Bear Bait. . .what do you use and why?

[BRWNBR]

I’ll second the lack of interest in other carcass use. I’ve seen birds, porcupines(skinned) beaver, bear carcasses all used and no interest in them at all. I used the same beaver carcass all June last year. Nothing ever ate it, which is fine cause the smell was around for months. Other times I’ve seen them (grizzly) tear a barrel apart just for the beaver. One thing is for for sure, and that’s that nothing is for sure with bears.

 

[Target rush]

Beaver is the best bait for bear hunting you will ever use. No matter how old it is they will eat it. Every animal in the wild will eat beaver meat. It will be the first thing they go to because they don't want anything to get it. It must be wired to a tree to keep them from taking into the woods to eat. Don't be surprised that only males frequent the bait because of the fighting for the meat. The sows will stay away with young . Good luck

 

[BRWNBR]

Beaver is the best bait for bear hunting you will ever use. No matter how old it is they will eat it. Every animal in the wild will eat beaver meat. It will be the first thing they go to because they don't want anything to get it. It must be wired to a tree to keep them from taking into the woods to eat. Don't be surprised that only males frequent the bait because of the fighting for the meat. The sows will stay away with young . Good luck

Nothing touched the beaver meat at my bait last year. Killed four grizz and a black bear with the same carcass there. They sniffed the beaver and stepped right past.
It.

 

[SLDMTN]

Nothing touched the beaver meat at my bait last year. Killed four grizz and a black bear with the same carcass there. They sniffed the beaver and stepped right past.
It.

My experience as well, I had zero black bears and a whole mess of different grizz.

 

[BRWNBR]

The one black bear we killed was a surprise. Not suppose to be many around. We ended up seeing two. One moved to Texas.

 

[Nick Muche]

I've had great luck with beaver carcasses... we string them up in the trees like ornaments, seems to work really well to disperse scent far and wide.

I love the bacon spray from BearScents.com as well, super strong and almost a chemical smell... I use that often.

For Anise, I just use whatever as it's not a very important part of my baiting practice, if I have some, I'll spray it... If not, oh well. There are far better scents to use and I focus on those. Knock Out, Bacon Spray, and Beaver Castor. Grease is great too, but a PITA to carry around and then clean up so if I use it, I use it sparingly.

 

[BRWNBR]

Nick I’ve heard of guys using old carpet to pour grease on them either hang or lay on the ground for bears to walk on. Would that work for grease ya think? Bears would tear it up but clean up might be easier? I’ve never used grease so have no experience with it.

 

[Brodie]

I also put about 1.5-2” of honey in an empty soup can and lay a propane torch up against it while I refill my bait. Gives off a huge scent cloud that I think helps, bears often eat the solidified burnt honey leftovers.


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[SLDMTN]

From what I've gathered reading his posts, Jake and I bait in fairly close proximity to each other which likely accounts for why we have similar baiting experiences with likes and dislikes.

 

[Target rush]

I'm in Mi , we don't have Grizzly. I have hunted only black bear in Mi but do know outfitters in Canada that use beaver only as a bait. I will not run a bear bait without it in Mi. Black bear meat is excellent to eat too.

 

[Downeaster]

Day old bakery fodder,some fryer grease, and jello powder. Like Nick touched on earlier, the scent gets them there, the volume keeps them there. I used dog food occasionally in the past, cant get past the familiar stink and the idea that thats what is building the fat im gonna eat off that bear. I know they eat all kinds of crap that would gag a maggot, but that doesnt mean i have to feed it to them. Plus i feel like the looseness and small size of the kibble conditions the bears to beat the death out of the barrel to get more out. Large chunks of bread take patience, small pieces that fall out in response to aggression breeds more aggression. My barrels got torched this year, gotta step up my game with steel reinforcement over the winter.
Definitely a fun game to play between elk seasons.

 

[Nick Muche]

Nick I’ve heard of guys using old carpet to pour grease on them either hang or lay on the ground for bears to walk on. Would that work for grease ya think? Bears would tear it up but clean up might be easier? I’ve never used grease so have no experience with it.

