Whos' on the hit list.

[Boar]

I know it's to soon to be asking this, but figured I'd get the subject listed. Actually gonna head to one today that i forgot to put a camera on, an it's the one with highest expectations, Yea I know, DUH! years of baiting an i still get so worked up I forget things. So whos on the hit list? Boar

[jay83196]

Giving a few days to check, how long do you wait the first time? How long do you give a sight before giving up on it?

[kevfish1]

A good site will be hit in 2-4 days. If not move on

[lakeshoremunster]

I dont even know if Im going to be able to hunt this year. I went out yesterday early in the morning to go and open up my sites and come to find out that the dnr had closed the area down and didnt post anything up to explain why they closed it, we stoped at the local bait shop and the guy said they most likely closed it down due to the rain and the roads being flooded out.

[bogwalker]

Giving a few days to check, how long do you wait the first time? How long do you give a sight before giving up on it?

You need to have more patience than the bear. If you feel you are in a good spot stick it out. Some spots don't get hit at all the first year.

[lakeshoremunster]

last year one spot we had didnt get hit until a few day before opener and my brothers site was hit almost everynight. But with the moon the way it was last year my site was the only one that we saw a bear at.

[Boar]

Patience, jay, if youve done youre home work, It just takes time. I dont give up on a site, You have to be willing to go the distance buddy. I have a site go all the way into mid sept. before getting hit. It's can be a hard waiting game. Now I just got back from my high percentage site in the river bottom that did'nt have a camera on an I got hit. I had years when that one took alot more time. But it's a travel route. Get some scent up in the wind. later boar

[HunterLee]

Just stuck three out this afternoon, I usually give them two nights then check and then try to visit everyday if its getting hit regularly.

[Random guy]

Skunkbearpig is target #1

[Boar]

Wow that would be a ccoll mount in a couple years. boar

[Random guy]

Wow that would be a ccoll mount in a couple years. boar

Picture is two years old...he is a smart one.

[Boar]

Well he'd make a cool mount right now I guesse, boar

[fetzeriiif]

"Patience, jay, if youve done youre home work, It just takes time. I dont give up on a site, You have to be willing to go the distance buddy. I have a site go all the way into mid sept. before getting hit. It's can be a hard waiting game. Now I just got back from my high percentage site in the river bottom that did'nt have a camera on an I got hit. I had years when that one took alot more time. But it's a travel route. Get some scent up in the wind. later boar "

In response to Boar,

Boar is obviously a very successful and experienced bear hunter, but I think this is terrible advice. If your bait is not hit within a week, you need to move on. Find a new spot. If you don't, you will be very likely to have a spot with nocturnal bears or you will be looking for a new spot when the season starts. Don't you want to hunt opening day at a spot you know bears are hitting? I personally don't like hunting a spot that isn't hit within 4 days. I am not an expert, nor do I have as much experience as Boar. I have however set up sites for 8 successful hunts in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Obviously, they were not all for me. Some were for friends. Either way, all of my sites have had a 100% success rate for either Pope and Young bears, or bears over 300lbs with small skulls, all shot on the first day of hunting. I would say that is a pretty good success rate for someone that has only hunted bears for 4 years. I attribute my success to moving on from site to site until I find a site that is hit right away by a big boar.

I also disagree with the advice of many of you who keep recommending people stick with the same type of bait. From my experience, this is terrible advice. The day before the first hunt I always put out something either completely new or something they haven't seen for a while. I think this causes them to come in earlier, because they are afraid it will be gone. Once again, I am no expert, but all of my sites have had 100% success for trophy bears on the first night of hunting.

To address another post, all of the people hunting my sites were using thermocells. So I don't think they bother bears.

This post might seem like I think I know it all, I don't. I'm not a guide or an expert, I'm just a hunter. I think you all have a ton to offer and I have learned a lot from what you've had to say over the years, especially when I was just trying to figure out how to get my first bear, which was only a few years ago. I just figured it was about time I took the time to return the favor.

[Boar]

terrible is such a harsh word, for some who has consistantly harvested a n attracted bears to his single an multiple sites in an area that has a much lower density than the rest of minnesota, No Qouta, an I guesse if I'm successful in putting a bear in the freezer 99% of the time an have tophyies on the wall which are in the eye of the beholder, I'm just confused an on your chosen word of terrible. Obviously your a very successful bear hunter an I congratulate you, an you found away to harvets these incredible animals. To each their own I guesse, I'm sure jumping from spot to spot is very effective, I give advise for the most part based on my experience, an some form doing alot of research on different subjects within the relm of bear hunting, an have come across your technique, I just dont need to do it that way, an thats the beauty of this forum, whats good for some, is'nt always good for others. It takes time an work which ever way you do it, but I dont believe that one way is terrible an another way is not. Good luck. Later boar

[nik]

We just got our baits set up yesterday. My buddy that lives in Walker is going to check them out tomorrow sometime. Unfortunately, after driving 350 miles I find out that someone is set up litterally 100 yards off of one of our sites. I guess that is an important thing to keep in mind when hunting public land....Multiple spots! Oh well. Good luck to whoever is set up there. I felt like it was going to be a great spot.

