Minnesota Bear hunting

[freu1chr]

Has anyone ever hunted bear in Minnesota? i have a cabin in the no quota area in minnesota and have bears on my camera all summer in my deer areas but when i started baiting last year the bears seem to vanish. Just wondering if someone can give me some pointers.

 

[Tenstrike]

Opening of bear season coincides with the ripening of nature's bounty, it is not uncommon for bears to stop hitting baits shortly after baiting starts as berries and other feed ripens. Bears often start hitting baits again, later in the season. You might try different (more attractive) baits or remote areas away from people. Good luck.

 

[Coveyleader]

There is a guy who has a yourube channel, his name is Bernie. He bases most of his content on MN bear hunting give him a watch. He’s got some good info, a little inflated, but aren’t we all?

 

[Elkhntr08]

Give’m what they’re not getting. Grains don’t work as well when there’s a good mast crop.
Grease and meat are my goto. A good grease pit at the bait will spread the word that you’re baiting.

 

[marcbateman]

I took a decent black bear in northern MN (Itasca County) a few years ago. The guy we had running our bait pile would would bang the barrel, very loud, after dumping the bait. He believed this would serve as an alarm clock, so to speak. Needless to say, I saw several bear over the first 3 days of the season. Cereal, nuts, gummy bears. Nothing fancy.

 

[bnickelson]

We have a cabin in the No Quota zone & my wife & I tried bear hunting in 2021 for the first time. We had bears all summer on our cameras. We started baiting on the first day it was legal (middle of August) & we didn't have a bear hit our bait until the end of September (about 6 weeks of baiting). But then the bear came back ever night. Their there, their always there!

 

[Gutshot007]

If a good acorn year . Once they start dropping they will migrate to the oaks and abandon bait pits in some cases . Good luck

 

[Gutshot007]

Try to bait close to noon as not to chase them off the pile

 

[johnsd16]

As others have said they often hit well early and then when the field corn sweetens/ripens some, acorns drop and other berries start to ripen they disappear. Much better baiting on dry years, etc. Also, knowing who else baits in the area can be important. I used to bait at my dad's place east of North Branch and had all of the experiences. The best I found was to get as many bears on the bait as possible in August (think diverse bait, and lots of it) by using candy, trail mix, cookies, baked goods, and oil/grease, then as the fall came on try to hone in on what was disappearing first and focus on that and keep the quality up. I used whole pies from a local bakery. I also ran a bait that kept raccoons out and at least some of the bait protected from the elements to keep the quality up. Even then on big mast crop years the bears disappeared for a while. It is a tough game in that area due to it being mostly farm country. Up in the arrowhead the pickings are more slim and the bears seem to bait better. Agree that BernieB and BucksnBears content on youtube is pretty good for comprehensive MN bear baiting.