Is it unsportsman to hunt bear over bait or with dogs to tree them,then shoot them?
Some how this seems unsportsman like to me and to easy. My opinion ofsportsman is to use all your knowledge ,skills and give fair chase to your prey.

Baiting is too easy? I take it you have never played the baiting game for bear. Notice that most the cam pics are at night from most of the people you meet. Try to sway a bears feeding habits, its like a chess match..

In all my years of deer hunting (only about 8) we have put8-12 guys in the woods 1st week, 2-4 guys 2nd week, and only 2 bears have been seen (one harvested) in a high population area.
I have walked up on a bunch of deer, but the onlybear I have ever seen while hunting was swimming a river.
Bears roam, you can't realisticly set your tree stand over a "bear trail", and they are cautious, the only reason our dogger was able to shoot one while moving is because it was so windy that day that it was loud and the bear couldn't smell him, they met at the peak of a bald rock.

I have taken two bear, both in PA where you cannot bait or use hounds, know how i got them, pure luck, other than being in an area where there was plenty of bear sign. A shame to hear another hunter saying baiting and hounds is unsportsmanlike. Maybe to him it is, we all have our own views. Look at it this way, but using deer urine and buck lure is in principal the same thing. Buck don't care about food or anything other than finding a doe during the rut, doe heat urine draws them in. In the fall and spring seasons of bear hunting, all bears crave is food, it draws them in, but buy their nature it is not that simple.

Baiting and hounds seem to be the way alot of bear are harvested. It's much more difficult than you would think. Baite is no gurantee your going to even see a bear. Keep in mind that bears have a very keen sense of smell. I have actually stumbled across a couple bears while turkey hunting and once they smelled me all you seen was their black but running away. Everyone has the right to their views, so If you feel it's not fair to baite or use hounds then that's your choice!! I personally think bear hunting takes alot of knowledge of their behavior.

I've read that anise oil makes a good attractant. Does anyone have any recipes for using this oil? Or do you just put some drops near your bait?