[pulleye16]

"Patience, jay, if youve done youre home work, It just takes time. I dont give up on a site, You have to be willing to go the distance buddy. I have a site go all the way into mid sept. before getting hit. It's can be a hard waiting game. Now I just got back from my high percentage site in the river bottom that did'nt have a camera on an I got hit. I had years when that one took alot more time. But it's a travel route. Get some scent up in the wind. later boar "

In response to Boar,

Boar is obviously a very successful and experienced bear hunter, but I think this is terrible advice. If your bait is not hit within a week, you need to move on. Find a new spot. If you don't, you will be very likely to have a spot with nocturnal bears or you will be looking for a new spot when the season starts. Don't you want to hunt opening day at a spot you know bears are hitting? I personally don't like hunting a spot that isn't hit within 4 days. I am not an expert, nor do I have as much experience as Boar. I have however set up sites for 8 successful hunts in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Obviously, they were not all for me. Some were for friends. Either way, all of my sites have had a 100% success rate for either Pope and Young bears, or bears over 300lbs with small skulls, all shot on the first day of hunting. I would say that is a pretty good success rate for someone that has only hunted bears for 4 years. I attribute my success to moving on from site to site until I find a site that is hit right away by a big boar.

I also disagree with the advice of many of you who keep recommending people stick with the same type of bait. From my experience, this is terrible advice. The day before the first hunt I always put out something either completely new or something they haven't seen for a while. I think this causes them to come in earlier, because they are afraid it will be gone. Once again, I am no expert, but all of my sites have had 100% success for trophy bears on the first night of hunting.

To address another post, all of the people hunting my sites were using thermocells. So I don't think they bother bears.

This post might seem like I think I know it all, I don't. I'm not a guide or an expert, I'm just a hunter. I think you all have a ton to offer and I have learned a lot from what you've had to say over the years, especially when I was just trying to figure out how to get my first bear, which was only a few years ago. I just figured it was about time I took the time to return the favor.

[/quote

Thanks a ton for your insight. One thing I've learned from this forum (and others) is to take what people say that works as an option, not a garuantee. What has worked with me in the past, someone out there has had poor luck with it. There are so many variables out there that it's hard to dublicate someone elses hunt/fish. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and hopefully you just got someone a bear!

With my experience a stand that hasen't been hit, doesn't get hunted. But we have seen those same stands get hit later in the season...maybe there was another site close by with more food and that hunter has moved on. Maybe a hunter spooked a bear at a different site and the bear has moved on to this one. We've always had multiple sites for hunters so there was always atleast one good site per hunter, meaning we DIDN"T HAVE TO hunt those un-hit stands. I would just think IMO that I'd rather hunt a stand that has been hit then waiting on a site for that "first time" bear hit.

[jerkbait]

Got 2 sights set up yesterday. Think I will check them on Wednesday. Plan to set up 1 more spot yet the next couple of days.

Good luck all!!

[charliepete]

A few years back we had a bait that didn't hit until the weeekend before the opener. My buddy ended up shooting a 400# booner off that bait. I've shot lots of bears off baits that didn't get started right away. Sometimes a late hitting bait might even be more productive because bears have a lot of zeal right when they find a bait.

That being said, if I head back up north this coming weekend and find that half my baits aren't hit, I'll be putting more out in other areas. I put 8 out (for 3 guys) this weekend (Fri and Saturday) and when I checked them on Sunday 2 had already been hit. I'll still keep my eye's on the other ones though. You never know what's going to happen. I just check and re-check and spruce them up with scent and run grease draglines through the woods to them and hope they get discovered.

[lichen fox]

Hey Johnny, I had a huge sow with that same blonde streak come into a bait about 10 years ago...She came in with two chocolate colored cubs and she just sat by a bush on the edge of my bait clearing while the cubs devoured the bait. The site was about a mile south of the bankton road...any chance this one is close to that area? We haven't run that way in quite a few years and don't plan on it this year...just curious.

[fetzeriiif]

I appologize for using the word "terrible", but I feel pretty strongly that telling someone to just wait it out is not good advice. If you had told him to wait it out on one site, if he had another that was being hit, I would have thought that was fine. If he doesn't have any that are being hit, then I have to go back to that word "terrible". You need to be proactive. What if none of them ever get hit?? I am not saying they won't, but who wants to go into the season still waiting for your first hit at your baits. If you keep trying new spots until you at least have one that is hit, you will at least know you have one spot to hunt. September comes and goes pretty fast, I'ld hate to spend it sitting at home preying for my first hit, rather than sitting in a tree at a productive bait.

[bogwalker]

I can't imagine anyone putting out just one bait. My advice was based upon multiple bait sites. I am sure Boar was giving his advice the same way.

[Boar]

I was'nt intentionally trying to tell him what to do, I was giving first hand experience on scenarios of patience, the influence I was trying to get across was patience. There is now magic formula here. I strongly feel that if you move to fast you very well could be missing a bear, if a person has the option to move an they feel their gettin know where at the present site then by all means move. But I surley wouldnt abandon asite after just four days. Alot of people have limited resources in bear hunting, Time, land access, money, eqiupment ect. If a site just isnt getting hit, then the homework wasnt getting done, many factors involved in a dry site. If a run an gun approach works then good, I've done my home work an know I'll get hit, sometimes right away like this weekend, sometimes later. I havent come across any bad advise on this site, well maybe a few times, but your intitled to your opinion. If none of them get hit, well I go out an sometimes dont catch fish either, or dont shoot a deer btu thats why they call it hunting. Boar

[cherokee]

Multiple sites for sure and than narrow it down from there. If we pulled out after 4 days we would not have two of our most productive stations. If you got the time to test bait, more power to you. Good luck to everyone.

[x1957x]

ANd if it isnt hit, keep checking it and refreshing it with new goodies. If you are in a productive spot it takes sometime to get a bear in. Maybe it came in and wasnt hungry and didnt even open it up.It still knows that it was there and will check it out another day. I had a bait that got hit once that it took over a week to get a bear in and then it hit the bait every 4th nite. Turned out to be a bear over 500. Never did kill him either.-----57--- Hang in there , you'll no when its time to quit trying that bait. --57-

[Boar]

hey 57, I substituted maple syrup for honey on you recipe, cost factor. Boar