Callin All Master Baiters........Tobey, Moosie...:)

[Mountain Boomer]

I know this has been discussed before but I never paid attention. Looks like the AG&F has opened up bear baiting in AR. How do you guys rig your bait barrels? I have the large 55 gal plastic barrels, will they work? If you can post any pictures of your set ups I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
Boomer

 

[Muledeer4me]

I cant wait to see the pictures of this

With the group we have around here this could be pretty entertaining

 

[Tobey]

1-900-mas-terbater Its $14.99 per min.

We use and prefer a 55 gallon drum with a removable lid.Stand them up with a gig rock on the lid and you will keep out the non target game.(coon coyotes posums )
We use donuts,pastrees,sweets of all kinds.We also use alot of restrount grees I think its the best atracter there is spred some around in the trees and mix with your bait.If you can't get donuts or sweets use horse grain eather corsh 14 or charger 50# around here is about $7.00 .fill a 5 gal.pail with grain then soak it down with greas.Works real good.If its all gone over night you got more than one bear coming.Choosing a site is also very important.Find out what the bears are feeding on in the wild when you start (berrys,nuts,grass )then find some water near where there feeding.set up your bait site next to swampy or wet aria near where there feeding.Bears love to layup in cool damp arias dering the day.
Good luck and post the pic's when you shoot him.

 

[Moosie]

I posted some Stuff A while back so I'll do the Old CUT/PASTE and a bit of updating...

There must be some bear in the location you want to hunt. If there is It isn't any in the Area then You are wasting your time. A good Way to find out is Look for random Overturned rocks, broken rotten logs and of course bear droppings (SCAT). Scat can look different at different times of the year but basically looks like Human Fesis but usually bigger and if there diet has a bunch of grass/berries then it could be more of a "pile". I've seen Twigs, grass and More in Scat. It just depends on the area and the time of year.

That being said And you know Bear are in the AREA, I would also check out a couple of other things. There are rules in Idaho that state you have to be certain distances from roads and water and Have to use a ground pit or a 55 Gal drum chained to a tree.

We like to Bait Downhill from the road. Here's why. I only have to Carry ONE or TWO bears out from the bait site but have to bring in thousands of pounds of bait during the Season. I hoof it all on my own and don't use horses so that's my theory. Also it is Easier to approach a bait site from the Top incase a bear happens to be already on that site.

NOW, I look for thick places. Bears feel more comfortable if they can approach the bait site under "cover". You should be in an area that has plenty of cover yet able to see far enough to see a bear coming it.

Are you Going to hunt w/ a bow or gun, Are you planning to dig a pit or use a tree stand?

We have in the Past used Stands and Ground blinds. This year will be a stand w/ the Bow. I have taken my 3 bears in the last 3 years w/ a rifle and I think it's time for the Bow. Since the Spring Didn't do Me well, I will just Spot and Stalk in the Fall. There is an Area that alwyas has bears in a old orchard only about 1.5 hours from here.

Bait.....Is another key. There are several ways to do this. We use Barrels. We cut the lids off for an opening and Use hinges to put them back on. Then we have chains holding the Lids so they only open part way. We have used cheese and bread in the past. There was a cheese factory that we got cheese from but it has since closed down. We have also used cheap dog food. As you get rid of your elk/deer meat from the freezer this year replace the Space w/ old food scraps and old vegetables. Ahhh Which reminds meet THE BEST BY FAR..to use in the spring is APPLES!!!! The bear kind of need to "WAKE UP" their system after the long winter "NAP". They eat slowly at first. Apples, we have found, are the best for the bears to get their system going and is Easy on their stomach. After they start hanging around, They eat anything...except jalepeno, but that is another story..

We score on BREAD here from the Local "OUTLETS" we buy a Rack or two.. A Rack runs about $10 and Fills up the back of the truck. They Sure love the Pasterys. Sometimes we even Score and Get Twinkys and DigDONGS

OK, What haven't I talked about?!?!?! OH Yahh Size...They say that Ears are truly one of the best ways to judge. I like to look at size of body and hoe they move. If he waddles or looks like he is rolling almost when you see him, you can bet he is a shooter. Also a big bear will look rounder in the body rather than sleek like a younger one! If I was hunting over bait, I would get a bench mark of the height on a tree of close to the bait site to use as a "benchmark". Put up a piece of cloth or something else next to the Barrel for Size judgement.

Little Bears tend to come to the Bait site first. They try to get in before the bigger bears do. I had a buddy shoot a yearling bear this last year w/ his bow. When he brought it into fish and game there was 7 bear brought in that day. 6 of the 7 were yearling bear. Nothing wrong w/ bear management but if you are indeed looking for one to mount be careful. It takes a lot of practice. Bears ground shrink faster that any other species I know. I have had the experience that Big bear will come into the site a little closer to dark.

