Filler Bait for Bear

[bogwalker]

This is going to be the first time bear hunting and was wondering has anyone tried cookie dough? The reason I ask is a lot of the big sellers of bait, like lucky7 I see on there websites they have cookie dough, just curious.

Welcome fowldreams, Cookie dough works but it is fairly expensive and heavy to carry very far. I have never used it alone but I have mixed it with other ingredients. Never found any left over at the bait site.

[mudslinger64]

boar,what kind of grease do you use for this?just used fryer oil or the lard type?might have to give it a shot this year.

[Boar]

Good ol' fryer grease from resteraunts, I like to ask those roade side places, like spin off DQ's an such, they seem to use it longer before they change it, an the more used it is the better. Bars that serve burgers an fries is a good place to. Boar

[Boar]

ask them to set it out for you to pick up or if you can dip into the bin, you are either gonna get messy or you'lll end up have to dispose of the plastic jug yourself. Boar

[Boar]

Hey fowldreams glad to have ya on board, I'm heading to cory's on the 16 for a pallet of gummy bears an liquorice, cookie dough is good but dosent withstand rain as well as the gummy an liqourice. Boar

[mudslinger64]

thanks boar,i have a place i get lots of oil from so i will give it a shot,might even get some mixed up today.thanks.

[Boar]

Yepperdo, Good luck. Boar

[sconnyslayer]

Ive always used old bread or buns that I get from bakerys. We usually get a bunch of garbage bags full of old or bad bread that they were just going to throw out anyways. They usually come in full loaves so we just rip them apart into smaller pieces but im not sure thats even nessecary and then pour honey or molasses over it to give it some flavor. We have also used oats before too but since we have started getting the bread every year we have just stuck with that.

this is very similar to what i do

[cherokee]

One thing about storing the bread in a five gallon bucket with grease on top is that it requires no freezer space and stacks nicely without any smell. Hope this works which I'm certain it will.

I have a bunch of frosting that I will probably mix with sunflower seeds and oats.

[jay83196]

Corn, dogfood, or oats.... which would be best or should i use all of them, I get dog food cheap, cost isn't issue. Mix them with grease molasses and honey. just wondering if worth time using all or if one is best usually...figure one 5 gal bucket each of donuts, meat, peanuts, candy and then one of greasy filler. every other day, should be good??

[Matt Breuer]

I would utilize them all. They like variety. Especially over time. You could even stagger them, oats and molasses first, peanuts and honey, then in 2 weeks move over to dog food and grease. Sounds like you've got tons of bait. If money isn't an issue, maybe invest in some cans and build some burners. Get some pure honey and burn it at your site. If money weren't an issue, I'd be burning at every station, and I'd buy the pre-mixed berry bait bags. I still don't like the idea of meat in the bait... just asking for trouble...

[Boar]

Yea hold off on the meat scraps till ya gett one hitting, then add as a filler. otherwise it will quickly rot an we've discussed that scenario before. I've used meat scraps an they ate it all everytime, they love the tallo. My 2cents on burns, bacon or honey, is to use them when opening a site an for a trick on a late feeder. Not sure if matt, you mean to burn them whenever your in stand, I feel their better used as an early attractant or a last resort. Nothing wrong with burning tough, just my expereince an opinion. Later boar

[mudslinger64]

i was burning last year using chocolate syrup and man does that smell good and makes a real nice smoke,just another one to consider.

[Boar]

Hey mud, what kinda smoke did ya get? really thick an white? Boar

[bogwalker]

Has anyone taken a large mature bear while doing a burn?

[Matt Breuer]

My brother-in-law and their entire crew uses pure honey every time they're in the stand. I believe they use it while baiting as well. It's like a dinner bell... They've shot plenty of mature bears!

[mudslinger64]

Hey mud, what kinda smoke did ya get? really thick an white? Boar

yes it was,i will use it again this year and maybe even add a little honey in with it,hmmmm maybe some anise who knows what i will come up with,haha.

try it you will like it.