I've seen what bears can do to a ground blind and treestand seats, there's no way I'd introduce them to a piece of carpet! That would mean several hours of picking up tiny pieces of it when I clean up my site. haha

 

[BRWNBR]

Lol ya that’s true. Squirrels would have insulated homes for miles around!

 

[Tyler Beck]

Day old bakery fodder,some fryer grease, and jello powder. Like Nick touched on earlier, the scent gets them there, the volume keeps them there. I used dog food occasionally in the past, cant get past the familiar stink and the idea that thats what is building the fat im gonna eat off that bear. I know they eat all kinds of crap that would gag a maggot, but that doesnt mean i have to feed it to them. Plus i feel like the looseness and small size of the kibble conditions the bears to beat the death out of the barrel to get more out. Large chunks of bread take patience, small pieces that fall out in response to aggression breeds more aggression. My barrels got torched this year, gotta step up my game with steel reinforcement over the winter.
Definitely a fun game to play between elk seasons.

I have been stocking up from my local bakery and have receiving mostly bread. As far as sweeting this up, I plan on drizzling syrup and sugar all over my bread to keep my bears interested. You think this, grease, and jello powder are the keys to keeping them interested? Last year I didn't sweeten my bread up at all and I found that sometimes it didn't get eaten.

 

[BRWNBR]

This reminds me, reading everyone’s different experiences, it would be neat to set up a bait station with five gallon buckets all with something different in them. Maybe six or seven different baits in different buckets several feet apart and see how the bears react to different things and what gets hit first and most etc....


What I have has been working so I’m not about to change it, dog food (red bag ol Roy, Purina they didn’t like) and a plethora of bait em 907’s scent and sweetener products. I’m killing bears but it would be interesting to know some of the variables. Sweetener on dog food or popcorn?
Grease on either?
Anise on one?
Be neat to watch anyway. More than likely each bear is different which is why so many bait stations work with so many different baits.

 

[Nick Muche]

I have been stocking up from my local bakery and have receiving mostly bread. As far as sweeting this up, I plan on drizzling syrup and sugar all over my bread to keep my bears interested. You think this, grease, and jello powder are the keys to keeping them interested? Last year I didn't sweeten my bread up at all and I found that sometimes it didn't get eaten.

Grease and Bread would work just fine, no need to purchase anything sweet. They get into that grease and they keep coming back for more.

 

[black dawg]

I have been stocking up from my local bakery and have receiving mostly bread. As far as sweeting this up, I plan on drizzling syrup and sugar all over my bread to keep my bears interested. You think this, grease, and jello powder are the keys to keeping them interested? Last year I didn't sweeten my bread up at all and I found that sometimes it didn't get eaten.

we have had times that the bears wouldn't touch anything with grease on it. Have never had leftovers with even the smallest amount of sugar mixed in. It really seems that they do have different tastes bear to bear, because sometimes a bait that is a mile away they will eat different stuff. Sometimes we will mix karo syrup, dog food, and just enough sugar to turn the dog food white (mixed in the barrel with a big stick). They must really like it, because it lasts about half as long as straight dog food. Dog food isn't cheap, but it lasts longer for us. Usually can put in 100-150 pounds and have it last all week, when we don't have time to get up there during the week.
.

 

[garrete]

I like to use something with beaver castor in it at least initially. Popcorn cooked with old grease works well. I buy 75 pound bags of cheap stuff. The popcorn is nice because it's light, absorbs other flavors, and can't be carried off.

Other than that..kitchen leftovers. Used fryer grease, and whatever bulk stuff we can get from a place that makes deserts. One year it was 55 gallons of peanut butter. Another year it was a drum of cookie dough.

I rarely use people's freezer burned meat until I know the bait is getting hit hard. Many bears don't much like rotting meat (though some seem to love it)

In my limited experience they like sweet and fatty stuff the best.

Ideally it's something they can't carry off.


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