Bear Baits

[nik]

I am just curious on what peoples favorite baits for bears are. I like to use cookie dough and bacon grease. The bears in area 51 sure liked it last year.

[buckhunter21]

Doughnuts and doughnut grease. Anything sweet really, had really good luck with honey last year too.

[Boar]

boy the bloods is starting to flow with the thought of baiting. I like dog food, bear lunch, cereal, popcorn, doughnut in fryerr grease, and what ever else I can scavenge, have a big block of liqourice left over from last year to, it's getting that time. Yippee! Boar

[nik]

It sure is getting that time. At least I would like to think so. Just think...soon enough we will all be getting destroyed my mosquitos and flys and smelling of sweet bear bait. I can't wait!

[Sportsman4Life]

I was told a trick by the ohio DNR..... catch a bunch of suckers or carp, and yes, I know nothing that has bones can be used in your bait pile.... and it won't be..... Freeze them whole until the season is a few weeks out. Put a bunch in a 5 gallon bucket and leave it out to rot in the sun for a few days! When it's real nasty... add a gallon or so of water, take an 1/8 drill bit and cordless... keep the lid on tight and head to your bait pile. Now, once there, drill a few small holes in the top and the bottom and hang it VERY high above your bait pile, where a bear CANNOT get to it. Now, every time it rains the holes on top will allow the water in, the holes on the bottom will allow a constant SLOW drip onto your bait, so, even if the bait gets emptied and you can't make it out to bait... THE BEARS WILL STILL COME EVERY DAY! Because the smell will remain constant and it will continually slowly drip it onto the full, or empty pile! CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!

[kkahmann]

I've been bear baitin for more than 30 years. Maybe it's just me but I've never had much luck baiting with fish. I have watched bears working a sucker stream when they were spawning and easy to catch--the bears just seemend to bite the bellies outta them and eat the roe. I've only seen one bear actually eat smelt. I have watched bears bite a sardine can--lick the oil and then leave it.

Haven't had much luck with rotten meat either with the exception of rotten beaver meat--they love that. Fresh pork fat is the best if you are allowed to use meat. They don't seem much to like chicken either.

I can use meat here to bait with in Ontario but not in Wisconsin. I don't find it any disadvantage not to be able to use meat. I think lucky charms breakfast cereal is great.

Mostly I use grain corn mixed with mollases--doesn't take much mollasess to coat the corn.

I find bears have a little trouble finding a bait when you first put it out but then will hit it steady if you recharge it steadily.

If you kill a bear off a bait--keep baitin it--more will come.

just my 2 cents worth.

[DoubleLunger]

Grease from a fryer and dog food. Smoked meat, sweets after they hit bait.

[Sportsman4Life]

Yeah, it's the ROTTING smell from the drip bucket that the DNR said would bring them in better than anything other than Beaver... Maybe put some rotted beaver in the drip bucket instead? You just can't use meat with the bone in it in MN.... as long as it's in a drip bucket and not on your bait pile... it's legal Other than that... use a sterno and a small rack with a coffee can on top with honey in it.... light it near your bait and get in your stand... the bear can smell your honey burn for MILES! It usually brings them in, even if it's your first night baiting. And it smells awesome while sitting up in your tree waiting. Another good bait is using LIQUID SMOKE.... smell carries for miles as well. There's lots of syrups such as blueberry, NOT PANCAKE SYRUP, but like concentrates from restaraunts.... you add them to a bit of water and put them in a spray bottle and mist the trees and area around your bait. Otherwise cheap bait... Go to the local grocery stores and ask what pastries and what not are getting thrown out. We can buy an entire cart load of old donuts and such for 5 bucks! Freeze them and keep for season cause when season starts, all the bakeries and stores have people getting it for bait already... so start now.

[Boar]

I have used the rotting fish smell an it dose seem to work but I really like to hang a burlap sack filled with dog food, an dip it in a bucket full of grease each time I bait an hang it back up. I take the rest of the grease an throw it all over the surrounding foliage, the sack of grease an dog food really pulls them in like the scent ball with out spending 80 bucks. I also like using those scent sticks too. Boar

[nik]

I have hung fish in burlap sacks. I don''t know if it worked or not, but the smell of that fish in your stand is almost unbearable. I probably won't do that again. Luckily last time I did it, a bear snached the sack after hunting it only a few days.

