Bear Baiting a Different Way

[sra61]

When we were hunting the N. Fork Clearwater in Idaho, I had good ole hand show me a much easier way to bait. We would talk to the local restaurants and had them save their grease. It was saved in a cubical plastic jug that held maybe 4 or five gal. We were packing in off of the road maybe 7-10 miles so weight was a pretty big deal. We also bought 50 lb. bags of dog food, the cheapest we could get. Those things packed pretty easy on a horse or mule. When we picked a site we would dig a hole maybe 2 feet across and maybe 2 feet deep. We would take a five gal. bucket and at first fill it maybe 3/4 full with dog food and enough grease to mix with the dry stuff, and dump it in the hole, and cover it with as big of logs and deadfall as we could muster. We would make sure the back side of the hole was up against a tree or something so they had to approach from the front. Just in front of the hole we would mix grease into the dirt and kind of make a grease pad so that every bear that stepped in it would track that all over the country side. Each time we would bait we would also build a little fire in front of the hole and burn a little grease. Within a day or so there would be bears on it. Once they started hitting it we would cut back to maybe 1/2 a bucket of food and grease mix. I know all of the shows say you have to put tons of goodies out there and 55 gal drums chained to everything, and I'm sure it works, but I've seen this work too. We killed big bears too. One spring we had four carcasses in that meadow and the bears just kept coming in. The last one we took made B&C. It's way lower impact on the bait site, and just a heck of a lot easier all the way around. I know everyone says the big bears will wait to come in till after dark. My theory is that those bears are competing and know that they have to hit it early to get theirs, so the bigger bears would come in in daylight.
Here's a pic of Rick's B & C bear. Rick's a big guy too.

 

[idahofishnhunt]

I've seen this technique mentioned quite a bit...saves having to haul a 55 gallon drum in, which I don't think is needed like you said.

 

[roadhunter]

no "bear crack"?

 

[Poke 'Em]

I'm glad I live in Montana.

 

[ida homer]

Interesting. I might give this a shot. Where did you sit and shoot from?

Would you guys camp out there for a week? And sit the bait everyday?

 

[troydave]

When I lived in Wisconsin I would do something similar. I would use dry dog food and cover it with molasis. I could buy it at the feed stores that supplied the dairy farmers. Often times I would burn honey when I sat on the bait or spray liquid smoke on the tree trunk at the bait site.

 

[Much2hunt]

Google"Master-Bait Shop ' a company out of Howe Idaho,I really like their bait pellets and a lot cheaper than dog food and packs in on a mule real nice. I too use the pit method and wire the logs together,works for me!
Then again I have no problem hauling in a 55 gal drum,depends on the site

 

[Much2hunt]

Interesting. I might give this a shot. Where did you sit and shoot from?

Would you guys camp out there for a week? And sit the bait everyday?

If rifle hunting .I make sure my site is key hole shaped in the thick timber ,with a shooting lane and then find or make a natural blind about 200 yrds away.We set the bait and stay away for at least 10 days,we find the bigger bears take over the site when left alone. We set up a bear camp about a mile away,and stay for 3-4 days at at a time,all the while refreshing the site.
Back Country Bear Camp (12 Miles in)

 

[Joe Hulburt]

Thanks for the tips! I've been meaning to get up to Idaho to one of the reduced price units that allows baiting to give it a try. When is the prime time to bait? Late May?

 

[Much2hunt]

Thanks for the tips! I've been meaning to get up to Idaho to one of the reduced price units that allows baiting to give it a try. When is the prime time to bait? Late May?

Normally late May is the best,But the last two years with very little snow in most of the Central mtns,it is getting earlier each year,The bears are just coming out of hibernation earlier.The problem last year was early warm weather caused them to rub real bad. My bait is going out the first part of May,I already had my horses into the back counrtry where normally ,I would expect 3-4 ft of snow and we have none.

 

[roknHS]

I worked for an outfitter from Kamiah, Ida. in my younger days. Cougar Bob Smith, his nitch was bear and cougar, and he was good. He used the burnt grease baiting method for bear.
We did some pack in bear hunts in the Mocus Point area of the Lochsa river. We found that in the back country, bears are not nocturnal like urban bears. All of the bears killed on these horse pack hunts were killed during the mid-day.........say 10am to 3pm.
It seems these back country bears had no need to operate during night time hours as they really had no human or man made interference to disrupt their day time activities.
I guess they were on day shift rather than grave yard. No reason not to be, they never were disturbed. I'm pretty sure we were the first humans these bears had been exposed to.

 

[StrutNut]

We used to bear hunt in MN over bait a lot and yes, a grease pit in front of the bait pile really works. It attracts them in and they get it all over them and leave a bait trail when they leave. We never used dog food. Day old pastries, generic jello, powdered sugar and we would mix it with water we found in woods to reduce weight. Marshmallows in trees where also used. They love them. Apples are very effective as well. Bears love them. Honey burns, that was the best way to bring them in that we ever some bears where shot going right passed the bait pile to put their head in the honey burn.