Spring Black Bear

[mmgrode]

Hey Gang,
    I'll be headed up to Idaho in a couple weeks for a spring black bear hunt.  I was curious if anyone here would have any advice to give on the subject.  I plan to primarily glass the grassy areas and meadows(spot and stalk), but I'm also planning to set a bait for evening sits.  Are there any areas I should concentrate my glassing sessions on(ie. north or south slopes, avalanche chutes, etc.) ?  Where will the bears typically be found this time of year?

Thanks Gang!
Matt

[mnbearbaiter]

Well, i dont have alot of experience doin S&S for bears, but i have a friend who does it in MT every year(im more of the bearbaiter, hence the name)! Im not sure what the winter has been like out there, but generally the bears go for the fresh green shoots of grasses on south facing slopes to help kickstart their metabolism! Those areas are found lower in elevation, usually along waterways and thats a very good area to glass for bear early on! Later in the season around calving time, hunt the thicker timber areas where the elk and deer will be having their young! The bear, and now wolves unfortunatly in ID know this and will be on the hunt there as well! My friend has snuck into less than desirable range of some big bear during this part of the year! If you choose to hunt during the calving season, i would recommend getting good with a predator call, and carry a sidearm of some sort, be it spray or a gun! As far as your bait sites go, i may have just the ticket for you! Its my favorite bait for baiting sites that i have to travel a great distance on foot to get to! I fill up a plastic garbage bag full of popcorn and add a bag of mini marshmallows to it! If you are running multiple baits, you can twin the bags together over your shoulders and carry then like a backpack! When you get to your bait, just pour out the bags and them liberally sprinkle with grape jello mix! You may also want to look into two other products to help you kick your sites into high gear! They are both made by James Valley, one is Knockout, and the other is Bruin Buster! They come in convenient little jars, and a little goes a long way, trust me on this! Just take a stick or whatever and smear it up about 7ft or so above your bait, which you should place around water and perhaps 1/3 of the way up a ridge and near thick cover! Good luck!!!

[mmgrode]

Thanks for the advice, Travis!  I like the lightweight popcorn idea for the remote bait sites.  I'll have to look into the Knockout and Bruinbuster products.  Do they act as more of a food attractant to get the bait started or are they sexual attractants?  
Cheers,
Matt

[mnbearbaiter]

They are more of the stinkbait type, one smells like dead fish, and the other smells like rotting beaver meat! They do make a sow in heat scent! All of their scents come in vacuum sealed containers because they are so potent!  www.huntmdown.com  carries them! I usually make a stinkbait using fish, meat scraps, brown sugar, eggs, and a little liquid smoke! I place the mixture in a gunny sack and hang it about 7ft above the bait, after i have let it sit in a sealed bucket on the deck for about a week before in the heat     I like to hang it at that distance for two reasons, the first to help the wind currents carry the smell, and the second to help identify if a large bear has found the bait if its gone when i return      James Valley makes excellent products that work well, id use them if i were attempting to bait in the mountains! A spray bottle with a mixture of vegetable oil and an extract of some kind or liquidsmoke sprayed around the bait will help you advertise your bait as any bear that visits your site will leave a trailing scent through the woods when they leave   :D

[mmgrode]

ttt for the evening fellas.