Barrels

[Cedarsavage]

How do you guys setup your barrels and how much bait do you go through in a week?
By setup I mean holes. I read someone cut 1" holes in a barrel and put a whole beaver in it and the bears completely ate the beaver. Do small holes make the bait last longer?

 

[Bighorn80]

Yes, smaller holes will help make the bait last longer and keep the bears at your bait site longer. 1" holes should work great for baits like dogfood or grain type foods, but doesnt work well for things like doughnuts. Also want to make sure you chain or use cable to the tree, otherwise they will drag the entire thing off. I know some people who suspend the barrel off the ground and it gives them a little more of a challenge to get bait out of it which keeps them there longer also, but I find that just more of a pain to refill the bait. Hope this helps.

 

[Cedarsavage]

Yes, smaller holes will help make the bait last longer and keep the bears at your bait site longer. 1" holes should work great for baits like dogfood or grain type foods, but doesnt work well for things like doughnuts. Also want to make sure you chain or use cable to the tree, otherwise they will drag the entire thing off. I know some people who suspend the barrel off the ground and it gives them a little more of a challenge to get bait out of it which keeps them there longer also, but I find that just more of a pain to refill the bait. Hope this helps.

How many holes do you drill in it?

 

[Bighorn80]

2-3 usually. Some only drill 1 to really slow down how much they get out. Depends on how many bears you have coming to your bait and how close your bait is to someone elses. If there are other baits they visit, they will go to the ones that they can sit and eat all the bait in a short time before they come to yours where they have to work at it. But if you are the only bait site they know about, keep them fed, but slow them down.

 

[black dawg]

We always did a hole just big enough for a big bear to get paw in. Chain welded around barrel and bound tight to the tree.

For us a small hole would work for keeping bait longer, but either the big bears would leave, or they would destroy everything there.......

 

[Bighorn80]

That is true. Sometimes they run out of patience. Its a balancing act sometimes to keep them interested, but not eat you out of house and home.