newbe spring bear baiting questions

[realunlucky]

Ok looks like I have enough points to finally draw utah spring bear tag. I have only seen one bear in person and have five or six bear pictures on trail cam from last year. So how to identify the area i want to set the bait up in? We cannot use anything to contain our bait so how do I limit the bears pile of logs? If I cannt resupply the bait station everyother day because of distance to from me and cannt contain it to help store it can I still successfully run a station? Any and all opinions thanks I have waited seven years and dont want to screw it up

 

[fillthefreezer]

some people i know thatve had good luck start early in the year on a rotten stump and get the bears to dig at it to makeshift their barrel

 

[littlebuf]

should be pretty easy no matter what you do. never really saw the need to bait bears in the spring. there not real hard to find then, thats why its a fun hunt. find green grass, throw some food on the ground if you want. but spot and stalk spring bear hunting is hard to beat.

 

[realunlucky]

Littlebuff do you just glass areas of new greenup? And than plan a stalk? I never see them out shed hunting or anything? Is it early late type deal for glassing or anytime of day. Just trying to learn hard when you can hunt them every 8 or 9 years. I dont know anyone who has hunted bear before

 

[fillthefreezer]

should be pretty easy no matter what you do. never really saw the need to bait bears in the spring. there not real hard to find then, thats why its a fun hunt. find green grass, throw some food on the ground if you want. but spot and stalk spring bear hunting is hard to beat.

i think you need to let me in on your success tactics, i am yet to figure out the spring hunt "close to home"

 

[littlebuf]

i think you need to let me in on your success tactics, i am yet to figure out the spring hunt "close to home"

there is some fine spring bear hunting not real far from you. last time i drew i was the first one to take a bear out of the unit and it was a decent bear. unlucky (good screen name by the way) bears care about one thing until about june and thats food, in june they start caring about mateing but still mostly food. i live in washington but imagine utah bears like to eat too. there going to be where the vegatation is greening up first. if you know your going to draw a tag hit the unit now. find low lying swamps that will get some southernly sunshine early or south facing hillsides with some water around or running down them.

again hit the unit now and as often as you can to keep an eye on what and where is greening up. dont be afraid to go up high either. the bears wont be up there per say but one of my tactics is to get high so i can access secluded low areas others may not "waste there time" with since your traveling through high country. i think i saw 9 bears last spring doing this and i didnt even have a tag or was i really seriously looking for them. if you can couple these stradegies with some bait or sent (not legal here in washington) you should put a bear on the ground this spring. good luck. and forgive my spelling. my spell check isnt working for some reason

 

[fillthefreezer]

there is some fine spring bear hunting not real far from you. last time i drew i was the first one to take a bear out of the unit and it was a decent bear. i think i saw 9 bears last spring doing this and i didnt even have a tag or was i really seriously looking for them.

yep that proves it, last years spring tag wasnt even good deep fried

 

[RUTTIN]

Where I am putting in for my tag you would be wasting your time to even go out and look right now, the bears are not out and the snow is way to deep to find any green spots. Hopefully the snow will even be melting by the middle of the season. I have been putting in for 7 years and hope I will finally draw this year. The area I hope to put a bait I hunt throughout the year and don't see many bear during the season, but people that hunt baits in the area have pictures of tons of bear hitting their bait so I know they are there. If you know the general area you want to hunt contact the local biologist and they should be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[realunlucky]

Ruttin I agree it takes a snow mobile to get up there right now. How do you plan on picking where to set up your bait site? How are you containing your bait?

 

[Justin Crossley]

I would put down some wet cob or something like it and then pour raspberry extract over it. The liquid will soak into the ground and should help to keep them interested if you can't fill it everyother day. Like littlebuf said, look for areas that will be green early. One thing they like to eat in the spring in eastern WA is onions. If you have those in your unit, I would locate them. Like was already said, ask the local bio for info.

One last trick that can work, ask on some hiking forums where you should avoid because you want to take your wife hiking and you're afraid of bears. (this one is my favorite)

 

[RUTTIN]

realunlucky, most people around here that have drawn a tag have just put baits up, and they generally get hit by multiple bears. I will probably just put my bait in some logs. A lot of the guys have just been using doughnuts to get them coming in(for some reason they won't eat the frosted ones) I am also going to make a bear sucker and chain to a tree. Bear sucker consists of boiling a lot of sugar in a 55 gal drum, then pour it into a 5 gal barrel with a chain in it, pour a little dog food in when it starts to set up, when it is hard break the 5 gal barrel apart and voila you have a bear sucker that you can chain to a tree and they can't drag it off. Pop corn will also keep them around for a while to pick it up.

 

[realunlucky]

I thought of using a sucker but can't have a bucket, maybe I'll contain it in a hollow log I saved just for putting bait in.

 

[fillthefreezer]

I thought of using a sucker but can't have a bucket, maybe I'll contain it in a hollow log I saved just for putting bait in.

you break the bucket off once its set up and leave the chain hardened in it, think popsicle

 

[realunlucky]

Wouldn't they just bust it up every time they bit it, doesn't seem like it would last without something they had to chew through.idk anyone have experience