who's ready for friday!

[Col. Hoggiebun]

Yep, who's ready for friday. The real Christmas morning wher we get to head out into the woods an give our buckets of gifts to santa (bear) claws. Anyone ready or are ya scrambling to find everything? You have bait right?

[LindellProStaf]

Hi Hoggiebun. Ya I have my bait ready. I have a couple of good spots to bait at and am taking Friday morning off to get to the spots first. I am making new signs tomorrow after work. I am also putting up a sign at the edge of the woods I am hunting and at the bait to help mark my territory.

[SandPoint]

First time in about 8 years we won't be running any baits...pretty bummed! That first weekend of baiting is a blast! Good things come to those that BAIT.

[Col. Hoggiebun]

Good luck LPS. Early bear gets the bait. Bummer SP don't know what I'd do if I couldn't bait.

[jerkbait]

I am ready! I don't get to hunt but I will running baits for a good friend of mine. Maybe even try and film him when he is hunting. Only thing I would be missing then is pulling the trigger. I got a new bait site ready where LPS told me he spotted a bear. Can't wait to see how that one pans out.

[Col. Hoggiebun]

So LPS jerkbait an myself are thw only ones ready? Weired. Hmmmm pretfy quiet around here.

[Scoot]

I can't get out today, but I'll be out tomorrow morning to run bait. I've only got one bait site, but it's on private land so I'm not competing with anyone for the spot. It butts up to state land, but to get to it you'd have to cross a very large swampy area that'd be almost impossible. I'm pretty sure I'll have the only bait out for a couple miles in any direction, if not more than that.

It sounds like the landowner has seen some bears and plenty of sign this year, so I'm optimistic! I can't wait to get the bait and the camera out there!

We can't hunt on Saturday of Labor Day weekend, right? The first day of hunting is Sep. 1- the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Correct?

With things being so dry will the acorns fall early or late? I think they'll drop early when it's dry, right? The landowner, who's baited and hunted bear for many years, says when the acorns start to fall it makes hunting very tough in the area he's at.

Regardless of any of these details, I'm excited to get out there and give it a try! This is my first rodeo with bear hunting and I'm looking forward to it!

[jerkbait]

Correct Sunday of labor day weekend is the opening day that you can actually hunt. It is always sept. 1st no matter what dayof the weeek it falls on. Yes acoens can make for tough hunting. I know some people will gather them up and put into their baits.

[jerkbait]

Col. Yep it has seemed quiet around here the last few months. I know a few people got booted for having a little fun and they were regular posters. Good luck to all!

[charliepete]

First time since 94 that I won't be running bait. I hardly know what to do with myself. I half thought about running a bait or two just to look at the pictures

[Random guy]

All my baits are up and running, long day.

[protrapper]

We started at midnight, we run a lot of baits. We only lost 2 stations to other baited. We bait private on the weekend. Lotta berries out there.

[Col. Hoggiebun]

Oofdah yeah that was along daybut feels like bear seaain finally wheehaaa!

Gotta ride oit the naturals scoot. Acorns can pull a bear from a crib like stuff threw a goose. Yull know when that happens bit ride it out if ya don't conect early on. Late season is the best time. Most hunters are doone an moved on to other things. Naturals are gone so be prepaired to be the only buffete in town an it can pay off big.

[CANOPY SAM]

Jon, just out of curiosity, how many baits do you gotta set up and keep running to stay on top of your clientele?

I'd reckon you've got more work then most can even imagine.

Good advice Hoggie. I've always said to wait till late season. I like late season just for the greatly reduced number of biting insects, and the bigger bears get more cagey, and put on heavier capes. That's when hunting bear gets fun!

When the acorns are falling, set up in the acorns!

[protrapper]

We have over 60 baits going as of this am.

[Random guy]

I cap the number of hunters I allow in camp to keep it more manageable. Not to mention since I became the township, county and state trapper I have to allow time for that if need be. I like 6 guys total at any time. It cuts down on the insane race to tend 70 baits and trying to get 12 guys in their stands and multiple bear out every night. Six hunters I can keep it tight knit and enjoy it. Normaly two groups of hunters or one group and a couple stragglers. This plan is backfiring a little bit as my stragglers are becoming buddies and forming groups, and two separate hunting groups have now merged into one big group. Guess having a relaxed camp everybody is becoming friends.

