. and let it ferment and hang in tree with burlap sack! Ive since learned my lesson, and just take a big scent wick, and spread a commercially made scent on it, a few that ive used with success are Cronks Long Distance Call Lure and James Valley Bruin Buster!

[mnbearbaiter]

Have either used Bear Grizzly or Bear Montana both #55! Douglas Fir arrows with bright fletching, and tipped with 160 Snuffers! Bears dont bleed for S&*^, so a big hole is a plus! I like to setup most of my shots at 13-15yds, it is usually dark when they come in, and a little closer shot is nice! I try to position bait so the bear gives me a slightly quartering away shot!

[Jesse Minish]

I do just about everything you stated. I like to start a bait with a burn of syrup, marsh mellows, jello and honey. I also saturate the ground around the bait with restaurant grease so when the bear is in the bait his get grease all over his feet and then he leaves a nice scent trail for me.

[frassettor]

Travis, pm sent...

[acadian archer]

fryer grease and dogfood

for those long hauls on foot- popcorn and powdered or regular molasses

and for those Canadian bears - some left over Tim Horton's donuts

[mnbearbaiter]

I have used popcorn and grape jello mix now that u bring it up!!! Bears loved it, took a whole garbage bag full of it to the bait! When it gets wet though... :(

[Birdbow]

Here in NH, for 11 years now, I've used kibbled dog food, whole corn, and cheap bulk table syrup mixed into a slurry in a 55 gal barrel. I, too, pour discarded restaurant grease on the ground for the bears to track away from the site. When opening the bait beginning the season, I do both a honey & bacon burn at the site. The "kibbled" basic bait keeps the bears from carrying pieces away from your site over and over again.
I try to shoot close and low (12'). I've taken bears with longbows from 55 - 70#, wood & carbon arrows, and both 2 & 3 blade heads. Sharp heads and fine flying shafts put in the right place have always produced good results.
Hope this is helpful and "make your own luck"!

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

"HI My name is Ryan and I'm a bear hunting junkie"!

Sounds to me from the previous posts like the TG boys know how to appeal to the bears. What more can a guy add.....well, I guess I can add that I've found it beneficial to use lots of bait. I know some people try to increase competition by limiting amounts of bait but that really doesn't work up here in Canada. More bait= more bears....less bait= more bears going to the other guys bait that has more food!!

I've also found not overhunting a bait as well as paying attention to wind direction very important (at least for mature bears). Another thing I do is let a bait get hit and don't hunt it for a while....seems to avoid nocturnal bears. Checking the baits every day has proven (for me) to be detrimental as I have better luck keeping the human presence at the bait minimal. (again, for mature bears)

 I think if more guys hunted bears as though they were deer, you'd see alot more big bears fall each year to hunters.

Keep the ideas coming, I have 16 hunters to get bears for this spring! Best of luck come spring...Ryan

[mnbearbaiter]

Ok, great so far! Another thing i like to do is wear bug spray when i bait, as well as spraying it on a few nearby trees about 4-5' off the ground! It could be a bug nightmare during a late summer hunt, especially here in MN! If you think it may be needed, include it in the baiting...works well for us! Just make sure to use the same flavor for the whole duration!!!

[cacciatore]

Really interestig,thanks for sharing.Kep it coming.

[Brad Davis]

Man I would really like to hunt bears sometime. From the sound of it I already have all the ingrediants somewhere in the fridge or cabinets. Its a good thing there arent any bears in Indiana, they would probably be pounding the door down.

[PV]

Been bitten by the bear bug also. So much so I haven't hunted elk in 2 years... Hunted MB twice this year as well as Quebec,NH and VT.Not much to add to the stuff alreay covered...
I use grease and a burn to start my baits. Don't use any stink.Don't care for it and find sweets work just as well.Keep the baits well stocked with  pastry and granola. The only meat I use is beaver. If I had the freezer space to store enough beaver I'd skipp the sweets altogether.

[Onestringer]

Bearaholic here.  I have been on 8 guided bear hunts and two do it yourself hunts.  

The guys that say use a lot of bait are correct.  Use as much as you can.  They saying use a small amount of bait to create competition, really means the "we are running low on bait"

I have baited the last two years in Arkansas with tremendous success.  

The best stuff I have used is from bread stores ie hostess, wonderbread etc.  Mainly the sweet stuff.  Donuts, twinkies, fruit pies etc.  Also use cinnamon bread, anything that is sweet. They sell the expired stuff to hog farmers you can fill a pickup truck for about $10.  Plus farmers usually don't want the stuff that is in individual packages.

Next I cover all this with fryer grease.  Lots and lots of grease and I saturate the entire ground the bait with the grease.  This gets on the bears paws and leads scent trails directly back to my baits.  Grease is easy to come by, I got mine from the local beer distributor.  When I was asking places about their grease I was told they had a contract with the beer distributor.  Apparently they have a fleet of bio fuel trucks.  I called the place up explained what I was doing and when they understood I wanted their "Crap" grease they were more than happy for me to take it off their hands.  Actually they were dissappointed I did not show up with a flat bed truck to take the 275 gallon container away.  

On one bait last year I had 16 different bears hitting the bait.  16 may be common in Canada, but Arkansas its pretty good.

I baited every 5 days or so and put out 120 gallons of bait and 60 gallons of grease on each bait.