Bear baiting question

[corndawg765]

So I'm running dog food, stale bread, and spent fryer oil with a scent additive in my barrel. I've been battling getting bears to come in consistently, so my thought was i was going to take the scented fryer oil and spray it in the tree tops above my bait site with a small weed sprayer. Well, that worked great for a little while, until the sprayer clogged up. I tried drilling a larger hole in the tip of the sprayer to no avail. I know I'm not the only person to have had this idea, so my question is..Is there a better way to do this such as a better sprayer tool, a different method of dispersing scent or is this just a dumb idea entirely?

 

[Addicting]

If your state allows it, go to Gordon foods and buy a bucket of frosting. Mix that with the dog food, the sugar is like crack to a bear.

 

[Bill Zent]

Way back in my younger days............I built a fire under a Ponderosa, cooked bacon and trout for lunch when I baited. Then added that grease to deep fryer grease from a Chinese cafe, some honey, and other good smelling stuff with water in a big coffee can and boil. The steam will transfer all that smell to the tree which will be carried by the wind for miles. I have had bear come to the bait before I left the site.

 

[Dave N]

Way back in my younger days............I built a fire under a Ponderosa, cooked bacon and trout for lunch when I baited. Then added that grease to deep fryer grease from a Chinese cafe, some honey, and other good smelling stuff with water in a big coffee can and boil. The steam will transfer all that smell to the tree which will be carried by the wind for miles. I have had bear come to the bait before I left the site.

Or you could improperly cut the top off of a gallon jug of your oil and attempt to fling it up into the trees. Be sure to laugh hysterically as you try to run out from under the descending oil cloud.

 

[Red Fox]

I would think that you should make sure you spill some of the oil in front of the barrel so that the bears will track the oil as they leave. They will be leaving a sent trail all over the place.

 

[TheTone]

I would think that you should make sure you spill some of the oil in front of the barrel so that the bears will track the oil as they leave. They will be leaving a sent trail all over the place.

That’s the most common way I’ve heard

Friend of mine used liquid smoke in sprayers and squirt guns. It was much thinner so less plugging issue

 

[Bill Zent]

I was referring to the OP's question of getting scent in trees.

Dave, I may look dumb, but that is camouflage so people don't waste my time picking my brain.

Red Fox and TheTone, Not only do I put lots of grease around the barrel for the bear to spread around the mountains I do one better. When first setting up bait site I drag the scent out on the ground for several hundred yards. Take an old pair of Levis and tie a knot in the bottom of each leg, fill with good nasty grease, tie the top with rope and hot foot it.

 

[Dave N]

I was referring to the OP's question of getting scent in trees.

Yeah, I just figured you would like it since I did it right in front of you! Oh, the good old days...

 

[cheeser]

THERE IS TON OF BEAR BAITING RECIPES/STRAGEGIES ON YOUTUBE NONE ARE WRONG BUT SOME ARE BETTER.
SOMETHINGS THAT HAVE WORKED WELL FOR ME
1) TAKE A 2 FOOT SQUARE CHUNK OF CARPET SOAKED IN FRY GREASE FROM YOUR LOCAL EATERY AND DRAG IT EVERYDAY TO YOUR BAIT SITE TO BEGIN YOUR BAITING. RESOAK AFTER EACH USE.
2) POUR FRY GREASE OVER YOUR BAITSITE SO ANY CRITTERS GET THE GREASE ON THEIR FEET AND SPREAD THE SCENT ON THE GROUND.
3) TAKE A MIXTURE OF APPLE JUICE/ HONEY/ MAPLE SYRUP/ LIQHID SMOKE IN A SPRAY BOTTLE. SPRAY ON THE VEGETATION ON TRAILS INTO BAIT SITE.
4) SETUP YOUR STAND DOWNWIND OF BAIT SITE ON A SWAMP EDGE. MAKE SURE THE BEAR HAS HEAVY COVER FOR DAYTIME BEDDING. THEY WONT BE VERY FAR AWAY SO BE QUIET.
5) USE RUBBER GLOVES WHEN PUTTING OUT BAIT. AND DONT GET SCENT OF BAIT ONTO YOUR CAMERAS.

 

[SaskHunter]

The older a bait site is, the better. Bears will keep coming year after year as long as you keep baiting.

It sounds like you already have a lot of scent dispersed in the area and you may just have lower bear densities or other baits sites might be competing with yours. Every spring, when I start baiting, I drag either a beaver or a punctured jug of used frying oil, behind my ATV in a large clover leaf pattern around my bait to make scent trails. The more bears hit your bait, the more they will disperse your bait's scent around. That frying oil is sticking to their paws and they're tracking that sh*t around the bush, carrying that scent for you and making trails that other bears can cut and follow along.

One quick and easy way to get a lot of scent in your spot, is to get Cherry Kool-Aid crystals and just spread it around your bait. The crystals get carried easily in the wind and whenever the crystals get wet, they bring out more scent.

An old bait site becomes very predictable. I can tell 9/10 where bears are going to come from and when. I know at least of two other sites within a 1 km radius and my bait, which is pretty much the same recipe same as yours, gets hit ridiculously hard during shooting hours.

 

[kwa_bena]

I’m keeping tabs on this thread. I have plans to book an outfitter for archery.

 

[buxnbullz]

Mix a gallon of vanilla ($22 on amazon) with 2-3 bottles of Anise & spray it all around the bait site with a fertilizer sprayer. Get it as high as you can on the branches. Or soak up a rag with anise & hang it in a tree.

Bears are a lot like dogs & learn when they get a treat. You can attract a bear to a site but, if the bear isn't rewarded with a treat of some kind, it can lose interest & link that specific scent to not getting something.

Use your used fryer oil for just spreading around the site & on logs.

 

[Falcon75]

Get a water soaker toy that is a big tube that you put in a bucket (fryer oil) and pull handle back to fill. Push forward to soak trees. They can shoot 35 40 feet.

 

[Sask hunter]

Get a water soaker toy that is a big tube that you put in a bucket (fryer oil) and pull handle back to fill. Push forward to soak trees. They can shoot 35 40 feet.View attachment 326229

I
Plan to get one. My little spray bottle quickly gunked up

 

[wvhunter304]

Buy anise oil and put in a spray bottle.

 

[elkantlers]

I use a small weed sprayed filled with Vanilla and Anise mixed. For the fry oil I use a kids water soaker. You can spray oil pretty dang high up a tree.

 

[Steelsearchin]

Get a water soaker toy that is a big tube that you put in a bucket (fryer oil) and pull handle back to fill. Push forward to soak trees.

A buddy's brother does this method with pretty good success. Only problem is the porkies kill all the trees devouring the oil.

 

[pabearhunter]

Or YOU could just buy OUTDATED trail mix... I think your problem is you are running with it !

 

[Laelkhunter]

Also check with your local donut shop. Buy a bunch of day olds or stale donuts. Can't get them up in the tree, but the cinnamon and sugar smell will get their attention if you throw them under the tree.