i' m going bear hunting this spring in new brunswick and need info on good bait.any help and tips would be great!

We use this formula: substance, attractant and sweets.

Substance: Oats
Attractant: KFC Grease (Kentucky fried Chicken) - but any restraunt grease will work
Sweet: Mollassis

Here baits must be placed in a sealed drum, we use a 45 gallon drum with lid....cut about 4-5" dia hole in the top, enough for one paw or mouth to get in. We also chain our drums to a large based tree, to prevent them from being rolled off.

To spruce our bait we cut & cube Beavers (yep the little fury tree eaters) But you can add raw meat scrapes as well. Chicken or fish seems to be a favorite here. When spring hunting we never put raw meat out until we are sure they have dropped their plugs, raw meat can cause them to get bunged up with the plug in and be counter productive.

In the past we have used donuts, sweet breads, cookies, etc. Also dog food mixed with grease, mollassis and icing sugar gives you a good combo. One buddy in alberta uses canola oil as his grease base and says it works good as well. But we have found most restraunts will give you their deep fryer vats grease fo nothing and it seems to work better due to being somewhat burnt and fatty.

Additional tactics if legal are bacon or licorice burns.

When I bear baited here in Colorado, I used dough-nuts, pastries, old bread, meat scraps, old cooking grease from Wendy' s, fish guts & heads, apples. rotten fruit. I would put them in a 30 gallon can & then put rocks, branches etc on top to keep out the coons & birds. Also I would keep the dough-nuts & bread in a separate can & the other can for the grease & meat scraps. I would also take a 5 gallon bucket----spray paint it black, them fill 2/3 full of fish heads, guts, grease etc------Hang it high in a tree above you bait site & in the sun !!! Make sure the lid & top of the bucket has holes so the wind will carry the scent.

Also I would take a burlap sac fill it full of bait & drag on all the trails that lead to your site.

Also pour grease all around you site, so the bears will step in it & also make a scent trail back to your site.

Then I would also do a couple of honey burns. Take a couple Steron cans & light them & put a soup can 2/3 full of honey on it. Let it burn to a crisp & let the wind carry the scrnt.

I would also put sardines in old rotten logs near my site & let the bears tear it up.


Just remember to chain your cans to a good size, live tree------ The bears will tear things up & you want them to stay at your site.

Good Luck!!

they covered the basics but get some anise oil it is the best attractant

They hit the nail on the head with anise oil. You can use licorice sticks too. If you can not attend you bait very often try using peanut butter. It is so rich the bears can eat that much at once so it will last a little longer.

thanks for the help

I hunted last year with a guide in New Brunswick. He was feedin' the bears donuts. He also mixed fish and other meat products, but the bears always ate the donuts first, sometimes leaving the meat behind. It was great sitting in the stand and getting a whiff of donuts every once in a while.,......

I have used both meat and fish and they never worked as good as bread, donuts

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