Elkcrazy8

I am faced with a delema at my bait site. I am getting hit every night now and all I have seen are the pics from my trail cam. One is a smaller hot rod looking bear about the color of a griz and one has a huge head that I caught in a portion of a pic. I have made a crib style feeder and think that maybe they are eating too much and not having to come back but once a day.

Would it be beneficial to cut back the bait and make it harder for the bears to get the food that they need in order to make them come back more often to try to fill up. I wish I could feed them chinese food because they would be hungry within an hour of eating.

Those buggers can eat about 2 back pack fulls of bread in one night. Do any of you bear baiters have any recommendations at this point?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

BearGuy.

Yep, use smaller amounts of bait. Use only what one bear will take at a sitting. You don't want to fill them up, you just want to bait them. A bear with a full tummy isn't a good thing for hunting, you want one that is a bit on the hungry side. Also after the first bear has been to a site and ate all the bait, the next bear that comes in won't have anything to eat, so that will force that bear that if he wants to get some of the goodies you bait with, he better get there earlier next time. Believe me this works like a charm. I use only about a coffee can full of bait, and I bait every other day. Again, you don't want to fill em' up, just give them a nice snack.
Works for me!

Elkcrazy8

Bear Guy, Thanks. What you have said is along the lines of what I was thinking. I am going to let them eat up what is there and then start putting the bait into a milk can with smaller portions. I want them to work for the food a little. I had started out with large amounts of bait to get the bears to establish a feeding spot. This has definaltly happened. Those bears ate 7 large leaf sacks of bread in two weeks. I have gone through 15 gals. of grease. I also have used up 20 cans of saradines already. Along with 2 bottles of liquid smoke and 10 lbs of mutton.

Is the breeding season for bears alot like deer, where you may have several boars putiing on some major miles in larger portions of the day? I am hoping for some more to show up. I think that I have only 2 bears hitting the bait right now. That is the reason that I have used up so much grease and sardines. I am trying to advertise.

I know that I should have multiples showing up at my bait when I am able to get up higher to the good bear spot, but we are still about 2 weeks out from getting through the snow on the north slope. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

skeeter 7MM

I have a couple of questions. Has it been windy in the evening? Where is the bait in comparison to where you would either suspect, expect or know that bears will huddle up for the day? If you have game cam pics what time were they hitting it? Patterned or irregular? When do you refresh your baits?? How is the weather meaning really in your opinion are lots of bears roaming or just a few yet? Is your bait contained?

Elkcrazy8

Skeeter, first of all, thanks for responding. The bait is not contained yet. I have dug a hole and made a crib style feeder out of logs. I cover up the bait with logs to make them work a little and also as a indicator to see if they have ben there. The weather has been rainy and stormy on and off. I had the camera set to the date and not the time, but through calculations I found that the times had to be between 10 and midnight. I have been refreshing the baits every other day. Usually one back pack full of bread and pastries and also 2-3 gallons of grease. Have you heard of people putting radios on the bait at night before? Or sitting on the bait all night and running them off? I would like to stay away from either but am willing to do what it takes. I have found beds under pine trees in the imediate area so yes I beleive that they cozy up not far from the bait. I am wondering too if the weather has played a roll as we have had storms on and off but it usually seems to die down at night. If the bears are in the routine that they are I would tend to think that the routine will continue as it is if nothing different is done.

pookibear

thanks to the sugestions from skeetter +hiawatha and the others we where able to change there nighttime habbits either trhat or more bears have found the baits i stopped using the crib and the barrel we chained to a tree made the hole smaller so they get less food for there work we had a small black about 8.45 last evening so there starting to come around in shooting light like i said before we have three bait sites and all have been hit two just once i figure by cruisers . this has deffintely cut back on the amount of food there getting less trips to the barrels for us. we had a exceptionley warm spring so there out early .lots of sign around
good luck to you hope thers bear meat in the frezzer soon

skeeter 7MM

First off weather can play a huge part in when the bears move, I have always found storms, rain or heavy winds are not good conditions for sitting on a bait waiting for bears. So yes this can play a part, especially seeing the bears appear to be in close proximity to your bait.

I would start or try refreshing your bait as early in the day as possible and pay no attention to your scent, in fact you want it as many bear's will circle or come in down wind to the bait. Basically by paying little attention to what scent you leave you are conditioning the bears to your presence. The grease thing is good but once I have poured out my circles a few times I pretty much stick to hanging jugs in trees with a small hole pierced in the corner to provide a drip or pour it on rotten logs/stumps. When I use plain bread's I will also often mix the fryer grease, molesass and icing sugar..if sweet breads then no need for this mixture. The most important thing you need to do is contain your bait some way, even a small bear has little troubles rolling and moving logs. Once one bear has done this it becomes easy for every other bear and critters to horn in on your offering. Thus the barrel chained to a tree is the preferred method, it allows them to eat but it also limits them. Pretty much a fine line you have to walk when baiting bear it falls between not enough and giving them to much. I believe in feeding them but also in teasing them so figure out ways to drive the bear's to want to be at your bait longer and more often.

A radio may work for a day or two but once they become accustom it will do nothing but waste batteries. Sitting on your bait all night to prevent is counter productive, please refer to above statement of you want them to be comfortable with your presence! This is not deer or elk hunting, when dealing with bears and bait they will and do cirlce you. Yes they know your their but really boils down to if he is conditioned to the offering and the scent that accompanies that offering he will come in on his own terms...most often than not he'll look you square in the eyes, ponder and then proceed if he see's no reason to flee. I don't think I have ever been in a treestand looking over a bait when a bear didn't look up either while on the bait, coming in or circling..the nose is great, the ears are good but eyesight is aweful on bear!

Best of luck and hope it helps you in some way!

Elkcrazy8

Skeeter, I just got home and have 10 more pics on the cam from 2 nights. I did not freshen the loot this time. They hit me again but there is still quite a bit of bread. I put the radio out tonight before I left and hung my sweaty t-shirt in the tree. I am hoping that I can keep them off the bait tonight. If I can I am hoping for a daytime visit tomm. I plan on going in before daylight and turning off the radio and bagging my shirt. I left the trail cam on to see if I had any visits with the radio going and also the t-shirt in the tree. I am going to let the pile get down a little and then take my can in and chain it up. At that point I will limit the amount that I leave. I got a chance to look down over the hill and found several piles of scat and worn trails up the hill to the bait. I now know what direction they are coming in from. There seems to be a matted spot several feet from the bait. I think that the bear might be laying down to let the food settle. If 2 bears are eating a backpack full of bread each night, would it seem to you that they are eating somewhere else also? Or would this indicate that my baitsight has become their primary feeding site? I will respond when I get home from the hunt and let you know my findings. Hopefully I will be posting a pic of a P&Y bruin.

drfatguy

If it's leagal, honey burn will bring them.