Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

I responded to a postand criticized the process of bear hunting with the use of bait. I went as far to say that I thought setting a trashcan full of molassas and then blasting (or shooting with a long bow) from 15 yds is pathetic and not really hunting.

Does anyone agree with me at all? All the responces have told me that in order to form an opinion on this I need to bait and dispatch a bear of my own. Then, and only then, could I formulate the opinion on how great and fun bear baiting is.

Thanks for the responses.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

Nope.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

I do.
Its funny that in places with grizzlies you are not allowed to bait, yet it is fine for blackies. Is it so effective that the endangered griz can't take the preasure? I suspect so.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

I have never baited bears,but that is only because it's against the law here in Montana.If it weren't for that i probaly would.
Baiting is a efective way to hunt bears and to kill a mature bear.We spot and stalk bears here or wait over berry patches.It is adifficult way to hunt them yet fun,but I think we would have a better bear harvest if we would bait.
So I see nothing wrong with baiting.
BBJ

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

There are many forms of hunting many different animals.

People place tower stands with heaters over fields planted with some formula to help bucks grow big head gear.

People place deer stands over game trails to offer the best opportunity of shooting a deer.

People have feeders of corn for attracting deer, with a blind set up close.

People hunt elk during the rut using a cow elk call and urine to fool a big bull into thinking its really a honey he's coming into.

People...

Bear baiting is just another form hunt hunting an animal. People spend a lot of time scouting an area, finding where the animals are, placing the bait, checking on the bait, and maintaining the station. Then there is the sitting and waiting, and waiting and...

Baiting bears has to be one of the most reliable ways to take bears. This type of hunting puts you in a position to examine every animal that comes in. Is it a bruin? Is it a dry female? Is it a big momma with2 or 3 cubs nearby waiting to make sure it is safe. There are very few ways to be sure that you take mature male bears other than with baiting them. You have all the time in the world to make this decision. For example from spot and stock, you may be a good distance away, and determining the sex and maturity of a bear would be a lot harder than from 15 yards.

I don't think people should knock how other people hunt.

If there is a state law that allows that type of hunting, then let it be. If we as hunters try to ban forms of hunting we don't like, then we are making the workload a lot less for the anti-hunters, and we may as well shoot outselves in the head to end the misery. Support your fellow hunters. Strive to get more hunting legal. Strive to go against the anti-hunting sentiment, not for it.

Later,

Marcial

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

What Charlie Brown said...

Some don't like baiting, some don't like hound hunting, some don't like trapping, some don't like bait fishing, some don't like actually keeping fish to eat.....

We best all focus on maintaining the rights to manage wildlife and enjoy it the way we can and want, and accept others' differing views. Nothing wrong with a dislike of something...right up to where it becomes a divisive item amongst us or where one thinks another's right should be revoked because we don't like it.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

I don't bait and it is now illegal in my state. It just isn't the way I like to hunt. In areas where it is legal I don't have much of a beef with people who chose to do it. Lots of different ways to hunt and some forms are geographically based and traditional to the area. I do believe in fair chase only. As I age I continue to raise the bar for my personal expectations

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

It amazes me to seehunter #1 criticizehunter #2's method! One hunter sits in a tree over a well used deer trail, but doesn't see fit that hunter #2 sits over a bait station. Hunter #1 sits over a water hole for antelope but doesn't agree with hunter #2 that hunts with hounds for a lion!
I see no problem with hunting over bait. Charlie brown pretty well summed it up. Effective at animalselection, good ethical shots presented, and time to collect yourself to make that shot count! There are some places that are so thick, that baiting may be nearly the only effective means of hunting them! Ever think of that!

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

I dont think anyones right to bait should be revoked. Its not legl in my state and I agree with that, but I would never press another state to change their policy.

I dont think I am better than people who bait, I just think that my tactics are more pure and rewarding.

I cant believe that people would compare setting up next to a deer trail and calling and using scent is comparable to leaving trash barrels of molassas oout for weeks prior to shooting them. Granted, its a method, but not my method.

How does this not feel like cheating?

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

I appreciate your respect of others' rights and I realize your not advocating for the elimination of baiting.

In regards to "is comparable to leaving trash barrels of molassas out for weeks prior to shooting them," states have differing regs regarding how long bait can be out prior to the season.Reallly, when you get down to it, is bait or lure all that different? Is calling/rattling not an auditory bait/lure tobring an animal in? Is not a bit of urine misted in the breeze not the same? How about feeders for deer? Seems to me that a cultivated food plot is likewise the same... All in all it is about trying to hunt as close to the animals as we can then use methods to bring them to us. I shot an elk several years ago with a bow. 12 yard shot. I didn't call him to me, but located him and kept him settled with a cow call while I stalked into him. That cow call was as much an advantage to me as a barrel with edibles are to a bear hunter.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

So andrew, the guys that sit in a ground blind over looking a water hole waiting for antelope to come to drink, are they "cheating"? Might be the only water hole for miles, the antelope have to drink nearly daily!