[bogwalker]

My brother-in-law and their entire crew uses pure honey every time they're in the stand. I believe they use it while baiting as well. It's like a dinner bell... They've shot plenty of mature bears!

Can you tell me what weight class? Thanks, bog

[Boar]

Mud, tyr honey an cherry jello mix, very good stuff. The reason i ask is cause when you get a good white smoke, it really adhears to the foiliage so doing a burn under brushy cover will really stick around for a long time an still be giving off scent long after the burn is done. I'm not saying to stick the burn pot in the brush, just low cover where the smoke can easily reach. Bog what do ya consider a mature boars weight class? boar

[Matt Breuer]

Can you tell me what weight class? Thanks, bog

I'm not sure, bog. Big? I know they pass on a lot of smaller bears, and are very selective. But your question brings up a deep thought... they almost always have a lot of bears in the bait. Every video I watch that they've filmed seems to have 2+ in and out...

[mudslinger64]

ya boar,i am not in very open areas so there are a lot of leaves for the smoke to hang in,i use a coleman campstove to do my burns and the chocolate really gets a big cloud of smoke rolling.i have some pics somewhere of a burn i did with it i will see if i can find them,i had to snap a few because i was so impressed with it.i also squirt under the leaves with liquid smoke and rub bacon grease on some of the trees around the bait.

[bogwalker]

This is one of the studies I am currently working on. Natural food sources vs. unnatural food sources of large boars ( larger than 400 pounds especially those larger than 500 pounds) in northern Minnesota, mid August through mid October, bait and hunting season. Mature boars are not treated like other bears in the bear community nor do they act much like them at times. They are solitary and in some ways have little in common with other size classes. I do know of one large bear that entered a bait site not long after a 250 pound (weighed on a certified scale) bear was killed (with a rifle). He walked past the deceased bear within several feet ( showing no alarm or interest) and went to the bait. The large bear reportedly dwarfed the 250 pound bear. On another occasion a large bear was wounded by a .270 caliber rifle while approaching a bait crib. He was knocked out by the shot. He got up within approximately 3-4 minutes. He circled the bait site woofing then disappeared in heavy cover.

[Boar]

Hmmm might have to try ur chocolate recipe, ya might have to lable that "The real death by chocolate" Interesting stuff bog, sound like me at the golden coral. Hey mud, last year you went over 400, any idea on the age of that one? Later boar

[kelly-p]

This is one of the studies I am currently working on. Natural food sources vs. unnatural food sources of large boars ( larger than 400 pounds especially those larger than 500 pounds) in northern Minnesota, mid August through mid October, bait and hunting season. Mature boars are not treated like other bears in the bear community nor do they act much like them at times. They are solitary and in some ways have little in common with other size classes.

That should be an interesting study bogwalker. I feel that most times going "bear hunting" or going "hunting for big boars" are 2 completely different games. There are places where there is a lot of bear at the baits but not much action from big boars and areas that have very little action at the baits but what action there is is from a big boar. Often it seems like multiple bears on a bait means multiple smaller bears. Many times what a big boar will like to eat a smaller (under 350 pounds) bear will not touch. What a smaller bear will eat up day after day a big boar will not touch or eat it once and never come back. I changed up the bait mix one year to give a variety to the baits and put it in every bait. It shut down every big boar I had coming in and the big boars never came back to those baits. That was a hard lesson learned. Looking back through the years it is amazing how many things I thought would be great bait the big boars did not like. How many places I thought would be great for big boars that only produced smaller bears. I would guess that through the years I have built and abandoned close to 200 bait sites where only smaller bears would show up. Every one of those sites seemed ideal when I cut and hauled the logs for the bait pile. All that sweat and work for an education. Just when we think that we have it all figured out something happens to show us that when we step into the woods we are out of our league and the big boars are smarter then us.

[cherokee]

Bogwalker, just curious if you know what percentage of the bear population is made up of mature boars over that 400 pound mark?