Another thing that helps is I start baiting on public land then finish on private land by dropping baits on public land and starting new baits on private mid season once the bird hunters hit the woods. Drives the wardens crazy when I shift my entire operation 20 miles one way in 24 hours. On average I have 30-33 active baits over 120 miles of gravel roads every day and I am a one man show. I could legally run 51 baits this year but through the decades we learned I will have 7 or 8 baits produce multiple bear.

[x1957x]

I dont have very good luck after about the 3rd week myself. Just out of curiosity though, how many bear have you shot hunting late in the season Sam? Where I hunt it seems like after the acorns ARE DONE the bear baiting drops off dramaticaly. Have had them just walk buy the bait and sniff and leave. Stay there at tops 3 to 4 seconds. I seen this on trail cam video's. Dont really see them much at all though after the Acorn Rush!

[CANOPY SAM]

Well yes, 1957, that is a problem. I don't actually do a lot of baiting, unless I can't locate a bear or two by other means. With my family, business, and lifestyle, I just don't have the time to commit to maintaining a bait station.

I've taken one late season bear, so I'm no expert, that's for SURE! When the acorns are really coming down I try to find the thickest stands of old growth oak I can find alongside a waterway or river bottom. Seems like the bear will pattern pretty well to these areas, and sometimes a guy can coax em' into the open and in range with a succulent, irresistible burn of some flavor.

Wow! You guys really put in the time at this! With 50-100 bait stations running all the time you must not have much time for anything else. I really admire that kind of commitment. It's got to be a blast tending all those stations and seeing what kind of activity you get each day!

Truthfully, my bear hunting each season is so intermittent it hardly qualifies as hunting. Late fall is such a great time of year, and with so many fun things to do (fishing and hunting everything) I have a hard time committing to just one thing.

Thanks for answering my questions guys. That's pretty cool!

[LindellProStaf]

We just went and put trail cameras at the baits I set up on Friday. Also added some more goodies and sprayed some vanilla raspberry juice in the trees. Looks like some little critters have been munching but no bears yet. The bait that is by a riverbottom was so thick with mosquitos that I was even inhaling them up my nose. The other is in pines and the bugs were not bad at all. Like I said. I put up a sign on a lath at the edge of the woods that says bear bait ahead and put my name and DNR # on it. If I saw one of those I wouldn't barge in on anyone else so hope it works.

[CANOPY SAM]

LPS. I hope the "heads up" sign works better for you then it did for me. The couple years I did this I think it actually drew more people into my baits rather then chasing them out. Curiosity thing?

I sometimes wonder if it's not more affective to be in constant stealth mode. Tiny, almost undetectable trailhead, leading way back into a spot most folks would give up walking to. A little sign above the baitpile is all you need.

Nowadays, the fewer folks that know about where you're set up, the better. I think I even had a few people "burn" my bait stations, when they knew they were in there! I'd imagine the anti's would love to know where everyone is baiting bear.

[Random guy]

Careful with the warning sign. I found out the hard way you cannot do that.

6232.3200 Bait Stations and Garbage Dumps. Sub part 3, Section F : ...warning or other signs to mark generic locations of bait stations or advise people of bait stations on public land are prohibited.

[harvey lee]

Not bear hunting this fall but I always enjoyed the baiting. I got more of a thrill out of seeing the baits hit than the kill itself.

Good luck to all.

[charliepete]

Not bear hunting this fall but I always enjoyed the baiting. I got more of a thrill out of seeing the baits hit than the kill itself.

Good luck to all.

I for one was extremely happy when those signs were outlawed. Lots of folks were placing them at trail heads that are the access point to thousands and thousand as a way to say, "Stay off...this is mine". If you want to do that, hunt private land.

[HunterLee]

Just set my one bait today. Will get three out but no big hurry for me. All private with no other people around. Today's bait is my best bait.

[protrapper]

LPS. I hope the "heads up" sign works better for you then it did for me. The couple years I did this I think it actually drew more people into my baits rather then chasing them out. Curiosity thing?

I sometimes wonder if it's not more affective to be in constant stealth mode. Tiny, almost undetectable trailhead, leading way back into a spot most folks would give up walking to. A little sign above the baitpile is all you need.

Nowadays, the fewer folks that know about where you're set up, the better. I think I even had a few people "burn" my bait stations, when they knew they were in there! I'd imagine the anti's would love to know where everyone is baiting bear.

The warning signs are illegal now. We had 21 hits on 36 baits yesterday