DIY Rookie- learning from what went well, what didn't, & why

[crappieangler]

I intended to get this posted weeks ago, but haven't had the time or internet. Sorry for the long read, hopefully someone will gain something from it.

First I'd like to start by saying the first lesson I would pass on is, read the information from past threads and use it to your advantage. Take the different approaches people have described in the past, and use strategies that align with what works best in your mind. To all the members who post in the bear forum, thank you. Even though I baited and hunted on my own, the opinions and information I read through past bear threads played a significant role in my bear hunt. So thank you all for putting your knowledge and experiences out there for others to learn from.

My MN bear season started in mid-July, where I started putting on boot miles every other weekend prior to baiting started. I did some preliminary internet scouting on google earth for areas described by forum members. The tamarack and cedar stands were sparse and mainly broken up with lots of spruce trees in the area I planned to hunt. I never did find that spot that "feels 10 degrees cooler" that big bears love, but I feel I got set up in some good areas by putting in a lot of time and being versatile. I felt I had some quality bears hitting baits and was proof of continuously searching for better spots.

That said I feel there are some things that may be lessons to be learned on my set ups, and be interested in feedback from others. I was adopting the approach of using natural obstacles to prevent circling bears, but this may have hindered me to a point. I was choosing spots with dense cover around small openings in the woods, about 50 yards or so from old log cuts or old logging roads that didn't appear to have ATV traffic. I think this leads to a few things to be aware of and perhaps tweak for the best spot.
1. I wanted to be able to quietly re-enter baits, and prevent bears from circling so was keeping distances 50-60ish yards from the openings. I would be less concerned about my entry next time, and consider potentially getting in a little further if needed. The bears still seem to find a way to circle in tight situations.
2. 50 yards inside some of the log cuts may limit the number of mature trees, but has thick intermediate to immature trees I thought bears would feel safe coming to. But that limits treestand locations and a really dense overhead canopy.
3. Keep in mind these weren't traditional baits so I waited to know bears were hitting baits before hanging stands. I was too afraid to alter surrounding cover too much by cutting openings and shooting lanes later on, which forced me to sit close to the bait. Even when being mindful of thermals and wind direction, I still think they catch scent inside 10-15 yards due to their superior sense of smell. That and it seems the wind swirls a lot up north. Thus I would recommend cutting a shooting lane, even late in the baiting season, to get back off the bait 20 yards or so if able. I had two bears come from upwind and it was like they hit a wall when they hit my scent even though conditions were in my favor. Both still came to the bait pile, but were on alert. One caught me drawing back as he turned back toward the bait, and the other sniffed around and walked off after 5 seconds.
4. DO NOT underestimate their vision. No matter how much cover you think you have around you in your stand they can still see small movement. If #3 wasn't proof enough, the next example may change your mind. They will circle, wait and watch where you can't see them if they know where your stand is (again get further away from the bait). On one bait I had a bear (I suspect the one that walked through the bait) circle downwind a couple times after the first encounter. From what I could tell from post season scouting and from what I could hear, she would sit 30-40 yards away for a long time. On the 2nd occasion I slightly adjusted my weight to my right buttcheek after a long "stand off", and seconds later I heard that bear circle back from where she came from.

What I think went well about my set ups:
1. The obvious, I set stands close to water and natural food sources so they would be less prone to leaving. 2 of my baits had oaks with good acorn crops, and one over a berry patch. The stands with oaks were consistently hit every day by one or more bear, the berry patch bait was less consistent. Since berries are found all over, this indicated to me they were hitting other food sources. Maybe a coincidence though.
2. I set my stands along my path to the bait like Dan recommends. I think this eliminates additional ground scent, and extra noise they may not be used to hearing during baiting.
3. Use comfortable stands (I only have one climber, which I left on a bait with climbing sticks to keep noise minimal). I feel like I reduce my movement to almost none, which also cuts down on even small noises like your clothing. On 7-10 hour sits over the course of a week, its worth it.


Other take home points:

1. Seems bears are nomadic, but also compete for the bait too. Don't expect to have all the same bears around when season starts. If I lived closer and wasn't worried about grouse hunters finding my baits, I'd have loved to keep cameras out to monitor how their activity changed as it got cooler and food became less available. Lot of the big boars stayed nocturnal, but started to push smaller bears off baits. Pretty sure I heard a smaller bear get a warning one evening on the stand.

2. I changed bait locations twice in search of a better 3rd bait. I made a rookie mistake and put 2 baits on the same dead end logging road. This made it difficult to maintain the same baiting routine when I wanted to hunt those baits and not walk or drive past the one bait a second time. I wasn't sure what would have more of a negative impact so I adjusted my baiting routine rather than having my presence in the area twice a day on days I hunted the deepest stand. Bottom line, consider how you would coordinate your baiting/hunting if you're face with this type of scenario.

3. Bear hunting is tough on your body and vehicle. If able, use an ATV to access those especially gnarly spots. This may allow you to get a little further off the beaten path and save your vehicle and back. Dragging crib logs for long distances is killer.

4. I'm embarrassed to admit this one, but hopefully other newbies can learn from this one. Only use fresh cut or dead logs for bait cribs (where legal). I made a huge rookie mistake and used some old downfalls near a spot I wanted to set a bait to save work of carrying in logs. An army of coons can claw and bite through some of them over the course of a few days and access your bait.

5. Next time I will make my own cover scents with oil and extracts. I purchased a large bottle of spray from one of the companies mentioned on this site that I won't name, but it smelled like water with barely any hint of cherry. I made my own cover sprays for much less cost and had 100x the potency.

6. Buy bulk bait early before they sell out. I waited and regretted not buying a few more things, trust me unless you tag early you will probably go through it all. I found peanut butter was a good way to add a fat/protein to the bait that's more cost effective than the trail mix. Because I was driving from Des Moines I needed to save space, reduce the amount of garbage I was toting around, and be time efficient I prepared baits ahead of time. For those of you traveling long distances, 5 gallon buckets stuffed full of pressed bread products with sugar, oil, etc to preserve the bread seemed to be the most efficient for me.

7. This isn't a necessity, but I'd also recommend cameras with the fastest trigger speed and sensitivity you can afford. I'm mostly pleased with my new cameras, but had coons and a couple bears that I didn't get pics of when I was on the stand. Videos are nice as an additional option when learning about bear behavior. They're very interesting creatures, but at the same time can be nothing more than a big dog.

[crappieangler]

[img][http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag400/codysch/MFDC0442_zps4iis7zga.jpg[/url][/img]

[img][IMG]http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag400/codysch/MFDC0442_zps4iis7zga.jpg[/img][/img]
These two pictures are one of the biggest bears on the berry patch.

[img][IMG]http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag400/codysch/MFDC0756_zpswpwdtodh.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][IMG]http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag400/codysch/th_MFDC1065_zps032byov4.mp4[/img][/img]
Another from the same bait

[crappieangler]

A couple bears from the berry patch.








This is a video of the bear that caught me drawing. I was guessing in the 250ish range, what would you guess?
[bbvideo=425,350]http://vid1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag400/codysch/MFDC1089_zpsubocxthr.mp4[/bbvideo]

[crappieangler]

Photoshop is extremely slow and is taking forever so will post a couple of the bear I harvested. I can't get any videos up of a couple nice bears on my best bait. I can't upload the post hunt picture to photoshop.