Good bear baits??

[MNpurple]

This was my first year hunting bears and after a dissapointing and frustrating guide experience, I have decided to do it myself and make the drive from Mankato to bait for myself. I realize what you bait with depends alot on what you can get your hands on, but if you had to choose say your top three baits, without giving up your magic recipe, what would they be?

[roosterslayer]

Oats, popcorn, apples, sweet corn, bacon grease, have all worked for me. I actually mix a five gallon pale with 1/4 oats, then some popcorn, and either some honey or molasses(spelling)on top and mix it together. i dump this in the hole and leave a little sweet corn or apples outside the bait for the smaller bears and hope that they dont clean out my bait. also you could try a bacon grease or hiney burn they both work well. Good luck.

[IceHawk]

Sweetcorn,watermelon,bakery products covered with piefilling and fryergrease. I then pour fryer grease all around the pit so the bears that visit get it on their pads. This in turn leaves a nice scent trail back to the pit to any other bears that cross another ones trail.

[Canuck]

Beaver carcass by far the best. I don't know if U are allowed in your area to use them or not but if U are I strongly recommend them. Freeze them over winter and save them up until spring. I use a 45 gal barrel with rebar welded on the end with just enough of a hole for the bear to stick its nose in and take small bites. Make sure U secure the barrel to a tree. I then take a single beaver with the castors still in and hang it between 2 tall trees just out of the reach of the bear. This seems to really attrack them. I have also in the past taken honey and chopped a log with the honey poured in it. If U can cause the log to smoulder slowly the smoke will carry the honey smell a LONG way.

This all seems like alot of work but it does work. Again it all depends on what your laws allow. I have heard of other guys using old fryer grease from restaurants but personally I havn't used it. They have had success with it though.

[RussDaBuss]

What we used this past year was this. Went to a feed mill and bought oats, sunflower seeds and molasses. I also went to Mills Fleet and bought the cheapest dog food. Before we headed up to the land we pre mixed 5 gallon buckets of equal parts of oats, dog food and sunflower seeds. Then we dumped some molasses on top and then some water. When we got to the bait site we put plenty of pastries and then dumped this 5 gallon mixture on top. I did not get a bear this past fall BUT my camera showed plenty !! .. I have also heard that beaver is the best as mentioned above- Just need to find some !! One thing I have found is that meat and especially fish turns them off after time. Gets too rancid.. Good luck

[protrapper]

Oats, molasses, and beaver tails and meat. Those are what I rely on on almost totally. Beaver meat if you can find a trapper is the best nait for bears out there. I collect 55 gallon drums of grease also. I also save the beaver castor sacs to use as a lure works well up here. We get lots of good hunters and guides up here.

[metrojoe]

I used a mix of pastries and beef fat. I'd toss in a can of baked beans and/or BBQ sauce along with it. I like the popcorn idea. Pop a bag of "Butter Blast" and pour that on top....who can resist the smell of popcorn?

[roosterslayer]

if you are looking for a good way to get alot of popcorn free look at your local movie theater thats what my group did and once a week we would get two large garbage bags full of the stuff from when they would clean up for the night.

[fisherman]

If you can get your hands on strawberry syrup for fountain pop machines and sweet tart candy. These have worked great for us over the years.

[gethanet]

frosted rolls and beaver carcases.

[setterguy]

One trick a guide from Canada taught me, get some vanilla extract and put it into a spray bottle. Spray some on the tree limbs all around your bait pile, that stuff is strong, cheap and then the wind can really pick up the scent and carry it...it worked for me.