[Boar]

The rotting fish also seems to attract the flying undesirables, I have never seen such huge wasps or what ever they are but they look mean, so i have abandon the rotting attractant several years back. good old fryer grease for me. I just pick up my first load of pastries an grease today, ready, set, wait... boar

[nik]

Wow. It sounds like boar will be prepared this year. I generally wait until I know for sure that I got a tag before I start packing the freezer full. We should know soon! Maybe this year I will have more action besides the mom with two really small cubs. At least I know that the cubs will be bigger this year and possibly pushed away from mom. They are sure fun to watch though.

[protrapper]

ANY sort of rotting bait is TERRIBLE.. Fish is possibly the worst, you wanna drive a bear of a station throw some rotten fish on the pile.

[lichen fox]

Protrapper, I agree...rotting meat also attracts more wolves...

I use oats-sunflowers and corn mixed with melters honey and grease for a base and I top it off with a good helping of sweet roles...keep it all sweet and fresh, that's my way of thinking...and I think that 17 bears in 20 season's says it works!...I've got two 25 cubic foot freezers and one 15 cubic footer full of sweet roles already and I'll be picking up a couple of 55 gallon barrels of melters honey shortly...then only thing left is to start collecting grease!

[Boar]

Hey fox, Ya think you can hook me up with some of that honey, I dont need alot I just run one or two site here in no qouta, an just need enough to put a topping on the dessert pile, ten gallons or so. By the way what is melters honey? is it the left over watery stuff from proccessing honey from the comb? I agree with you guys, I have try to stay as fresh as possible, when I first started out I was on a big learning curv here, but have been able to take a skull that whent 19 3/8 a couple years ago. Later boar

[protrapper]

Some guys dump bleach or throw rotten food on guys baits do drive bears away.. I agree you cant beat oats, corn and molasses.. and a few other goodies i wont mention

[lichen fox]

Boar...yes that's basicly what melters honey is...I'll see what my supplier has available and let you know...I use a mix of two gallons of grain-mix, plus a gallon of melters honey and a gallon of grease, all mixed together well...I put that amount on each bait everytime I re-bait....So 10 gallons would last you about 10 hits....

[Boar]

Hey thanks alot fox, what might it cost for that amount? Just let me know the info an we'll go from there. Thanks again

[lichen fox]

boar, it varies year to year and sometimes the supply has an effect on the price and even the mood of the melter!! I've paid no less than $65 for a 55 gallon drum and no more than $80...and if they don't know you they also ask for a $30 deposit on the barrel itself, just in case you don't return it.

[Boar]

Hmmm... I guesse what I'm looking for fox is like menton before is about 10 gallons or so, dose a guy have to buy such a large amount from them or can he pull up with some buckets. Idont mean to complicate things, heck could I buy ten gallons from you? later boar

[nik]

55 gallons of honey? At first that seems like alot, but if you have a couple "hot" baits...Last year in two weeks I had 4 different bears eat almost 1000 pounds of cookie dough. It was the most active bait stations I have ever seen. I was a bit worried about them getting burned out on it, but it never happened. They just kept on eating it up.

[lichen fox]

Boar yes, I could probably sell you some assuming I get enough for what I need...."If" we get drawn for quota again we will go through alot more...my hunting partner and I usually run anywhere from 12 to 16 baits three times a week when we hunt quota...if we don't get drawn, I'll more than likely just put out 4 or 5 baits for myself around home in the no-quota area...I'll let you know when I get it in...and as far as quanity you can pick-up...yes, it's pretty much a 55 gallon barrel at a time as that's how they have it stored and it would be pretty time consuming and messy for them to open them up and dip out smaller portions...with the barrel they just grab it with the fork lift (weighs about 600-700 #'s) and set it on my trailer...I take it home, transfer it to my barrels and bring their barrels back...

[Musky Buck]

I used to get licorice scraps from my buddies that work at Kenny's candy in Perham, the guys that used it seemed to have pretty good luck with it. Protrapper, I'm sure you are serious about people sabotaging someone's bait, but a big wow, I know there are a lot of kook's out there but someone doing the bleach thing needs a 1/2 way home. Pathetic fits that well.

[protrapper]

It's an old trick.. Heavy comp areas it's used quite a bit.. Yeah crazy, who thought up that one???

[Musky Buck]

That is something I never knew went on, my goodness, I'm sure too close of comp. so sabotage and I would assume mainly or exclusively on public/state lands ? Wow. OK, licorice and the bakeries old doughnuts ? That's my buddies recipe and he does alright it seems. I know I have many people asking me to go hunt bears behind there houses because they seem to like their birdfeeders. Off topic but will MN ever go to a Spring bear hunt or has that topic been on the table before ? Just curious because many a fall I hear about how the bears have so much natural forage it gets tough to draw them into bait in many areas so people aren't harvesting what the hope is.