Trickle Bear Bait Barrel

[NV_ARCH3R]

Anyone use a trickle type bait barrel rather than the standard 55 gal drum with a larger hole cut in the side and chained to a tree upright?? I've taken a 30 gal drum ran a cable through it length wise. and used a hole saw to cut a few holes in it. Hopefully the bears will roll it around a bit, and the bait trickle out slowly to last longer. Any thoughts\pointers? Since I took the photos I have closed up a couple of the holes, second thoughts I had too many.

 

[Twolftg]

Depending on what your using as bait you could go smaller on your holes, what are they 3 inches?

 

[NV_ARCH3R]

holes are 2", I was planning on smaller till I went to drill them then went bigger. Thinking like you I should have stayed smaller, but maybe just fewer open holes will account for that. I was planning on dog food, and rolled oats with Molasses, but now leaning toward popcorn. Getting old and lazy, smaller barrel, lighter bait, etc. etc,

 

[Muskeez]

Great thread! I have been wondering about the same theory. I'm guessing your holes will be too big, but maybe not. You could fill it with popcorn and dogfood and see how it goes. Roll it around on your driveway and sweep up the food and reuse it. If you coated the dry products with some syrup or grease they may not fall out as readily. Along this same avenue, I have had an idea; I was thinking a couple smaller "tubs" that could be stacked together inside one another, packed in, then bolted together top-to-top to make a "barrel". Then if the holes were small enough and it took some work to get the popcorn and oats, etc to fall out maybe they would be there longer and have to come back more often to get a treat? If you go with the standard barrel with a big hole in the side I saw a video that suggested putting the holes half way up the barrel, and on opposite sides of the barrel. The barrel is then ratchet strapped tightly to the tree with the holes on the right and left side, not facing toward the shooter or stand. This way when the bear goes to put his paw or head in the hole he is broadside to the shooter.

 

[midwesthunter]

I'm not a fan of metal barrels being used for baiting, sharp edges.

 

[NV_ARCH3R]

Only metal containers allowed. I took a dremal and took the sharp off the edges

Containers: No bait may be contained within paper, plastic,
glass, metal, wood, or other nonbiodegradable materials,
except that a single metal container with a maximum size of
55 gallons may be used if securely attached at the bait site.

 

[Sask hunter]

I’m always playing with hope sizes. Right now I have 4x4 openings and next barrel would be like bottom of a beer can sized opening. If I was just using grease and oats or dog food I would go with a few quarter or half inch holes

 

[Losing_Sanity]

Good concept. I usually make the bear work for the food. Sometime they will stay around for a long time giving me an opportunity to select the bear I want and get the shot I want.

 

[Elkwithastick]

I realize this is an old thread, but I use a trickle barrel suspended between trees so that they can just reach it and spin it around without really getting a hold of it, it's worked very well for me over the years. This year I've got a couple of the smaller metal barrels to try out, I'm still deciding on hole size, these barrels are hard to find so I don't want to mess it up, I was going to go with 2 5/8" but I'm starting to think it may be a bit big for dog food and grain. I have to pack them into remote areas and I can't get there but once a week so the trickle has always worked but if they get a hold of them the holes get blown out quickly.