T.R,my fellow Minnesotan,I' m sorry but I must disagree with you to a point about the bears not hiting the bait piles till well after dark. Granted some do but when I' ve got my permit and I' ve hunted them on my property. They' ve came in at various times during legal hunting hours. IMO the ones that hit the bait piles well after dark are the old timers(the big boys),because they are smarter then the average bear(no pun intended) And if their is not alot of hunting pressure in the area they will go to the piles during shooting hours. For instance last year,during the opener(Sept.1st) my brother-in-law and myself video taped a 300+pound bear at 7:30pm. He was beautiful.