honey burn

[Carp84]

Are you allowed to use a honey burn for bear hunting? If so has anyone had luck with it?

[glenn57]

i believe its legal, i tried it with anise extraxt, no luck here! but then i didnt score at all that year!

[dakids]

I've done it several times with no luck at all.  Like Glenn57 I also didn't shoot anything that year.

It does smell strong.  Don't know if it was the honey burn that kept the bear away or if the bumper crop of berries.

[dakids]

One of my friends goes to the boundrywater about every 2-3 years and that is all they do.  No bait piles due to it is to hard to pack much in.  The group of 4 limits themselves to 2 bears and has never not gotten their bear.

So honey burns do work!

[pickelfarmer]

I used to have honeybees and a local bear hunter used to come over every year and buy up our waste honey to use as a burn for bear hunting. He swore by it. He said the main thing for him was not to go overboard with it. Just a little to get the sent out.

[Carp84]

I'm going to be on a 5 day hunt and thinking I will hunt the first 3 days and if I don't have any luck will give this a try?

[NDGUY]

CARP84. I would suggest doing a few test burns at home first.... as it gets a bit tricky with flare ups and the honey catching on fire!! if that happens while on stand you have to go up and down the tree to many times, and ask your outfitter if its ok to do it? Anything different at an established bait could push the bears to wait till dark to check it out.

10 more sleeps to baiting time and 29 more sleeps and its bear opener

[Joe@deerhunters]

 I found a screw in metal bow holder at a sportshop that is a couple of feet long. I bore that into the tree at stand hight.  I bring the burn can up an hang it from the holder with wire.  I found it is easier to control the amount of honey and you can keep it burning for a long time.

I use a number ten can with either sterno or charcoal in the bottom. I made a little rack out of wire mesh to place a soup can above the flame.

To say it works is hard to do. But I can't see how it would hurt. Man it smells good!!!!!

[Carp84]

I talked to the guide the other day and said if I want to give a honey burn a try go head as long as I dont burn the forest down and it shouldnt hurt but should help if anything. The last post talked about having it up in the stand....would this then make a good cover scent?

[lentz]

i would not want the bait sitting next to me unless i was going to shoot any bear i see

[NDGUY]

lentz.  I agree 100%

[Joe@deerhunters]

If you bear hunt enough you will either know someone one who has or have it happen to you.  Young bears get spooked and  climb trees and sometimes it is your tree. It happens, most black bears are just big raccoons.

The scent of the burn just encourages them to come in to the bait site. If they committ to showing themselves they are going to the bait pile before they climb the tree to check the source of the scent.

I would never were about it. Heck don't you eat on stand?

[jkcmj]

I tried the honey burn several times early on after seeing it demonstrated at a bear clinic the DNR put on.  It looked pretty cool, so I gave it a shot.  I had many bad experiences with it flaring up, or the sterno would reflect and light everything up as it got dark out. 

I had it work one time, I had used a lot of honey and a smaller sterno can, and it never did gt the big smoke going, but did lightly boil and smoke.  just before dark two yearling came litterly running in, tipped it over, and began licking the boiling honey out until it was gone.  It must have burned like hell, but the never flinched till it was gone.

[deadeye]

I never used honey but did use bacon grease..  ONCE.  I used a coffee can with a can of bacon grease suspended above a sterno can.   I worked too well.  The first bears that came in knocked it over and started the dry grass on fire.  I was hunting on the corner of a hay field and had to run over, chase the bears away, and put out the fire.  Funny now but kinda scary at the time.