The time of year in the Spring that we bait it gets dark around 9:10. We are usually at out sites at about 6-6:30 and dumping goodies. Lemme tell you It is hard to sit in a friggin tree stand for 2 hours....(At least for this Western boy). Anyways. The earliest we've taken a bear I think Was like 8:25 PM.

This spring We had several sites and I strongly recommend this for you too. We have had up to 3 barrels to start then usually only keep one after the first 2 weeks. This year will be different I think!!! Anyways. If you are looking for a good spot and think you've found one, Dump some bait. Check it often and maintain it. If you have someone, baiting in the Next canyon or two and They maintain their site....Well need I say more?!?! Maintaining brings me to my next point....SCENT!!

I think Scent plays NO roll if you do it right. We Dump our sent ALL over the site and do so all the time. We constantly Pee, hang sweaty shirts, Or whatever to leave or scent...Heres' why : If there is NO scent around, and One day you are sitting on the stand and the wind isn't just right or anything. and the bear smells you, and lemme tell you he will!!!! Bears can Smell for Miles in the field, You think you can Hide your scent from them, Think again BUDDY!!! If the Scent is ALWAYS there, the bear will eventually come ion late at night to check it out then start feeling more comfortable and Bombard it during the "WITCHING'" hours, Which is the last 2 hours of the day. So that's my Story and I'm sticking to it.....

CHECK OUT MY HUNT WITH WYLEE

http://www.hunttalk.com/01bear.html

There are some Cool pics there of Our Barrles and Some SCAT. A few DEER PICS and some other General Pics.... It has Area pictures of some new Area that we hunted. This Spring We didn't fair so Well Like the PAst few Years.. Except the SPOT AND STALK HUNT with Greenhorn in Eastern Idaho.... Heres THAT LINK..

http://www.hunttalk.com/01bear_2.html

There's Also A picture of Greenhorn there. He's Quite the MAN-imal himself.. If you look at the first picture it the BED I had a Cool present for Greeny.. It was a Callendar called "RACKS" Well It also HAd NICE Deer in it too .. HEhehehe

Well, Back to the Barrles , If you look closely to the Barrles that we did this year it has a Opening in the side and a Lid that has a "RING" around it that has a bolt that closes it. THat way it's easier to fill the barrle but the Bear doesn't get a Big hole to Just walk away with ALL the food....

Well It's Getting Late and I'm out of words.. Believe it or not >.. HEHEHE

 

[Moosie]

THey say it takes A while to Get info From me.. But there is a Bunch when I post it

Also, THis year we discoverend that the Dogs ran Our bears and A bunch of my buddies bears.. Put your BAit FAR as you can from the road. (IF HOUNDS ARE LEAGAL THERE). My buddies set up cammeras and have 2 rolls of dog streaks going by the Cammera. Sucks for them.. Funny thing was the BAit sites were hit HARD the last week of the Season and the Hounds Slowed down. Next year the areas here are going to be a Month Longer .. The Hides are going to start to Be rubbed off but there are going to be some with Still nice Hair. Always Watch for that too.... Using a Bait it is alot easier.

Anyways.... DID I leave something out ?!?!?

 

[Mountain Boomer]

Thanks Guys! I am going to give it a try this fall. I don't have access to any donut shops or anything so I am going to try all grain. I can buy it for about $4.50 a bag. My wife's grandmother owns a restaurant so I can get all the grease and scraps I want. I have managed to kill a bear here and RiverRat killed one last year that I found. I will be able to find one pretty easy I just didn't know what to use for bait or how to set it up.

Boomer

 

[hntrjohn]

I am maried what do I need to do that for? ?

 

[Moosie]

MB, LEt me know how the Fall baiting goes.... We've had CRAP for luck around here in Idaho. There are Usually to many Dany Berries and Such. There is one place that has Awsome Bear in it that we tried several years in a Row in the Fall without ANY hits.... But thats just here maybe ?!?!?!!?

I definetly like the Spot and Stalk in the fall......

 

[Mountain Boomer]

Moosie, No chance for spot and stalk around here. If you spot'em just shoot,em.... You will be with in a 100 yards already. Thats about as for as you can see. I went scouting this weekend and found some sign. We can start baiting September 1, so I am going to put out two baits the first weekend of September. Between me and my buddies there will be around 15-20 bait sites....

Surely one of us will get some hits.

I went to the area I shot the bear last year and it was logged.... Someone had bought the land. I did a little checking and the new land owner is a guy I know real well. I am going to hit him up about hunting it again. Do you think the logging will hurt things?

Boomer

 

[GatoMan]

You will see some, from a few places I hunt that has been logged from my findings, give it a couple yrs though and they will be back in, time for vegetation to grow back and especially when alot the the dead fall start deteriorating and rotting, bears love to get in those stumps for insects.