I know most bear hunters don't talk publicly about their secret bait for baiting bears but if anyone has a cheap solution for bait please let me know. I'm trying popcorn this year topped with some different toppings from my DQ... which is about as cheap as you can get. But if anyone else has any other cheap secrets please let me know.

It really depends on how cheap your talking. I don't find baiting bears cheap at all no matter what you use.

I have to drive 1 1/2 hours to bear country and at the price of gas and the feed it can get over priced. Over the years like 25 years of testing different setups I have came up with a setup that can last a week of continueous bear hitting.

Now this is not fish in a barrel sort of speak, not all bears seem to show up when your on stand, but the over all baiting system does last and allows bears to keep coming back and working the baits for food.

Dry dog food is one of the lightest and easyest ways to bait along with a good pour of Mallasses. I have designed a barrel that the bear needs to roll the barrel back and forth to get the sticky dog food out and with 6 - 7/8th holes only around the top of the barrel, this slows the food from all coming out fast. The barrel is attached to a tree by a chain that is weilded to the center bottom of it and only has enough to stand the barrel on a rebait.

here's some pic's

The barrel, holes stagered around the top only



One setup



Allways look up before getting in your stand LOL (not my Pic)



different bait , but some of the action

this bear was never seen but hit all season long

Yeah, dogfood works well and is reasonably cheap. You might be able to pick up fryer grease for free from a restaurant and then pour it in the barrel, makes it much more attractive. One fairly cheap thing is to buy a couple bags of marshmellows and stick them on tree branches all over. They smell so sweet and are bears favorite, IMO. Do it right before you get in the stand and then sit back and wait for the action to begin (make sure you wear gloves though and minimize the scent that gets on you, or you will have bears in the stand with you).

Great pics and thanks for the help. We could start baiting here in MN this last weekend. I'm trying dog food. Popcorn topped with jellO powder and a bunch of fryer grease. And I feel your pain about driving a ways to bear country.... I'm in the same boat.

Thanks for the tip on marshmallows I think I'm going to try that when I drive up to bait again Wednesday. I guess we'll see what my cuddeback picks up

The guy that outfits hunts out our way gets expired foods (free), but the catch is that he has to take it ALL. Perhaps you can find who is buying the expired foods in your area and buy some off him. His favorite was old broken taco shells, with old used cooking oil poured over the top.