What's in Your Bear Bait?

[novacam]

I was reading philman's post about his bear bait and it got me to thinking about my own upcoming season and what I'm going to try. I've used bacon, bacon grease, honey, doughnuts, fish and on and on. They all seemed to work but my question is what mix do other people use/ avoid? Ive got lots of pics this year of bears trying to get at the bee hives ( pollinating the berries) but that's an expensive way to bait! Thanks!!

[badredbird]

all the stuff you mentioned,and i like a ripe can of tuna usually draws them in , molasses, thee isnt much along those lines they dont like , beies ae always good too you can feeze tghem now for the fall season

[Joel]

we would use wet cob.. easy to use 50 lb bags are easy to pack in. the first go around when we set up a site we would hang some salmon heads around the site to get them coming to investigate.. but once they tasted the molasses they were hooked.. but that was the old days since they banned baiting in washington state years ago.

[philman]

I have heard oats covered in molasses is good. I talked to a guy last night that uses cheap dry dog food.

[Farmer]

We have used a variety of things for bait. Road kill critters , fish guts, apples, fyer grease ( KFC was the best - can't get it anymore ) molaases , corn syrup , and dog food. Once we got bears on bait the biggest thing is to keep it supplied.

Getting the bears to find the bait was not always easy. Then a friend told me about his secret sauce , well it its very odorous . He collects salmon heads and guts till its a couple weeks before time to hunt. Put the guts in a 20 litre pail / s with a bit of water put the lid on and put it in the sun for 10 days or so to cook. It looks like a salmon smooth when done and the smell The concoction has to have a lid with a small vent cap in the lid to let off pressure and you have to be very brave to burp the pail. Once you get to the bait site we pour the smoothie into a plastic feed bag ( the new guy holds the bag ) You then tie the top of the bag with a rope and then drag it up and down game trails leading to your bait. Once done hang the bag from a tree close to the bait ( on the down wind side of your stand .
Not sure why they like it so much but we have set up stands in the am and have taken bears that evening .

[Bones]

I'm sure the smoothie does work , I think the biggest hurdle would be putting it out / dispersing it . That stuff sounds wicked.
Bones

[awshucks]

Ar F&G uses sardines in mustard sauce to bait the nuisance traps for relocation. I've had them in same evening w/ it, just can't gig one. I can only hunt the a.m.'s here for fear of losing a p.m. kill due to ravines near baits.

[Farmer]

Bones , it is nasty to handle that why the new guys get initiated m Rubber gloves and boots , ear plugs and peppermints . ----------- the ear plugs go in your nose and the peppermints are to mask the smell and taste.

We handle this stuff like it was radio active waste . You can easily smell it from 100 yards away .

[Cossack]

Local guide uses spoiled and outdated candy, esp chocolate, that he acquires from a candy factory in volume. Says the bears love it. Gotta wonder if they get cavities though.

[perrysbirds]

Dogfood seems to be a favorite food as well..
Thats what I use as I have access to some and it works great for me...

[Big John]

After many years of bear hunting, I seem to like " Cheap dry dog food"
cover with molasses and have three honey burns going each time in.
If you can, get outdated chicken from a local grocer and put in oinion sacks
around in trees to attract and hang them at six feet, to see their sex and size when
they reach up. Great fun Bear hunting!!!