Bear barrel holes - SQUARE or RECTANGULAR holes - ONLY!

[SK33T3R]

This is just a public service message to all you new and not so new bear hunters.
Yes it's from one us old buggers that don't know nothing.

This is an FYI if you're making round access holes in your barrels. DON'T!

It's just a matter of time before the hole size and head size match and you've got a bear caught by the head.

I have seen this twice. Once, up by Parry Sound, While checking baits we had one hung up. The bear was shot since it was big, totally out of control, and was tossing the barrel around pretty good. Release was not an option. Another time by North Bay my good friend lost a barrel and thought someone stole it. He looked all over. That fall the deer hunters found the dead bear in a swamp with his head stuck in the barrel. I'm sure it happens more then we know.

I would really like to see the MNR here in Ontario actually make it illegal to use a round hole in a barrel.

I'm not a fan of regulations .. but .. this is one I could live with!

When a bear is hung up in a barrel it does not make us bear hunters look very good to the non hunting public! There is an anti-baiting crowd out there and we surely don't need something like this.

A rectangular or square hole will always allow the bear to cant his head and get out.

If you have a choice choose rectangular. It allows the most clearance.

If you need more convincing watch these.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H66_Wz49Yuk
or this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyFTQRXgrvo
or this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeQWoctTF5I
or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-eKcx_IY8s
for a good laugh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csipCXuF47Q

[rick_iles]

Kinda like a skunk with its head stuck in a jar........makes sense!

[smitty55]

Good post Sk33t3r. I made my shaker barrel with a 3" square hole. They have to roll it for the bait to fall out.
At first I couldn't believe how small those cubs were for that late in the fall as it was posted Dec.1. Then I realized it was actually spring as I saw a light green haze on some of the trees.

Cheers

[huntnmachine]

Good info..........thanks

[SK33T3R]

Good post Sk33t3r. I made my shaker barrel with a 3" square hole. They have to roll it for the bait to fall out.
At first I couldn't believe how small those cubs were for that late in the fall as it was posted Dec.1. Then I realized it was actually spring as I saw a light green haze on some of the trees.

Cheers

Smitty you should try even smaller .... at least at one site to convince yourself. .... 3x3 will still let cubs plunge in up to the armpit! and those little pests will clean you out fast. Why feed non-target animals? They only get to eat when/if mama rolls the barrel. hopefully the sow is small and the barrel is heavy to further discourage her too! Even free bait costs something so why give it away?

2x2 is my pastry setting ( 1-1/2 X 1-1/2 for dog food/grains) after 30+yrs of experimenting. couple of rocks and all good. full bagels buns etc ... one barrel one week all gone ... they'll spend more time there and make more noise and bring in more bears. The reason why the barrel is empty after one week is because of the number of bears working that barrel almost constantly. Isn't that what we're trying to accomplish?
And NO bears caught by the head.

[bellerivercrossbowhunter]

Smitty you should try even smaller .... at least at one site to convince yourself. .... 3x3 will still let cubs plunge in up to the armpit! and those little pests will clean you out fast. Why feed non-target animals? They only get to eat when/if mama rolls the barrel. hopefully the sow is small and the barrel is heavy to further discourage her too! Even free bait costs something so why give it away?

2x2 is my pastry setting ( 1-1/2 X 1-1/2 for dog food/grains) after 30+yrs of experimenting. couple of rocks and all good. full bagels buns etc ... one barrel one week all gone ... they'll spend more time there and make more noise and bring in more bears. The reason why the barrel is empty after one week is because of the number of bears working that barrel almost constantly. Isn't that what we're trying to accomplish?
And NO bears caught by the head.

Good info man! This year we will be setting up shaker barrels along with the regular bait barrels. need to keep tem coming back for more....

[SK33T3R]

Good info man! This year we will be setting up shaker barrels along with the regular bait barrels. need to keep tem coming back for more....

You guys need to work on your bear terminology. What you meant to say is roller barrels. These barrels are designed to ROLL over when bears push or pull. (they pull more they they push).
A true shaker barrel is designed to be attached to a tree in the upright position with a few small holes at the very bottom edge. Two sets of chains - one high and one low. The chains are adjusted to allow about 4 to 6 inches of play. The bear comes in and violently shakes the barrel to get some food to dribble out the hole/holes at the bottom edge. This design needs to be very strong. Plastic just doesn't work. A BIG bear, frustrated will try to rip it off the tree entirely. Too bad I never took pictures back when we employed this design. One site had a big bear. We had the blue plastic industrial barrel there. He tore it off the tree. split the barrel right in half. Unfriggingbelievable ! We replaced it with another plastic barrel. 2 weeks later destroyed again.