What about a guy that sits in a tree stand overan elk wallow. Might be the only water/wallow for miles, so you can bet elk will come eventually. Cheating?

Sitting over a deer trail that leads from a known bedding sight into a planted food plot and has had a trail camera watching and recording deer movement for months ahead of time. Cheating?

What do they all have in common? hunters using thier noggins and using the habits of game against them in order to be successful at killing them!

Andrew, do you do spot and stalk only with a recurve. You can bet there are plenty of hunters that do, and YOUR way of hunting might seem a little like "cheating" to them! Your method doesn't have to be the same as the next guys method, as long as it's legal, why look down your nose at it?

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

We all have our own feelings and ethics when it comes todifferent waysof hunting. I won't shoot waterfowl unless they are decoyed birds, but I know a lot of hunters prefer pass shooting. Not my way of doing it, but if they are legal, not for me to judge. I would love to teach them them my way!

In answer to your question- after 3 unsuccessful spot and stalk bear hunts, yea, I think I would try abait hunt if it were legal.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

Andrew, you really should try it before you knock it. Like a previous poster said, there are alot of places that hunting over bait is the only effective way to hunt. You could hunt your entire life in Maine, Ontario, Quebec or New Brunswich and without baiting never see a bear, much less shoot one, especially with a bow. I hunt WV and my home state of PA, 2 entirely different states when it comes to baiting deer. Like alot of people I had formed my own opinion of hunting deer over bait as beinglike shooting fish in a barrel. Let me tell you, I couldnt have been more wrong, in the 11 years Ive had my place in WV the grand total number of bucks Ive killed over bait has been a big fat zero, Ive actually seen bucks see the bait and turn the other way, and you wont ever ever see a decent buck at a bait in the day light hours. And the deer that do come into the bait are the most high strung nervous animals Ive ever seen, heck you cant break wind with out the dang things jumping out of there skins. Seems alot of people form knee jerk opinions without having any idea what their talking about. Just remember what usually happens when you assume something:D

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

Ah yes someone who has the same thinking as I. We can bait for deer here and all of the outfitters use it as their #1 method as i would also if i had customers to please. I have tried baiting for deer several times and baited it well, every so often however i have yet to take a deer off of it. Big bucks do not show, they seen that movie once and didn't like the ending. You can shoot 150's all day but to get that booner chances are he won't come in. Yes the odd biggy will be taken over bait but in my experiences with it i have not been pleased and given up. I have changed my approach to not giving myself away and disturbing the area as little as possible rather than going in there every few days with some square bales and spooking stuff up and leaving scent. Bait is definatley not a sure thing.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

To say taking an animal as a result of baiting is pathetic is harsh. I agree with the hunters who say it is all about preferance. I have hunted both ways with all types of game. I feel my "baited" hunts are just as rewarding and earned as my "non-baited" ones. Every hunter has their own ideas and should not be looked down upon for it. If you do not bait at all good for you, but do not criticize other's methods.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

Double nope, I think you should give it a try, I'm going for my first bear this May with bait.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

No. But I do have a problem with hunters bashing other hunters for their LEGAL methods of hunting. Stupid talk like this belongs on the anti's forums.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

I am with the nope crew as well. Baiting isn't foolproof and anything but easy, big misconception that you just throw out "trashcan" and they come a running. It takes everything that is required for other methods but as wellmore time attending vs hunting itself. Until you've seen what is entailed to be successful then you shouldn't cast stones to quickly.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion and I respect that, just extend the same curiosity.;)

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

[blockquote]quote:

ORIGINAL: wyomingtrapper

1. See my post in Andrewjoseph's thread.

2.You may have the idea that someone simply hikes to a nice looking spot, throws a barrel of garbage down, and then shoots the bear when it comes. Some forms of hunting occur well before the shot. In most places you don't get bear by just throwing a bait station anywhere. You need to know the area well enought to have an idea where the animals are traveling. You need to know the topography well enough to place the bait where the greater number of bears are "likely" to be. You need to try to find something to entice the larger bears out before shooting light is gone. Like other forms of hunting there are differing strategies that can be used to increase the reach of your bait and increase the odds of bear hitting the bait. You have to keep that bait well stocked everyday. Once bears hit it, they WILL clean it out. They come back and there is nothing there=they don't come back again. You are also feeding about everything else out there, helping numerous critters recover from winter.I've never baited for myself (just don't have the time and resources--it is a LOT of work), but have helped a few guys with their baits. It is a lot like trapping in some respects(Still a form of hunting, but set up to catch and hold the animal until you get there to either dispatch it or release it unharmed).

