Has Spring Bear ruined bear season?

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

In our area (WMU73),there seems to be a few more Bears showing up each season. I'm no big Bear hunter by any stretch,but,I've been carrying a license and tag with me for a few seasons,now,just in case I run into one. Years ago,there weren't hardly any anywhere down here,but,anymore,it's getting easier to run into one or two.

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There's a bunch in 78 as well, no season.

You must be doing something wrong. There are lots of bear. I have been baiting bears for 44 years and there are just as many, if not more bears in some areas now. Due to Covid a couple years ago I even had to changed our hunting area and had no problems getting bears.

It must be your baiting technique or something?

Perhaps a localized problem. Can't say there is any shortage in my area of 47. Last fall I saw 11 different bears in 2 days of hunting and took a nice size eater. Also saw the biggest bear I have ever seen in my 40+ years of hunting but he did not expose his vitals.

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Originally Posted by Species8472

Perhaps a localized problem. Can't say there is any shortage in my area of 47. Last fall I saw 11 different bears in 2 days of hunting and took a nice size eater. Also saw the biggest bear I have ever seen in my 40+ years of hunting but he did not expose his vitals.

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Ironically our original spot that I was mentioning was in 47. We took bears there every year for well over a decade. The same year that spring bear season fully opens they all completely disappeared. Even in 2016 after they opened only the pilot spring seasons we noticed they were more careful and sketchy. Even tiny 2 year old bears would circle us several times before they hit the bait.

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Originally Posted by Muskyhunter

You must be doing something wrong. There are lots of bear. I have been baiting bears for 44 years and there are just as many, if not more bears in some areas now. Due to Covid a couple years ago I even had to changed our hunting area and had no problems getting bears.

It must be your baiting technique or something?

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We dig a hole throw some fish scraps, pastries, or popcorn. Then we throw some decent size logs over it so raccoons have more trouble getting at it. If it gets hit then we put a barrel there with toonie sized holes drilled in and throw the bait in there. Then we throw syrup, molasses, and vanilla extract over it including spraying some about 10-14ft above the bait. This method has always worked and in good areas has gotten us a bear within a day of putting the bait. We've always done the same thing and always had success. The only thing that changed was the addition of a spring season.

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Originally Posted by MihajloSimsic

The only thing that changed was the addition of a spring season.

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That's the only change you are aware of.

Could be coincidental timing with other changes you are not privy to.

We have noticed no changes and have filled multiple tags in 47 every year both before and after spring hunt up to and including last fall

I have a spring bait out right now in 47 with multiple bears on it. I may or may not fill my tag before the 15th but I tend to be picky in the spring as I can always hunt the fall if needed.

Either way hopefully you guys can sort it out and get back to filling tags.

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Originally Posted by MihajloSimsic

Point me to where you have problems with bears and I'll gladly do pest control lol.

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Come up to my deer camp in WMU 10 and help yourself LOL. Good chance at a brown phase bear,

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Originally Posted by MihajloSimsic

We dig a hole throw some fish scraps, pastries, or popcorn. Then we throw some decent size logs over it so raccoons have more trouble getting at it. If it gets hit then we put a barrel there with toonie sized holes drilled in and throw the bait in there. Then we throw syrup, molasses, and vanilla extract over it including spraying some about 10-14ft above the bait. This method has always worked and in good areas has gotten us a bear within a day of putting the bait. We've always done the same thing and always had success. The only thing that changed was the addition of a spring season.

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Sounds like you got the right idea. The only thing I stay away from is fish scraps as I found the bears normally don't go after them too often. They rot quickly and bring in insects to ruin the rest of the bait. One spring I netted a bunch of suckers and they never got touched by the bears.

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Originally Posted by Muskyhunter

Sounds like you got the right idea. The only thing I stay away from is fish scraps as I found the bears normally don't go after them too often. They rot quickly and bring in insects to ruin the rest of the bait. One spring I netted a bunch of suckers and they never got touched by the bears.

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I found lots of people saying that but oddly enough fish scraps seem to be the best thing we put on there. They're not made of pure sugar like muffins and syrup so they don't wash away easily and I find my most successful baits are the stinkiest ones with fish. However they don't eat every fish. I found bass/sunfish and pike carcasses worked wonders. Some times I had baits not getting hit for a week or two and the second I dumb a bucket of bass scraps on it they hit it the next day.

Update.
None of the 4 baits we put had any hits after 3 weeks. So we went to two different areas.

One in 53 and another in zone 60. Both areas I've heard of others hunting near. Put cell cameras on both baits as well. Mostly just planning for the fall season. If it gets hit within the next month we'll visit at least two more times to refresh the bait and put a barrel for the fall season.