Bear Baits

[Coldtrack]

Well I think big boy got spooked out, went in yesterday to put a good camera on that bait and it wasn't hit, noticed wheeler tracks going rite by it so I walked in to find a bait 300 yards past me!!!! Guy stretched a ribbon clear across the trail with this wrote on it. "bear bait in area, stay out!!

[jerkbait]

Guess you should have done that. Maybe it would have kept him out.

[x1957x]

Coldtracks, hey dude that just is not right. Correct me if I am wrong though. Isnt that why a guy registers his bait besides the fact the CO can come and make sure you are legal. If yours was registered there first dont you have the right to tell the guy that your bait was there first and a couple hundred yards away and to move on and you will let the CO. know he moved in close to your registered site! Maybe I am wrong but that is one of the reasons you register it. I know I and a couple of my buddys register ours ASAP and that is one of the reasons why. MAN,THE JUST ISNT RIGHT! He is not a sportsman in my book!

[MahtowaDave]

Hopefully the bears follow the rules on his sign, and stay out! Ribbon? Cmon man, what is he trying to prove? Even if it were on private land, that is a little over the top.

[icehole10]

Guy stretched a ribbon clear across the trail with this wrote on it. "bear bait in area, stay out!!

Correct me if im wrong, but I thought it illegal to mark entire trails. We just went through this a couple of years ago, a guy would put signs at the head of a trail, and then expect everyone to abandon their baits, because he had a sign on the trial. I would check with your local co. Im pretty sure they put a stop to it.

[Boar]

Ice i think ur right. I think one cannot mark trails with stay or bait site stayout ect.... id call the co for sure and put a stop to it.

[Boar]

Man i hope u call the CO im angry just thinking it happend to u

[jerkbait]

The ribbon may be against the law, but unfortunately the law says he only has to be a 100 yards away. Legal yes. Ethical not. What a jerk.

[Pinusbanksiana]

I'm not a bear hunter but have a question. What kinds of changes to a bears natural habits occur once they start hitting a bait? Do they keep foraging or do they just hole up close to a bait and defend it against other bears?

[Boar]

None that im aware of, tyeybwont stop forageing naturals and it hard to bait when their plentiful. Specially acorns. Acorns drop and they always pull a houdini. Bear know what they need to survive the winter. What baiting dose is primarily give us the only managment tool for bear. It would be very hard to manage a population with spot and stalk methods only. Specialy in MN. Sows and cubs are always tue first to den usually late sept. To early oct. Even if ther is bait piles around. Mature boars will forage and hit baits til its all gone or a severe cold snap forces them to den. Even the if its mild temps afterwards the can and do come out to forage if its avaiable.

[Boar]

I have seen mature bkwrs defend a bait site as yu mention but generaly after most of the naturals are gone. Their never far from either.

[Coldtrack]

I've played this game WAY to many times, nothing anyone can do about him putting a bait next to mine but they put a stop to marking bait trails about 6-8 years ago. My warden gives littering tickets out for it, as far as ethics??? I don't think they exists anymore!!

It's been a few years since I've been in Maine but pretty sure you can't have a bait with in 1 mile of another registered bait, even your own. May be further I would have to check. I would like to see that applied here!!!

[Coldtrack]

I'm not a bear hunter but have a question. What kinds of changes to a bears natural habits occur once they start hitting a bait? Do they keep foraging or do they just hole up close to a bait and defend it against other bears?

Depends on naturel food in the area, when ran with dogs off bait some years dogs jump the bear within a few hundred yards of the bait, other years they may cold track over a mile before jumping.

[rkhinrichs]

checked my three baits.. and one got torn up!!! i did not have my cam on him, so no pics! But will run a bait tomorrow and put up a cam. I will see if this bear wants to tango:)

[protrapper]

The ribbon may be against the law, but unfortunately the law says he only has to be a 100 yards away. Legal yes. Ethical not. What a jerk.

Where is that printed!??? I have people set 50 yards or sometimes less. A guide hung a sign Friday and some fool dumped bait in his pit and hung there sign next to his.

[jerkbait]

It does say in the regs that a sign can not be more than 20' away from the bait. So marking the trail to a registered bait would be more than 20' away I am guessing.

[jay83196]

Few years ago I put a few signs up on trails or roads 50 yds away from my baits reading bear bait ahead, I did it so people knew it was there and either wouldn't bait around it (I'd want to know if I was setting up around another) and small game etc hunters wouldn't stubble on it. A game warden ask me to take them down he said can't mark them at all just name info bait sign at station is all you can have.

[rkhinrichs]

Here is my bait pile from last night.

[Boar]

Nice! Love a pile that looks like ya threw in a hand granade. Good luk

[jerkbait]

Ya. that is the coolest thing when the logs look like that. Especially the logs you can barely lift thrown 10' away.

[leech~~]

After a while we just stopped using logs at it got tiring to keep stacking them once we had a hot bait!

We did keep a crib from the tree out on both sides so they couldn't sneak in from the side during a hunt and just dump a big pile of bait in the middle of the cribbing. Never had an issue knowing it was still getting hit, but you could always take a picture of your bait when you leave and check it to the picture the next time you bait or hunt to see how much was gone if your worried about it! This worked for us!

[MahtowaDave]

Back from baiting. No hits. Put some more out. We will see.

[Coldtrack]

6 for 6 today, 4 doubles, 1 triple, 1 single. Nothing big, 200 tops.

[B-man715]

6 for 6 today, 4 doubles, 1 triple, 1 single. Nothing big, 200 tops.

Nice Budd! Save one for next year for me . It will be my third point so I'm hoping I'll get a tag and can come camp in your driveway for a week LOL

[jay83196]

2 for 2! A momma and cubs, a big guy at night and this small guy during daylight, must be last year's?