The nice thing about roller barrels is the bear can never really get any leverage on it because it's free to move.
Some of my roller barrels are 15yrs old and still pristeen.

Barrels are also invaluable to correctly size a bear .. they're 33" tall and the compression rings are 11" apart. A barrel on it's side is 22" high. If the bear fits into the barrel he's probably under 250lbs. Some hunting shows show tiny bears next to the barrel but great recovery pictures with their 300lbs bears. REALLY??

Anyway pm me if you need any more info on my failures.

https://imgur.com/60ACElS

[seabast]

Thanks old man!!!

[smitty55]

You guys need to work on your bear terminology. What you meant to say is roller barrels. These barrels are designed to ROLL over when bears push or pull. (they pull more they they push).
A true shaker barrel is designed to be attached to a tree in the upright position with a few small holes at the very bottom edge. Two sets of chains - one high and one low. The chains are adjusted to allow about 4 to 6 inches of play. The bear comes in and violently shakes the barrel to get some food to dribble out the hole/holes at the bottom edge. This design needs to be very strong. Plastic just doesn't work. A BIG bear, frustrated will try to rip it off the tree entirely. Too bad I never took pictures back when we employed this design. One site had a big bear. We had the blue plastic industrial barrel there. He tore it off the tree. split the barrel right in half. Unfriggingbelievable ! We replaced it with another plastic barrel. 2 weeks later destroyed again.

The nice thing about roller barrels is the bear can never really get any leverage on it because it's free to move.
Some of my roller barrels are 15yrs old and still pristeen.

Barrels are also invaluable to correctly size a bear .. they're 33" tall and the compression rings are 11" apart. A barrel on it's side is 22" high. If the bear fits into the barrel he's probably under 250lbs. Some hunting shows show tiny bears next to the barrel but great recovery pictures with their 300lbs bears. REALLY??

Anyway pm me if you need any more info on my failures.

Ahem Ahem Sk33t3r I totally got the plans for my "shaker barrel" from you maybe 7 or 8 years back. That's what you called it. I think it may have been bears east but I'm not sure now. It seems to have become the more common term over time. I'm real sure you've often called them shaker barrels too, even in one the thread title maybe? So that's where I get my term from, you. Brent calls them shakers too. Anyway, I'm just yanking your chain a bit hehe.
But actually I do tend to call mine a roller barrel sometimes, cause like you said, that's what they do. I think it works great for having a supply of bait available over a longer period of time. I only tried rocks inside the first year but they were scraping off the inner protective coating on the barrel. Besides I pretty well stick to dog food, corn and popcorn for the bulk so it doesn't need to be broken up.

So on the topic of barrels, here's some vids I found from a few years back. You can plainly see the size hole I used. I should have had the hole up 5" higher for more capacity..I used big body panel washers on the inside. It lasts real long in conjunction with a smaller barrel strapped to a tree with bakery stuff. I always have the barrel upright at first with some treats on the top. Plus it's easy to tell if it's been hit from a distance if it's knocked down.
Anyway this is how big the triplets are by Oct 5. They sure did a lot of growing in the 6 weeks since they first showed up. At first mom got all the best treats off the top before she would knock it over for the kids. A few days later the cubs were rolling the barrel without mom. Lots of fun to watch, but not good for hunting. Enjoy






Cheers

[SK33T3R]

no way smitty! I have NEVER mixed the two terms up. The original shaker barrel description and function were posted by a husband and wife team from Manitoba. They also guide out there. They used a term BIG BOSS BAIT (B.B.B.). They would install multiple SHAKER barrels to a location. They had a 2" pipe nipple welded on to the barrel as low as possible. Then they screwed the pipe nipple cover on. They filled the barrels to the top with grain. Then they poured in as much grease as the barrel could take. The grain would absorb the grease. When it stabilized they would unscrew the cap. Only a truly large BIG BEAR would have the strength to shake the barrel. At night the grease would cool and solidify - especially in the spring. During the day some grease would ooze out and of course some grain when MR BIG shook the shyte out of it. Early morning the grease and grain just didn't come out due to the cooling solidification. As the sun warmed up and melted some of the outer layers of grain/grease - late afternoon -that was the easiest time to get results from shaking. They're theory was that this prime time to get the easiest grain out per shake would also condition the bear to come during their hunting timeframe.
They would set this bait up 3 or 4 weeks before they would even attempt to hunt it. They only checked occasionally and never touched anything. This system required a lot of time to first - get a big bear on it - and let him train himself through trial and error to visit during the late afternoon .
SO THERE! I'm right .. you're wrong ... :-)

Stay in touch my friend!