Questions for people who have hunted black bear over bait

[charlie brown]

I have been wanting to hunt black bear for a while now. I live in Nevada and there is no season here. Idaho is the closest states that have black bear hunting over bait and the tags are over the counter. I would definately hunt with an outfitter and am considering a hunt in the spring of 2005. I was wondering what hunting black bears over bait was like. I have never done it before, but was wondering if its like shooting fish in a bucket or is it more of an exciting, adrenaline pumped hunting experience? I don't like hunts that are "guarenteed" kills, just the excitement and experience of being it the outdoors is what really gets me going. I hope I am making sense here. Any thoughts that you guys have on hunting over bait would be appreciated. Thanks

[oldelkhunter]

Depends on how heavily hunted the bears are in the area. In maine I hunted the last spring bear season before it was being outlawed. Thick woods and bugs and its pretty late at nite before you get out of your stand and you have to be absolutely still all this time or you won't see a bear. Just knowing there was a bear skulking around my stand was enough excitement.

[Western MA Hunter]

adrenaline pumped hunting experience

Charlie,
That sums it up right there. I was skeptical of hunting bear over bait on my first guided black bear hunt. It seemed like it would be too easy. Where is the challenge I always asked myself.
Well, I went on my first hunt and have been addicted to bruin hunting since. It was wild. Just having them come in so close with their super sensitive sense of smell & hearing, and waiting for that perfect shot opportunity. Buck fever tenfold! You will love it. Bow or rifle....
I've done the bait hunts, spot & stalk here in MA near natural feeding areas. They are all fun.
Good luck & enjoy.

p.s. A word of advice... be patient over the bait on your guided hunt.... Wait & see exactly what is coming in. You never know who may show up!

[cherokee_outfitters]

Is it like shooting like fish in a barrel yeah some places like canada have tons of bears hitting stations all day long. But feel lucky you can bait at all and heres why.

I live in a state where baiting and spring bear hunting has been taking out of the equation. So now to kill a bear you have to by chance run into one in a 5 to 7day period. Good luck doing that regular. While it does bring the satisfaction of being to take a bear without bait or dogs much higher by killing a bear on his own turf. But the odds are greatly reduced.

I'll give you one of my best bait tatics when we could bait bear years ago.

Find you a sandy bank off the river ten to twenty feet. Dig a hole about 18inches around and three foot deep.

First take about 10lbs of sugar and pour in the hole. Add about a gallon of syrup on top of the sugar. Fill the hole with dog food or old bread. Cover the hole with some heavy logs a coyote or other small varmits can't move. Catch you some trash fish like carp and spread around on the bank about two weeks before hunting. Check the bait every two days and rebait it.

The sugar and syrup will melt into the sand and keep the bear there at the site for a couple of days licking the stuff out of the sand. Also the two week period will bring in more than one bear. In return the bigger of the bears will start protecting the bait and you should get the bigger bear if you can get the bear on a schedule.

[charlie brown]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Cherokee- I can understand what you mean about not being able to bait bears. I have never heard a lot about people getting them by spot and stock techniques in the lower 48. The areas that hold bears just don't seem to be very open country. I have been the area in Idaho where this hunt would take place, and the trees up there are thick. A lot different than around here where you can see for miles. Baiting seems to make a lot more sense now.

[justhuntitall]

I was kind of like you about huntting over bait but I did and if you have a choice go with a bow puts a lot more puker power to it . Just go have a good time . Good luck.

[Deleted User]

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[charlie brown]

ORIGINAL: otis

How different is hunting bear over bait, to deer hunting over a planted food plot or corn field sitting inside a carpeted blind with sliding windows?

I can see quite a difference here. One thing is baiting bears is done mostly on public land, the sites have to be registered, the bait can only be put out for a certain amount of time prior to the season, and the bears have such an area to roam that there is no guarentee that that same bear will hit that bait site again. Also the stands are non-permanent, can be moved quickly and aren't protected from the elements as well as some of the stands over deer feeders or food plots that I have seen/heard about.

With deer, the plots are planned and implemented well before the season for much longer periods of time. The deer eventually establish a routine and chances are that the animal will come back to the same spot most days.

I don't like the idea of hunting deer in that situation, although if other people want to do it then thats fine by me. I just get mad when I see these TV shows of people watching this spot. They have recliners, coleman heaters, rests for the rifles, coffee makers, and anything else immaginable. A deer comes in and they shoot it. Doesn't seem that difficult to me.

But with the more elusive nature of bears, and the requirements for baiting, I can see that it would be a much more challenging hunt.

Didn't want to make anybody mad, but thats how I feel about that.

[James B]

I have done this quite a few times in Sask. I really enjoyed it. Late in the fall after the bugs are gone is really cool. A quite peacful method of hunting. They taste good too.

[skeeter 7MM]

As somebody mentioned already just knowing a bear is lurkering and your in their domain is plenty of excitment...not to mention climbing down and walking out in complete darkness after hearing or viewing bears. I still get a few hairs standing up on my neck when I see or hear a bear near by and that is after seeing/hunting a fair share of these beasts. Baiting may up the odds but it is never a guarantee and if your looking for a trophy or colour phase bear it is even tougher. Yes canada has lots of bears and really very minimal hunting pressure, but even so many guys spend a lot of days with out seeing or taking a good bear. I basically bear hunt as a spectator now, I just love watching the forest alive and unbothered, seeing bears is a bonus and actually drawing on bear has become a rarity. A lot of factors effect how productive your stands will be, it takes patience, scouting and preperation to turn out bears off baits...it isn't as simple as ring the dinner bell and they line up for you to pick the one you'll shoot.

You should enjoy it and it isn't as easy as one may think. You just have to experience it to know what we are saying, lets just say never a shortage of excitment when hunting bruins, even if it is anticipation or not knowing what made that sound...POP! POP![8D]!