Hunting Forum

I was wanting to how many bear are left on my property after hunting season, but have never baited. What is the best bait to attract bear from all the way around the 20 acre forest?

stale donuts (jelly filled preferred) but in a steel container with holes in it so the scent gets out and dump used fry oil into the bare dirt. They'll rip the freekin' ground to shreds. Now, I don't hunt bears and baiting is illegal in NY but I saw the results of it in Maine. Ground was totally ripped to shreds.

anything sweet or stinky

Jelly-filled donuts never go stale in my house 

I often laugh about doing the opposite of what is published in the "bear avoidance" pamphlets............

Can't legally bait for them here in Oregon; we are allowed to wear attractants, no thanks.

They get the stale ones from DD, etc... buy 'em cheap. Same for the used deep fry oil.

I like black oil sunflower seeds and molassas.

Set up a bird feeder in your backyard. :-)

any and everything with blue berries in it...real or artificial...bears are addicted to them like a New Haven junky's addicted to crack...anytime and any place...

Tie an Anti Hunter Lib to a tree, Pour Honey all over them---Give them a pistol with 1 bullet---leave----Will take care of 2 situations at one time-------------Seriously---I happened to get a lot of bags of dried beans--A forklift driver made a boo boo----I added farmer Molassiss-   very cheap, Some water----Walla !  A hole bunch of baked beans---WOW did the bear like it, Although the woods had an aroma for a few days and the turd piles were numerous and wet !!!!

Bacon grease.

I use expired cake products from a vending machine company. Also we use a syrup type material for soft serve ice cream that the bears love. We put our baits in hollowed out tree trunks. Works great.

I live in black bear country. In fact they come right into my yard at times. One reason I can't have bird feeders. Well I can, but I just end up replacing them. One year I had an old Balsam stump on the edge of my yard. I would pour all my bacon grease, meat renderings, and meat scraps on that stump. One morning the stump was ripped out of the ground. It was easy to move then. Bacon grease (illegal for me) works real good. Put it in a tin can and set that on a fire. Let it burn and start a fire even. The more stink the better. The bear will notice that.

When I baited bear stations for people to hunt over, we are not allow meat products where I live, so fish and rotten meat is a no no. I used to get old french fry grease from a restaurant, and it had to be vegetable oil used, to be legal... Hang that big 5 gallon pail about ten feet in a tree, then with a tip of a pocket knife.. poke ONE little slit in the bottom of that container. Rake all the leaves and sticks out from under that container where it drips. You can find tracks better. Then pile some corn under it. As that container drips, drop after drop, the smell hanging up in that tree will draw bear in from anywhere down wind.

Good ground baits are old baked goods. Dig a hole about two feet deep square. Put the donuts, cookies, POPCORN (works real good) or old snack chips in that hole. If you can find some jam or berry sauces or chocolate sauces, pour some of that on the baked goods. (when we could not find baked goods we used popcorn). Then cover the hole with logs and put a good sized rock on top of the logs. It will keep the raccoon, opossum, skunks, and other critters out of the bait. The get some beach sand. Spread that around the hole. And rake it smooth.

The sand will show you the track of the bears, so you can guess size, and also which direction or trails they come in on. Set a trail camera up if you have one. But not too close to the bait. Some of them cameras click too loud when they go off, and I have seen bear leave a bait because of that. Also tie a ribbon on a tree once you find the bear's trail, three feet off the ground (where the camera can see it). Then if the back of the bear reached that ribbon or better.. you have a good bear there.

you didnt say how long you were going to do it but on the short term ..go to the grocery and buy a bottle of ANISE OIL cost about 3 bucks ..smells like licorice