Try sitting over a bait once. Go ahead and leave the weapon at home. Take a camera. Many of us HUNT for reasons beyond harvesting an animal. You will see things over a bait that you seldom see through other methods of hunting. There is more to a good hunt than the kill....
[/blockquote]


First, I live by the saying "There is more to a good hunt than the kill..." and no matter how hard I have tried, I have not been able to truly put this into words when I'm explaining it to a nonhunter.

Second...you have a valid point and I always enjoy well thought out and educated answers. The only thing I would add to some of your explanation is the wind. Baiting requires more insight than most meteorologists have towards weather.

The terrain has effects on the thermals. Barometric pressure causes scents to rise to fast, or not be carried well. Moisture decreases the likely hood of detection...tempature cause things to freeze or and not be very aromatic. Finally strong winds or consistently swirling winds make the bait nearly impossible to find.

You have to take all of these variables and put the bait in a place that is most likely to be smelt and detected by an animal that is commonly scarce in most environments.

I have not bait because it takes so much work and so much effort and time spent that it makes it hard to do if you have a career of any kind.

The bears I have gotten come from shed hunting and scouting for hundreds of hours and tripping on one. Then I will only take the animal if it is noticeably large, or has a hide that is remarkable.....and never a sow if I even think she may have cubs.

But maybe if I would just spend the time to focus my efforts on YouTube so that I can become a noted expert in the matter of baiting....but unfortunately I have wasted my time hiking, camping, climbing, hunting, fishing, riding, shooting, searching, listening,watching, learning the rocky mountains of Idaho/Montana.....so many thousands of hours wasted!!!

~Cam

www.myspace.com/fuzzyballs44

_____________________________

HUNT STRONG!

www.myspace.com/fuzzyballs44

I post Idaho pics on there, let me know if you want to see more!

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

I have never tried it. Granted, my first reaction is that its not for me.

On the other hand, I do use bait to trap other types of animals. Once I get 'em trapped I jerk them around and tire them out until they are near death and helpless. Then I make them sufferwhile I admireand photograph them. I wait until they are just about to suffocate to death, then I let them go free. I don't even eat them - this is all for the pleasure of knowing I could have had them. The guys I do this with call it fly fishing.

I don't suppose hunting a different type of animal over bait is any worse. If I get a chance I will give it a try. And I'll eat it.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

Thats some funny chit jones!!

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

You guys have given me some real insight into hunting today, Im looking for outfitters in Canada right now who can start baiting as we speak. Then I can fly up there, spend 1 hour in the stand, blast away, skin it and process it, and be on my way home.

I thought I might get few guys who would agree with me, but it seems like everyone is open to everything so no ones feelings get hurt. This will be my last post in "big game hunting". IN MY OPINION, which cannot be wrong, this thread had been pathetic. Good luck with your molassas!!

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

Have another cocktail and chill...

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

Dont let the door hit ya in the ass, ya ignorant pric.! Oh was that out loud ;)

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

andrewjoseph. Its to bad that you are so closed minded. There is a wonderful world out there full of opportunity.

I try not to toot my own horn but you are not dealing with a bunch of wreckless yahoos who are trying to kill everything that walks by, the people on this thread are by all means true sportsman. It is obvious that you have formed opinions of many of the posters here.

I reguard my bear hunts over baits as high as I reguard the rest of my hunts. Hunts that have included every big game animal between the seas in our great country, and I will continue to bait and also I will continue to defend the rights and also methods in which my fellow posters use. You wont change that. If it makes you feel all better to go back to your own sandbox, then so be it.

We have a much bigger battle to fight than the hunting methods in which people use. We have people knocking on our door every day to shut down the very way of life that we have chosen, and don't think in a second, they wont use negative information against us. We have it going on in my state right now with the pro-wolf people, say it on the web one day, and it is in print the next day in the local newspaper.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

Have you ever watched South Park....when Cartman....a fourth grader....says "SCREW YOU GUYS...I'M GOIN' HOME" everytime he doesn't get his way?

I apologized to you in another post I had, but after reading this I have come to realize that you truly aren't part of the sportsmans way of life....not because you aren't willing to bait, but because you don't accept other hunters just because you don't like something....seems a little closed minded to me. I hope you aren't this stubborn, ignorant and childish in other aspects of your social life.

