bear question plus a few pics

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RaisedByWolves
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bear question plus a few pics

Unread postby RaisedByWolves » Fri Aug 30, 2013 2:19 pm

When deer hunting, a lot of guys on here including myself try to hunt a 'just off' wind that is in the deers favor but still won't give us away so the deer will feel safe coming into an area. Do you bear hunters use the same theory when hunting over baits? Or are you just trying to hunt a wind that won't get you busted? Very new to bear hunting as this is my first year. Got a nice one hitting one of my 7 baits. What do you think he weighs??

Not sure if this is the same bear as in the bottom 2 pics...
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I was thinking 350??
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Schultzy
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Re: bear question plus a few pics

Unread postby Schultzy » Sat Aug 31, 2013 2:16 am

That's a nice bear RBW!! No smaller then 250lbs dressed I'd say. I'm being a tad conservative too. As for your wind question, no different then deer hunting. I will not a hunt a bait if the wind is going in the direction where the bear are bedding/coming from. Bear though often will circle the bait so allot of times they get your wind no matter what. Sometimes there hungry belly gets the best of them and they can't resist so they come in anyway. Other times not so much. The older bears are usually the ones to do all of the circling. Also If a bait has allot of activity via more then one bear hitting it the bears will circle the bait for that reason too to see if there's another bear at the bait.

Good luck to you!!
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Re: bear question plus a few pics

Unread postby PLB » Sat Aug 31, 2013 2:18 am

Schultzy wrote:That's a nice bear RBW!! No smaller then 250lbs dressed I'd say. I'm being a tad conservative too. As for your wind question, no different then deer hunting. I will not a hunt a bait if the wind is going in the direction where the bear are bedding/coming from. Bear though often will circle the bait so allot of times they get your wind no matter what. Sometimes there hungry belly gets the best of them and they can't resist so they come in anyway. Other times not so much. The older bears are usually the ones to do all of the circling. Also If a bait has allot of activity via more then one bear hitting it the bears will circle the bait for that reason too to see if there's another bear at the bait.

Good luck to you!!

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Re: bear question plus a few pics

Unread postby Mike Foss » Sat Aug 31, 2013 3:11 pm

Wind direction and your human scent is so critical. Unlike deer hunting when a whitetail smells you they exit the area immediately, bears on the other hand will hang around awhile, they are problem solvers, they already know what you smell like if you are the one who has been doing the baiting, they will try and figure the situation out "are you there or have you just been there and left". They are very intelligent animals. There are ways of fooling these bears, using a climber tree stand instead of a hang-on, "not letting those big mature seasoned bears know where your stand is located" some hunters might think this is funny and a little over-board but setting up a dummy tree stand works great, a simple strap-on ladder stick will also do the trick, those bears will work the wind on those stands before they come in not knowing your in another tree waiting for them, we have fooled a few bears that way. We had a nice bear one time years ago that would start to come in from the same direction and trail, he would get to a certain spot, stop and look at the hunter, turn around and leave, well after day 3 was over I told the hunter we are going to fool this bear, the next day we put the hunter in a climber tree stand in a different tree, hunters tag was filled that night.

Public Land Beast mentions bedding areas, what I have found very interesting is after the season is done or when my season is over with I like to do some investigating. I follow those bear trails and find there bedding areas, its amazing how close to the bait stations some of those bears bed down at, they are not that far away, they hear you, smell you, they know when you leave, using your entrance and exit trail, they will back track you back to where you park your vehicle.

Good luck bear hunting.

Mike
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Re: bear question plus a few pics

Unread postby RaisedByWolves » Sun Sep 01, 2013 1:32 am

Thanks again for taking the time guys, that's really good advice. I assume you guys rebait when you go in to actually hunt. Is there any strategy to where you place your bait bucket after you've emptied it?
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Re: bear question plus a few pics

Unread postby Mike Foss » Sun Sep 01, 2013 2:07 pm

Don't use a bucket when you go in to hunt, use an old pillow case for the bait, fold it up and put it away, of course the bait has to be a dry bait , bread, cookies, sugar cones etc, otherwise things can get a little sticky.
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Re: bear question plus a few pics

Unread postby Uncle Lou » Tue Sep 03, 2013 9:52 am

I only hunted bear in 07. The man that helped me, Jerry (God rest his soul), told me the bear know you are there. I never understood this. These posts by Schultzy and Mike helped explain a lot for me.

Another story that always stuck with me is two guys were bear hunting and used a camera to see when the bear was coming in. The bear always hit the bait right after they left. So they tricked him. One guy walked out early went to the truck slammed the doors and took off. His partner shot the bear shortly after.
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Re: bear question plus a few pics

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Thu Sep 05, 2013 7:31 am

Wilderness areas where bears have almost no interaction with humans whatsoever, including baits in bear season, can be very interesting to observe bear behavior. The bear in my avatar came in exactly as I had planned, I hunted a peninsula jutting out into some beaver ponds after locating a number of bear dens in a swamp fronting the peninsula. To bait, I walked right down the peninsula and the bears tracked me in and out and knew my exact path. The day I hunted I had a wind that was just off of the dens, that would blow my scent just off of the peninsula. Man, I really thought I was smart... I came in to hunt by wading the water in a completely different approach route. I figured the bears would be able to move onto the peninsula on the edge my stand was set up on, and with my wind blowing just onto the water they'd never know what hit them! In fact, that's exactly what the bear in my avatar did...

But an hour before I shot him, imagine the look on my face when I heard a BIG SPLASH behind me!! I was stunned to see a 500 pounder swimming the pond crosswind and walking onto the tip of the peninsula by my stand... he shook off like a dog and approached. Somehow he heard me draw my arrow and took off, never to be seen again.

I've decided the lesson here is that in true wilderness areas, the boss bear has little to fear. He had no interest in being careful or scenting what other bears were on the peninsula- he was the big dawg, and the other bears had better get out of his way, baby!! He approached from another swamp area and I think he just came in on a string with no fear. Remember these bears have likely NEVER interacted with people.

So much for me being the great hunter and knowing how the bears would come in! :lol:
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Re: bear question plus a few pics

Unread postby djl » Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:12 am

Singing Bridge that is great how you planned that and how the bear didn't read the script. That bear you shot is a true beast.


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