How to get a bait started?

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Boo
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How to get a bait started?

Unread postby Boo » Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:43 pm

I got my MN bear permit this year for the first time ever and have no idea where to start. Any advice on where to place baits, what to use...

Thanks


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Re: How to get a bait started?

Unread postby NSOUTFITTER » Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:12 am

First make sure of the laws and regs for MN . Reason being ,state regs vary from what you can use or how you can bait . Scouting is one of the biggest and most time comsuming parts of bear hunting . Find the bears first before you put bait out ,you can go through alot of time and effort as well as bait if you are not sure there are bears in the area . What is the layout of the land that you are looking at hunting ? Do you have any grain ,corn fields near you ? Here in Nova Scotia we have best of success in the thickest of woods you can find , ceder swamps, thick spruce woodlots & thickets . We use a variety of barrels ,holes in the ground ,and hollow logs to put our bait in . Depending on the site if it is an established bait or not , I will use a stink bait for a first time site but not an establised site . Beaver , fryer grease ,bread ,sweets of anykind ,some use meat but I try and stay away from the meat ,it sometimes can turn your bears away form the maggots and the stinch . We also use grain mixed with molasses , hickory smoke ,vanilla ,Anise (licorice smell) burn honey , 1lb blocks of lard in a bowl or bucket and mix juice crystals in with it and smear it all over the trees with a paint brush ............ and the list goes on and on . It really depends of what your regs allow and what works in the area you plan to hunt . But good luck ,Looking forward to your success story on your MN bruin .
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Re: How to get a bait started?

Unread postby dan » Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:08 am

Boo, if you want to post an aerial and Topo of the area you plan to hunt, I would be glad to mark the spots where I would throw baits...
As far as what to use? I personally think your main bait should be a bread base, donuts are awesome if you can get them. Sweet breads are best, but bears go through a lot of bait and like a variety so adding other things like candy, sweets, left overs, etc. is a plus.
Last year when I hunted Minnesota I got old bread from a bread store, barrels of donuts from a friend with a connection, Buckets of pie filling I got from a friend, a few buckets of licorice, table scraps, old cereal, bagged dog/cat food, shelled corn, apples, a tote of granola, and various things I found in the cabinets at home.
How much bait you put out should be dependent on how often you bait...
I baited weekly so I needed to put out enough to keep the bears busy till I got back.
Each bait got two 5 gallon buckets of compressed bread. Bread was mixed and each bucket had some white, some grain, and some raison or fruit/berry bread. When I packed the bread I did it in layers and every 5 loafs or so that were compressed in I poured brown and white sugar over and then some maple syrup. I got about 40 loafs in a bucket. The sugar and syrup helped preserve.
Each bait also received one more bread bucket except that bucket was preserved with fryer grease rather than sugar / syrup.
If you decide to do this, flip your buckets every now and then to get the grease/syrup back to the top.
I also added a bucket of mixed candy, dogfood, cereal, and scarps...
They each got two buckets of the granola.
I started each bait with 100 pounds of shelled corn at the base, but it did not work as good as expected and probably would not do that again.
Once all the bait was piled up and securely covered with heavy logs
I poured 2 buckets ( 5 gallons ) of cherry pie filling, two bottles of cheap maple syrup, 1/2 pound of white sugar, and a box of brown sugar over the logs to create a sticky mess. Then I got out several large boxs of jell-ow in fruit flavors and sprinkled it all over the brush and pile along with coolaid packs... The aroma was incredible!
The last thing I did was spray vanilla extract mixed with water all over every thing even up into the trees.... A human could smell my bait from a couple hundred yards.
The baits were all picked strategically and most were found studying topo's and aerials. Big dark tamarack swamps were the main target and looking for spots that were remote enough to be over looked by people but close enough not to cause to much work.
I put out 4 baits per hunter.
Every bait got hit... About 80 percent got hit daily. And I saw bears every sit.
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Re: How to get a bait started?

Unread postby NSOUTFITTER » Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:07 am

When you run as many as 50 baits dog food grain and a few others is a no no , The price of dog food is more expensive than human food , we would have to millionairs to feed them that one LOL,LOL . I usually go through a 43ft trailer of bait each fall as it is . We do get mostly everything else they will eat and enjoy doing it . I also use a tire with a rim in it to get them to spend more time at the bait trying to gert the bait out of the tire . It works very well and usually still has bait in it every 3 days we tend them again as it is harder to get out of the tire than the barrel .


Here is my moto..........If it is "Sweet " They will "Eat " !!!! Works everytime !!!

Bear hunting is quite a bit differant than deer hunting , alot more leaniant too !
After we get the bears coming ot the bait we will slack off the bait for a bit till our sports arrive then we will load up again the first evening on stand so they get lots of action while on stand .
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Re: How to get a bait started?

Unread postby dan » Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:32 am

When you run as many as 50 baits dog food grain and a few others is a no no , The price of dog food is more expensive than human food

Big difference in hunting for yourself and guiding for an income. I would loose money outfitting based on my bait choices. I spend more bear hunting Minnesota than I would if I hired a guide up there. I just like doing some do it yourself hunts.
There are huge differences between the states around me and bear hunting where your at Jamie. Some of what you use for bait might not even work here because of the amount of pressure. We have baits every 1/4 mile, and you could have someone baiting 300 yards from you in each direction and not even know it.
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Re: How to get a bait started?