RE: Does anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

PA dont allow bear baiting and they haveTHE largest black bears in North America. The hunting can be grueling. But I like it.

I with hold my opine on baiting in deference to my many close Canadian friends who practice it a lot. The baiting question itself is much like the 'whats your favorite rifle' one that appears herewayyyyy too often. Not so much one of ethics as personal choice and/or what the law allows. Zumbo's in TX practicing with his new pink striped AR15, perhaps you should fill a bbl with donuts and try the bait thing if its legal in your area. We must after all hangtogether as 'huntershooters'. Good luck bear hunting whatever your well chosen method choice.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

Anderw is much better off finding something better to do with his time. If you don't want opinions, don't ask for them.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

Sounds like you were "fishing" for a few people to back up your opinions, and found none! Your feelings got hurt, so now run back to your little corner of the world and do it your way, since it must be the ONLY WAY!
I don't even bait anything, never hunted bears, BUT it is simple for me to grasp the idea and how effective it is. And it's no different than sitting over a water hole when there is no other water for miles. It's no different than sitting in a tree stand over a well used trail that goes from point A to point B that has had a trail cam watching it 24/7 for a month and has animals patterned!
It's hunters like you, with your closed mind, that hurt the rest of us. You need to learn how to stand with us all, instead of seperating yourself because you THINK YOUR WAY IS BETTER! Grow up man!!

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

Great follow up posts everybody!!!! People like this just don't have a clue, and probally never will because they are so close-minded.


Cheers!

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

Don't think for a minute that every bear from miles around shows up at the bait waiting to get killed.If this is what you think bait hunting is all about it shows you've never done it.The same people would not think twice about taking a whitetail off of an alfalfa field.Isn't that baiting? Do you put worms on a hook?Typically an older big bear will circle a bait setup downwind and lay there for sometimes hours deciding if it's safe to feed.The hunter must be willing to sit for extended periods [quietly].I once sat in a tree in freezing sleet in early May from 1300hrs-1930hrs before a bear showed and I shot him.Danmed near froze but I wanted him.You can judge hide quality and pass up bears that are rubbed unlike spot + stalk where the range can be longer.If you havn't done this style of hunting don't condenm others who have.Like dogmen etc.......not many cougars shot without them...See where I'm going...............Harold

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

I condone baiting.

The location ofthe bait site, and keeping it up is a large part of the sport of bear hunting in my opinion. I grew up in Minnesota and that's how bears are hunted in Minnesota. You line up along-term source of stale donuts, get them every couple of days, set up your various bait sites and keep doing that until you start getting bear sign at one of your sites. Some sites are dry holes. It's a lot of work but the preplanning and strategyas well as the thrill when you have "activity" is fun.

When I moved to Pennsylvania, Iwas surprised that PA hunters didn't bait. I thought it unusual that a big gang of guys would drive the bush and force the bear into view.

Note the difference in philosopy: PA hunters have a tradition that treats bear hunting as a large party, short term, social event. MN hunters treatbear hunting as a solitary, long term strategy event. I don't feel either has anything wrong with it. It's just excercising a tradition.

But, baiting is half the fun in my humble opinion! It's certainlynot as much of a sure thing asdriving with a large group of hunters.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

Up North about the only way to hunt Bear is baiting. You can have good bait sites that may not be hit for days at a time but there is no visibility to spot and stalk. Even bait hunting is tough if the berry crop is good.

Baiting deer is NOT legal here. No way shape or form.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

I spend more time baiting bear than anybody you guys know, trust me..I ran 4 baits last year for 3 months in the spring...


--Its not as easy as you think...
--It created ultimate bear identification and shot placement...
--Without baiting in Saskatchewan, very few bears would be harvested, as they are very very diffucult to spot and stalk in our dense woods, they are just wicked of an animal.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

I bet I do....;)

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

Gotta go with dan on this one...Hey dan hows the little one????

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

I do not agree.
I personally would have no problem with baiting bears at all.

If it is not your cup of tea, then I respect your decision not to do it.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/fb.aspx?m=1375131&key=baiting%2cillegal

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

First they take your baiting away, then your trapping, and then they set the rules on how you can hunt or if you can hunt. Yeah give the anti's more fuel there master. So what if the guy baits. If it's legal then support him as a hunter and not a personal opinion. Your fighting for your rights as hunters everyday or atleast the smart hunters are.

RE: Doeas anyone else have a problem with baiting?
 

??

An incidenceof inaccurate speed reading perhaps?