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We have tried several different concoctions of sweets, donuts, canned cat and dog food over the years and after all of the testing have settled on a simple recipe.
Cheap dry dog food covered in molasses. I add a good dose of molasses on the sticks I jam in the feed hole and spray anise on tree branches around the bait sight.
What is your favorite bait
we like using wheat that has been mixed with used cooking oil and we like to add in sweets like gummy worms or jujubes and a good coating of chocolate or icing.
For me it depends on the container. In my roller barrel it was cheap dry dog food, whole corn and fresh popcorn that I sprinkled with fruit drink powder and sprayed it all down with cheap vanilla. Just a small hole so things need to stay fairly dry. In my cans it was whatever waste outdated bakery products from the grocery store I could get(free), again sprayed with vanilla if there was a lot of plain bread in the mix.
I've never used meat much except as an initial call bait but if you know any goose hunters, bears really like the carcasses, specially if they're just breasted out. Every time I've hung them they never lasted long and were always dragged away.
Cheers
Spread peanut butter on old logs, or pour hot bacon grease on trees and logs..
You can ask line052 about how well bacon grease on a tree works.
I use roller barrels filled with the following batch:
270 lbs whole corn
25 lbs fresh molasses
20 lbs of factory second marshmellows
That mix completely fills a 55 gallon drum if it is empty. My current cost per batch is $53 or right on $0.168 per pound. The bears have been hammering this for the last 3 weeks with one site in particular going through a 315 lb batch every 4 or 5 days. My other 2 sites currently seem to last 7 to 10 days. Will be taking my BIL and nephew out on the weekend to try and get them their first bears. I also use anise as a call lure and pour 1 or 2 ounces into a rotten stump each time I visit. As a side benefit I am eating way too many marshmellows dipped in molasses.
When filling the barrels I put a quarter bag (about 22 lbs) of corn in at a time and than add a 1.5-2 lb layer of marshmellow. Once the barrel is full I add the molasses on top of everything.
Great recipes folks, thanks for sharing
Species, how much does your 25lbs of molasses cost
Price goes up and down a bit. But the last batch was $7 or $0.28 per pound.Quote:
Originally Posted by huntnmachine
Is that in the liquid form?
Yep. I bring my own 5 gallon carboys and they fill them with +/- 50 lbs.
Where do you get the molasses from? I'm seeing it for about $20/gallon - about $2.00 per pound.
Kenilworth feed service. They have a bunch of mills. I specifically get it from the Grand Valley mill. They have a spigot off the pump line that feeds their mixers. Takes about 90 seconds to fill a 5 gallon car boy.Quote:
Originally Posted by werner.reiche
Price seems to bounce between $0.28 to $0.33 per pound
Bacon grease and smeared on a stump? My buddy swears by it. I think I posted this before,but,he cooks his bacon&eggs breakfast before first light where he hunts and dumps the scrapings out on a log where he has his tree stand. If there's Bears within a mile,they're not long showing up.Quote:
Originally Posted by huntnmachine
I think a lot of the livestock supply places carry molasses. For instance the Wool Growers in Carleton Place carries it in bulk at 60¢/lb.Quote:
Originally Posted by werner.reiche
Cheers
first time baiting, used popcorn dog food maple syrup and some strawberry jello packs. within 3 days we've had a bear show up. camera wasnt working, but swapped it out and can hopefully see how big he is
THX - having trouble finding it cheap around here.Quote:
Originally Posted by smitty55
I've got a decent hike into my stand so tend to stick with popcorn. Its cheap, light and lasts in my roller barrel. I start the year with some fryer grease but from then on it all popcorn. I might add a cheap syrup to it from time to time, if I find some on sale.
reading all the other options people use, it seems like anything works. I think I spent about $15 on popcorn last year and had a number of bears coming in. Have seen 5 different bears this year after a week of baiting. So I'm going to stick with my cheap and easy option. I don't think it needs to be overthought. Perhaps if you have baiting competition nearby, but otherwise, they are happy to eat most anything.