slow bear weekend

[bigbucks]

My first time bear hunting this weekend. A buddy & I are hunting, have two baits total 400-500 yards apart. Both are getting hit intermittently, his by we think three different bears, mine by probably just one. Mine doesn't look like any of those on his. Did have one possibly diff one hit a week ago Sat night that could have been one of the same.

Hadn't been able to bait from a week ago Saturday until Friday. My bait had been cleaned Saturday his hadn't been hit all week. He got cleaned out Friday night, mine wasn't touched.

We sat from around 1pm to dark Saturday. He saw 3 bears, roughly one @ 6:15, 7:15 & 8:15 (dark). He never got a shot, they wouldn't come in. Could have taken an 8-10 yard head shot on a big one, but waited for it to step in & it just melted away. Swirling winds, as the rest of you know. I saw nothing.

Saturday night mine was hit somewhere in the 1:30- 2:30am range. Mostly been my bear's MO. His bait wasn't hit. We sat from 10:30am to dark Sunday, nothing...

Baited again yesterday morning before we left to come home. Last pic of my short fat bear was at 2:16am.

Will this nocturnal bear come in during daylight again when it cools down & the full moon's gone, or is he unkillable? Probably going to leave early Friday, try to bait & sit be 3pm.

[jerkbait]

You could try to do a honey or bacon burn. that might trick it.

[bigbucks]

I was going to inquire about how to do that a little more. What do I need for the honey or the bacon & what to burn it with?

I don't know how much cost is involved or where a guy can get the needed supplies?

[jerkbait]

Not terribly exspensive. What you will need is some Sternos(the bigger size), 2 of them. A metal coffee can or something similar in size and a metal soup can. Take the coffee can and drill the sides full of holes, alot of holes. This is so the sterno will get the o2 needed to burn. Take the 2 sternos and stack them, pop the top on the top 1 and lite it. Turn the coffee can upside down over the burning sterno, then set the soup can about half full of honey and let it simmer and bubble. It will bubble over and burn on the bottom of the coffee can. Hope that all makes sense. To do the bacon burn would be just the same, you would just need to cook the bacon and save the grease to put in the soup can.

[bigbucks]

I've never used sterno. I know what your talking about, but does any hardware store have them or where does a guy buy those? Are we talking $4-5 a piece or what?

[Boar]

In my opinion, if you have the rest of the season to hunt, give it time an dont try to force things, the cooler temps an dissapearing natural forage will have bear compeating at sites an the likelyhood of daytime activity will increase because of this. Myself prefer to use a burn as last ditch effort to get a bear in. Jb has a great burn apperatis that works awsome, better than anything ive built. An burns do work, but I feel that its something to use when all else fails. I would use JB's style but i would let things jsut play out for a litle bit yet an see how things go. But thats me an my 2 cents. The best time is coming up, cooler temps no naturals, an the big boys anre gonnna put on the feed bag, I keep sites fresh as possible with lots of bait, it'll happen. Heat can drive them nocturnal. This is just wat works for me. it might not work for others. Good luck keep at it. Abouve all else keep positive an focused, it's easy to let the mind beat ya up.

[jerkbait]

Yeah, what Boar said. Unless this is the last weekend you have to hunt, then I would maybe try a burn. Also, I think up here I paid around $7-8 for a 2 pack of the bigger sternos at our local hardware store. I think you can get them at the grocery store too if I am not mistaken. Good luck.

[bigbucks]

Just debating on what to do. I'd really like to get my bear this weekend as it's a 3 1/2 hour drive each way to where I'm hunting. I need to get up there to bait anyway, but as long as I'm there, might as well hunt.

I want to bow hunt, duck hunt, & turkey hunt around home. Fall's just too short, as is vacation time...