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never had the chance for a spring bear hunt and this year will be my first. just wondering what you would use as bait. are they looking for something different in the fall or will they be so hungry anything will do? thanks for any tips or advice in advance.
cheers
I would assume the same as in the fall, something stinky high in a tree then dog food, meat, oats, tons of different things in a barrel on the ground.
Bears always like sweets and they are real hungry in the spring so I can't see that not working. Do some burns to really get the scent out. I'm just speculating as I've never had the pleasure of a spring hunt. It could well depend on how late spring is.
Good luck with it. Cheers
Sweets like donuts and pastries work best. Fish guts and stuff like that don't work to good because the bears stomach's are sensitive. That's what a guide told me any way, who used to guide the spring bear hunt years ago
The best I've ever used was used tampons hung from trees. I had heard about them but disbelieved. My friend and I were setting bait and dropped a bag of them. On our way out, we found a big boar who was rolling in them over and over again. He didn't care that we were in 30 yards and making noise. Finally my friend just shot him. I have used this method for years, it always brings in boars. Hang them in the trees like christmas decorations.
THAT would be an awkward conversation with the wife or teenaged daughter...neighbour.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackwolf
LOL. Believe it would be effective but just wrong!
I hope you took them down at the end of the hunt - with gloves of course!Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackwolf
Y'know for Christmas!
Works better if you just tie up the ex-wife there! As long as you take her out each night you can get a whole week outa her!
lol, you guys are incorrigible.
We always found pork or chicken worked best in the spring . Sweets in the fall .
As far as BW and used tampons . That works for deer and moose in the rut too .
TD
Surely you jest. Where in the hell did you a get bag full of used tampons? Were you guys raiding women's washrooms at highway rest stops?Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackwolf
This guy "AlaskanOutdoorsman" seemed to have a few good videos. I may try making a couple of these to try.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCD5wlW8T1s
I have heard about used tampons being effective but not something I want to play with.Now a tampon soaked in vanilla or anise sounds like a better option.
Sweets are best in the spring. Stomachs can't handel meats yet. Another thing to do is to put KFC grease or even gravey on the ground around the bait site. The grease gets up into there paws and as they walk back thru the bush they leave a great scent trail and any other bear that crosses it will be drawn towards your bait. It can make a huge differance. Another thing is to make sure that the bears have to stay and eat not being able to grab and run off with the food. Best of luck it's been yrs since I enjoyed a good spring hunt.
We used sun aged pork in a onion sack hung high for a stink bait and donuts. They always ate the cinnamon donuts 1st out of any other timmy donut. Last to be eaten was the bagels but best bait is beaver that you may get from a trappers freezer.
MMMmmmm beaver,,many a beast has been duped by beaver .. lol
I just got an email from a trapper asking me if I was interested in a large beaver carcass. Of course I said yes but I have never used one before. If anyone has any tips on the best methods of using beaver meat I would appreciate it. Do you actually let the bear get at it in pieces or do you leave it hanging out of reach and hope he comes in before dark? Or maybe bring it in with you and take it home when you leave at dark? Tks.Quote:
Originally Posted by tracker
Cheers
String a wire between two trees and put your bait in an onion bag . Give him enough to eat for a day . Not gorge, so he returns daily . He stands up to rip the bag down so you can sex him before shooting also . This option is not available for those who can only bait weekly where barrels have to be used .
As far as bears only being able to handle certain foods in the spring ?. That's nonsense . He's coming out of hibernation starving and why he looks for fatty foods such as chicken and pork . 30 years of guiding for spring bears for clients at 10 bears per year surely taught us something . Where do you think all the moose calves and deer fawns go in the spring . ? It sure isn't because bears can't digest them . Bears target them .
And yes beaver is best bait of all if you can get carcasses . Just chop it up and put in onion bag . You don't want more than 5 -10 punds at a time .
TD
seen them use popcorn on an outfitter show
Back in the day we used to service bars and raid the women's washroom. Though from experience males love beavers too....:):):):):)Quote:
Originally Posted by Species8472
So you only hunt once a month? :shades:
One more for the road.
I thought that is what we were talking about. :silly:Quote:
Originally Posted by tracker
I would just fry some fat for day or two , it worked for me in the past in august beside the blubbery patch ,
TD, I can't believe you suggest chicken and pork. Chicken especially goes bad almost immediately and I found bears won't even look at it once it starts to go bad. They wouldn't even touch chicken when it was still good! This is live trapping nuisance bears and the fall hunt I'm referring to though.
I'd stick with any meat scraps, especially beef.
I never liked fish that much either because it too goes bad fast and unless bears feed on it naturally, say suckers during the spring run, then it was usually left untouched at my bait sites. Again, I'm talking about the fall hunt.
The spring is much easier to get them coming to a bait because they're hungry. The boars are not that interested in food but being the season to be jolly, they've got other things on their mind. That's what makes them easy pickings.
We used any scraps we could get Sawbill but pork and chicken was the preferred bait they liked . Our stuff was out of date but not sour . Our baits too were done daily by using onion sacks . We never had to barrel bait . Never used fish either . It can be a draw but bears can be picky . I've seen them even sort through the bag and only take pork or chicken . One year there even was a local lad whose freezer quit and had partridge breasts in it that he didn't want to risk eating himself . They weren't sour but the bears picked them out and left them but went at the chicken and porkchops etc that were also in the bag . Most of us were trappers too and we would try and hoard a few beaver carcasses . We would use some sweets but was never the base bait in the spring . Sweets though we pushed in the fall along with chicken and pork, beef .Quote:
Originally Posted by sawbill
We liked the bags because the bear would hit daily because he could not gorge and hole up and also he wouldn't have the energy or inclination to forage far . It's more work and fuel costs but once the clients got there they usually shot the first night on bait . 10-12 bears in a single week and we shut the operation down . In other words tagged out . Most bait spots worked year after year . We would start with around thirty baits then cut back . If we got sow with cub hits we didn't use them . If a bear was shot there it was rarely if ever hunted again till the following spring .
We would bait in the fall for Ontario residents but never cared to get into it much because we had our own stuff we wanted to do and wanted to bird and duck hunt ourselves or fish plus you want to leave some for seed for the next springs hunt . With the cancellation of the spring hunt I would only take on a few residents or close friends . I never liked eating fall bear either as much . Too fat and they are muscled up unlike when they come out of hibernation .
Our client base for spring hunt was alot of Europeans with some Yanks thrown in . They came for one week and went home . We rested after . LOL
And yes I agree chicken will spoil fast . Keep the baits fresh . Let the sun and cool areas guide you .
hey thanks for all the awesome insight folks. Ill be using many of these ideas this spring and am excited to see what happens
Sweets added with Alpha Bear Bait works Best. Bear Magnet TV has a bait barrel that is designed for heavy weight black bear hunting. I have used it on all my baits the Bear Magnet System works very well. Can't Say enough about it and very easy to use. Add sweets to the top of bait barrel and around the sides, plus smear/spread sweets all over logs, trees, and the ground. They use a pellet called Alpha Bear Bait. It literally works Awesome! Well worth the $. Hope this helps
And only when he is grumpy ha ha so stay out of his way!Quote:
Originally Posted by fishermccann
Deer chow, they won't leave it alone.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Fre
I have lots of bear videos posted to get you pumped,lol.