Why NOT to use "BUCK JAM"......

RidgeFACTOR · 08-16-2009, 09:00 AM

This is a perfect reason not to us "BUCK JAM" when trying to draw in deer to your trail cams. This is the 2nd. time it has happened to me and you would think I would have learned from the first time.
I usually put corn down to attract the deer to my trail cams to better scout my deer in the area.This time I also put an added attractant called Corn Flavored "BUCK JAM". I guess bear can't smell corn as well as the Buck Jam and I had an unexpected and unwelcomed guest this past weekend when I went to retrieve my SD card from my trail cams.
So if you DON'T want bears coming to your trail cams, you better not use anything with a strong smelling scent or you'll have the same problem I am having. The past few weeks I was averaging 60-80 pics of deer on my trail cams in this certain area, this past week I had 99 pics on one camera and 98 of them were of this bear.
So if you are going to be hunting whitetail deer and want to get some pics of just deer on your cameras, your best bet is NOT to use any of this like I did.
Oh by the way, I hunt in Pennsylvania and we are allowed to use corn up to 30 days before our season comes in.

leadoperator · 08-16-2009, 02:14 PM

Its a nice bear though! Here in these parts we dont have bears so im just gonna continue to use it if thats alright with you.

bowmanaj · 08-16-2009, 03:19 PM

Man, I'm glad there aren't black bears around here. They would be tearing up my mineral site. These guys love buckjam though...

Ken/WV · 08-16-2009, 08:51 PM

A buddy of mine had over 100 pictures over two summers of a huge ohio nontypical using buck jam. But the deer was killed at the end of last season. Not only the big buck, but pics of a lot of bucks over the buck jam. It seemed to work exceptionally well for him.

cartman308 · 08-17-2009, 12:32 AM

A bear coming to my deer cam wouldn't bother me a bit! but then again, there isnt any bears in the area we hunt..........for now.

4evrhtn · 08-17-2009, 03:24 AM

Apparently none of you live where there are as many bear as we have now in Pa. Having bear come into your feeder is a real problem... the reason... bear comes in deer leave the area. Bear comes in and sits and eats 300 pounds of corn in a few days or less if more than one bear. They destoy cameras and feeders and while seeing a few on camera is cool at first they become nothing but a nuisance and within days ruins your deer hunting/growing area for weeks.
Everything that has a sweet smell will draw them- apples, molasses, berries, peanut butter etc. everything used in whitetail food attractants. I gave up on putting stuff like that out because it does little for the deer and draws bear which will then remain in the area and prey on fawns until they grow large enough to outrun a bear if they even get the opportunity to get that big. In many parts of Pa we have a bear population large enough to greatly reduce the fawn numbers. Bears are a nightmare for someone trying to manage and improve and allow to grow what few deer we have left in Pa.
I know alot of guys from the midwest big deer states don't understand why someone would post a warning about a deer product drawing bear but then again your living in a deer/turkey state not a bear/turkey statelike Pa has become.

RidgeFACTOR · 08-17-2009, 01:01 PM

Thanks 4evrhtn for knowing what I was talking about and explaining what I meant. I should have been more clear to some of these "kids" on here. I also should have been more clear to be cautious using Buck Jam where the bear to deer ration is high.
None the less, happy hunting and good luck whatever you do.

RidgeFACTOR · 08-17-2009, 01:11 PM

This is one of the bucks I had coming to my mineral site before putting the Buck Jam down. Just like 4evrhtn said earlier, you have to live and hunt in an area where the bear to do ratio is high to better understand what we mean.

RonPenner · 08-17-2009, 02:21 PM

Being from Canada and seeing first hand at my baits what a bear can eat, I can imagine the problems this would cause you, they eat everything in sight and are so friggin curious they'll destroy anything that's not bolted down or secure.

here's the opposite problem, have deer eating me out of bait at my bear hunting spot early in the season

4evrhtn · 08-18-2009, 03:08 AM

I wish we could bait bear in Pa. Then the majority of them might still be around come the hunting season.The years we have a small mast of acorns the bear are desperate for food early and den up early. I would kill a bear a year every year if I could, with the population on the rise here in Pa chances are becoming greater. I have little more use for them than I do a groundhog in my food plot.