Unread postby Schultzy » Tue Jun 15, 2010 4:35 am

Great advise here!!

Any advice on where to place baits, what to use...
Like Dan said get some maps up and lets see what you have In the area for cover, etc. I use maps too but mostly I look for areas that are very thick In cover and that are a little on the low side compared to the rest of the terrain. In all the years I've bear hunted I can only think of a few times where a bait did not get hit In areas that were real thick and somewhat low/swampy like. I've been hunting the same exact area for 20 years. This winter I went back 20 years and marked on the map where we've all shot bear and where the bigger ones were shot. 95% of the big guys we've shot were In low lying thick areas. Most of the other bear we shot were also In thicker area's like these. Area's such as these have proved themselves to me.

In my opinion the best thing you can do opening week of baiting Is get as much stink as you can out there. Do the normal things on what to use for bait but also put just as much effort Into getting a very good scent out there to bring these bears In. Established bait sites over the years are allot simpler to do but starting a new bait can be tricky at times. One needs to stink It up the best you can. A bears nose can save their but It can also get them Into trouble too. The more scent you put out the better, specially opening weekend of baiting. To me putting out donuts, some meat, candy or whatever Isn't getting the scent out there good enough opening weekend. Get something that's very strong In smell, something that Isn't going to loose It's smell with In a day or 2. Your not trying to get just one bear to your bait sites but rather as many as you can. The more scent the better. Grease Is also a must If you ask me. Get that out there around your bait and once one bear walks In It that bear will spread that scent all over the woods where he walks which will Increase the chances 10 fold on other bear visiting the bait site. The more bear hitting one bait the better your chances of getting a bear to show up In day light hours.

One other quick note on what to use for bait. Bear are allot like humans. What one bear likes another won't touch It. Their actually finagy/picky eaters. A good variety of bait sure won't hurt you.
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Re: How to get a bait started?

Unread postby Boo » Tue Jun 15, 2010 1:42 pm

Thanks for the help guys. I will try to get some pictures posted soon.
Besides looking at maps and picking likely spots, is there anything else you look for while scouting besides tracks and scat?
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Re: How to get a bait started?

Unread postby NSOUTFITTER » Wed Jun 16, 2010 2:46 am

Food sources is a good one to look for . Dense and thick cover . Water Sources , Bears usually like to be close to a water source also.
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Re: How to get a bait started?

Unread postby Boo » Sun Jun 20, 2010 1:45 pm

Here is one area I can hunt. It is a private 40 acres with public on the east side for a long ways. The guy who owns it used to bear hunt on it and has shot a few from here. He has always baited on the NE side of his land(by the red dot in the NE corner). What do you think?
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Re: How to get a bait started?

Unread postby Boo » Sun Jun 20, 2010 1:48 pm

Another spot. The borders are not 100% accurate because some of the land is public and some is private. Any ideas here?
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Re: How to get a bait started?

Unread postby dan » Sun Jun 20, 2010 2:31 pm

I would only run one or two baits in an area this size... I marked the spots I would think about baiting. I like the red spot but it would need an occasional east wind to filter scent into the swamp. I like my bears on the downwind side of my baits having to smell them. Do you know the dominant wind direction for this area? The red spot is nice cause its right up against the swamp but is on a hill overlooking the swamp where a hunter can get his scent stream up above the the swamp...
As far as the first map, the N.East or S.East corners should be good.. I would locate your bait sites now, maybe even have your logs ready. I would want about 4 active baits, you might want to start about 6 spots and then weed out the ones that get the least action, or the smallest bears.

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Re: How to get a bait started?

Unread postby Schultzy » Mon Jun 21, 2010 4:07 am

Larrys.jpg


If It was me I'd be putting a bait south or south west of this swamp up In the woods. South winds are usually the dominant wind early In the bear season so the bait scent should flow their. I wouldn't hunt these spots I picked out though unless you had a north wind of some kind. 40 acres Is small and I wouldn't have more then one active bait going when you figure out what you want to do. Too many baits will hurt you as well. North winds aren't as common but when the time Is right I'd be hunting It. Maybe the spots I picked out too aren't very wooded. I'm going off the fact they they are. If their not disregard what I said. One other thing too- Sometimes It don't matter the wind direction when a bear approaches your bait. Allot of times they come In on the down wind side regardless. Hopefully then though their nose and tummy will get the best of them and come In anyway.

Edit: I suppose I should've asked what the directions are on this map? I assumed the top of the map Is north and the right of the map Is east. Am I right with the directions?
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Re: How to get a bait started?

Unread postby Boo » Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:06 am

Yes Schultzy, the top of the map is north. I don't know the dominant wind for this time of the year in this area. I have never hunted here before. It is central mn.
Thanks for the help guys.
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Re: How to get a bait started?

Unread postby dan » Mon Mar 04, 2013 4:00 am

8-)
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Re: How to get a bait started?

Unread postby Ragepassthru » Sat Mar 09, 2013 5:00 am

I see that meat isn't a common thing for bait sites. Could someone explain this to me a bit more? I've watched a bunch of videos where they have meat hanging to get the bears up on hind legs to get a better view of them. Is this just something they do for the videos? Trying to learn all I can. Thanks for all your help :)

Rob


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