moosehornhunter

Douglas...
Hi there. I have been guiding for bears for many years and have been responsible for more than a few rugs that I'm sure adorn many walls from coast to coast. Over the years, the method that we have developed, we have worked out to a science. First, pick a site. If your baiting, any site will do. You don't need to scout for these things, they will come to you. The only thing that is important is that you need to establish your bait site lets say within a half mile of water. That is truely the only guideline that should be followed. Second, lets go over what to bait with. Everyone seems to have something to say about this subject, and I have tried just about all of them. As far as i'm concerned, nothing works like a good olde fashion jelly donut. That's what I feed them. You will also need some fryolator greese, and a milk crate full of "stink bait" per bait site. You can use any kind of meat or fish for the stink bait...the raunchier the better. And last but not least, what you do with all this stuff. I prefer the "crib" set up. Build a crib up against a tree with the front facing where your stand will be. This forces the bear to give you ample shot opportunities. Second, wire a 5 gallon bucket to the tree at the front of the crib. Leave about 3 feet of extra wire so the bucket can be tossed around a bit or you are gonna go through alot of them. Next, fill the 5 gallon bucket about 2/3 full of donuts. Then, take a milk crate and stuff it over the top of the 5 gallon bucket and push it all the way down. Don't worry if it is tight....they will get it off. The crate also keeps the coons and everything else out of the bait and when you start checking the bait you can tell from a distance if it was hit or not. Also, you don't need to wire the crate. For some reason, they don't realy steel them. Next, wire a 5 gallon bucket or a milk crate in a nearby tree. Place this bucket as high as you can reach..about 6.5 feet high. Fill this bucket 1/3 full of donuts. Next, wire a milk crate full of "stink bait" in a third tree, as high as you can reach, about 10 yards away. Finaly, take your two 5 gallon buckets of fryolator greese and pour one at the opening of your crib, and splash the other one all over the tree and ground where you wired the bucket with donuts in it up high. All set!!! Check it in about a week and once they start hitting it, feed them about a half to 2/3 of a bucket of donuts a day. The benefits of this method of baiting are way to numerous to sit here and describe...there is a reason for every little thing I wrote here. Don't skip a step. For instance, it is virtualy impossible to pull a track off a bear bait...they mat down the whole area. This is why you put the bucket in the tree. If there are no claw marks on the tree after the bait is getting hit regular....you have a big boar on it that is just standing up and eating out of it. If there aRE CLAWW MARKS GOING RIGHT UP TO THE BUCKET, YOU HAVE A SOW AND CUBS. If you have claw marks going up a foot or two, you have a medium size bear. Anyhow, I wrote enough....good luck and happy hunting.