Big Tuna,
I understand your dilemma, although we haven't been broke into yet in our camp ( WMU 49 near Dunchurch ). What you need to do is cut a hole in the the side of the barrel about 12"x12" max and also chain or cable barrel to a tree. The bears will bat it around to get at the bait. Some of the best bait is a 5 gallon pail of lard that you buy from grocery wholesalers for about 40 bucks each. They keep coming back and licking it like a popsicle. Also my buddy used sacks of corn he bought from a CO-OP this year and he says the bears loved that too. But you also need some stink bait like meat scraps also. I baited this year and unfortunately only had a couple days to hunt and had the biggest friggen sow I have ever seen come in with her cub so I let her walk. They did raid our game pole a couple years ago and messed up a couple deer while we were sleeping. You better start immediately if you want to hunt them this fall as its getting cooler and they will be tougher to to get in to a bait. As for distance to bait from your stand, I was about 15 yds but I bowhunted them so whatever works for you. If rifle hunting back off a bit and it will increase your odds. They are quite smart and cagey buggers. The good thing is you can pick a good spot and they come to you