Bear Baiting

[Mayfly]

BearGuide: Glad to have you aboard. My cousin is an avid bear hunter and last year I was lucky enough to be invited along. I brought the video camera. Just my luck we didn't get a bear but we saw a few cubs which was cool. I also got a chance to learn a lot about bear hunting. It is much more of a hunt than I had thought. I used to think it had to be a cake walk.......put out the bait and wait for the bears to come in! Not a chance, these bears are smart just like an old buck. Anyways, just wondering what you used for bait and what you think works best. Any secrets that you care to share??


Here is a clip we put together. We had planned on making a full video but we never got the kill so a ton of footage went to waste. Put this clip together to try and salvage some.



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[Mayfly]

Here is a clip of the cubs:





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If this is you the video can be seen - HERE

[rchaze60]

cool vid Tim ...... but you know momma bear aint to far off  :ROTFLMAO:

[BearGuide]

They are incredible animals!  I have some vieo on VHS from the National Geographic Channel "Explorer" show that shows just how powerful thier nose really is.  If I remember correctly they can smell another bear about 1 to 3 miles away and tell the sex and if it is a bear they know without ever seeing it. That is increadible.  So realistically they know we are there before we even get there.  That is why you NEVER see them.

As far as a good mix for bear bait...you video show a great recipe, but the sewit might be expensive.  I suggect corn/cracked corn, grease from a bar, and bread.  All cheap and nearly all free.  Otherwise the bears once again are very perticular.  I have had bears eat bagels, doughnuts, blue berries packed in sugar, dates packed in sugar, gourmet breads, carmel, molases (feed mill), gummy bears and I have seen bears pick through and eat just the chocolate doughnuts, eat just the bagels, eat one perticular bread.  They are a lot like humans and have their own perticular tastes.

By the way - mom was probably just out of site. They usually send the cubs in first.
One thing I would like to say is that I tell my hunters to please NOT shoot a female with cubs.  If they do - they are on thier own collecting it.  A farm I use to hunt on in Milaca, MN the man that ran it shot a sow with cubs and he said it was the worst experience he had ever had.  Gutting mom while the cubs are whining right next to him and getting in his way.  Sorry - had to preach a bit.

Hopre this all helps.

[Mayfly]

By the way - mom was probably just out of site. They usually send the cubs in first.

Thats what we were maybe thinking. I saw these cubs coming in from a ways moving fast and as they approached they slowed down. When they were on the bait they kept looking back into the swamp and woods like something else was out there. It was spooking them as you see them running uip the trees. We were sure that there was another bear out there. Would they be afraid if it was thier Mother? Another thought we had is that their mother had been killed! About 30 minutes or more there was a shot from the direction in where the cubs came from. My cousin Scott knew exactly where the shot came from and knew they were bear hunting out there. But then again would these cubs be dining on another bait site if their Mom just got blown away doing the same thing? I would think they would be to spooked and confused to just go about their business looking for treats, but then again I don't know. It is fun to speculate, wish we knew what they were afraid of. I imagined a giant bear back in the bush just waiting to come in.

[BearGuide]

My guess would be that the mother was hanging back warning them of danger.  She grunted/moaned some low decibel warnings.  They refused and kept coming in until the smelt you and bailed.  That is probably why they kept looking back.  I am not kidding when I say they are the Monarchs of the forest.  Incredible animals.  It is definitely not just bait and shoot.  These animals are majestic.

[Mayfly]

They refused and kept coming in until the smelt you and bailed.  That is probably why they kept looking back.

The weird thing was that they weren't looking back at us. They actually kept running in our direction when they would get spooked. They would all get quiet, stop what they were doing and look the other direction. It was fun to watch. I guess we can speculate all day but we'll never know what was out there

Good Times. ::rockon::