Bear bait but no place for a stand...suggestions

[allan f]

I am very lucky.  I moved into a new place last year and have not gotten any hunting buddies as I left them all when I moved provinces.  I met a neighbor 2 weeks ago that is an avid bear hunter and we really hit it off.  he has hunting permission on the land right behind the house.  he took me to see his biat sights the other week and asked me if I wanted to shoot a bear with him this spring.......DUHHHH.

  So we went and baited again last night and looked at the set up.  It is in a grassy hollow with small clumps of trees and he has a stand about 30 yards from the bait.  I limit  my shots to 20 maybe 25 yards so this stand wont work.  We found a couple of good clumps of trees that I could set up on the ground about 15-20 yards out.

The question is, is this a crazy thing to do.  I have always hunted bears from the ground, in BC we spot and stalk.  I haven't closed the deal but have been REALLY close to about a dozen bears and haven't had any problems.....but there was no food involved, what do you guys think, is this a really bad plan or just on par with stalking from the ground??

The nice thing about this set up would be that he could be in his stand and get all of it on film (hopefully it is me killing a bear not the other way around)   :D

My new friend is a part time wheel bow guy...then he saw me shooting in the back yard (I will get him shooting) and now he thinks that he might want to shoot his bear with a bow....you know if this goes well I just made some bowyer that much richer  

Any suggestions would be great guys,

Allan

[JiminTexas]

Hide in the bait can and then shoot him in the mouth!

[guk]

I thought Ontario did away with the spring hunt

[**DONOTDELETE**]

tri-pod stand, ground blind, might even use the stand that is up now and just drop some bait on the trail 15 yards closer to the stand...

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Originally posted by guk:
I thought Ontario did away with the spring hunt

Didn't they bring it back in 2006....

[ChuckC]

Several as above.  See if the trees are near an entry or exit trail.  Drop some goodies on the trail.  Use a pop up blind, use a tripod stand.  build a ground blind and brush it in a few weeks early  build a very short blind and dig a pit for your feet.   Or have your friend bury you in the dirt maybe ten yards from the bait, feet in a pit.  You sit up as you draw.....  kapowie !

Gillie suit from the ground, leaning against whatever is there.

Whatever you choose......
Good luck
Chuck

[Curveman]

Use a ground blind. You are not any safer in a tree and probably less so as bears chase/attack each other up trees all the time with the less dominant bear going up first. In fact they have been observed to throw each other out of trees. If a bear spots you in a tree he is even more likely therefore to conclude you are a prey animal. The footstool for my stand comes to beneath my armpit. Just stay still  

[Orion]

Why not move the bait?  The bear will find it.

[chinook907]

Have used a ground blind a lot, just brush & logs, if there aren't grizzlies around I wouldn't sweat it.

[pointy sticks]

Find a tree close to your stand that you could get a good shot towards. Take a bucket of molasses, fat  syrup or something else that has an attractive smell to the bear and hang it from the  tree about 7-8 feet off the ground. Make sure the tree is small enough  the bear can't climb it but big enough it won't push it over. Bear stands up to try and get at the bucket, wide open shot just wait for it.

Another option is to make a ground blind using brush and logs. build it so the bear has to go around it and sit with your back against a tree. I know guys who actually build a log wall behind them so the bear can't poke it head in the blind. Bears have a very good sence of smell and have been known to figure out your direction of travel from your scent on the grass.

Good luck

[Brian Krebs]

first figure out the wind.

[stagetek]

Move the bait to the closest tree you can sit in. If it's within 50-100 yrds. they'll find it.

[Footed Shaft]

We` still have no spring season. Unfortunetly!!
Being is he is in Ottawa, i am sure he is hunting in Quebec as that is only a stones throw from Ottawa. Try a pop up blind,it may work. Bill