getting bears in.
 

Anybody got any good ways to bring bears to your area? I have been blessed with permission to hunt some ground in AR.There are bears in this part of the state we just don't know about this ground. Never hunted bear before but I'm going to give it heck.
Watched alot of videos and tried to see how they baited. But videos are videos now I'm asking the experts. Thanks

RE: getting bears in.
 

Didn't Arkansas just open up bear baiting on private land? If so, why not try your luck at baiting? Lots of hard work, but could prove successful for you. If that doesn't work for you how about some calling in an area w/ lots of bear sign. Being your hunting in Arkansas, I wouldn't waste my time trying to spot and stalk for bears. I know the bears are on the rise there and F&G is urging hunters to take them, but I still have never seen a bear in Arkansas, only scat.

Good luck,
Jim

RE: getting bears in.
 

I quess I should have been more clear, I was asking about a good way to start baiting, any thing special I need to do? Thanks

RE: getting bears in.
 

I live in a grizzly recovery area so I can only use bait that bears will not relate to humans (bacon grease, horse feed, donuts,etc and etc are taboo) Soooo about the only thing we can use is meat scraps. Rotten meat seems to bring in bear really well. They will eat fresh meat over rotten but the smell is what bring them in.

After you get them coming in you can switch to something sweet----donuts, fruit, molasses on livestock feed or keep on using "fresh" meat scraps.

Vanilla and anise oil works well for scent too.

Good luck

BTW - I used to live between St. Clair and Stanton when I was in high school. Went to school in Sullivan.

RE: getting bears in.
 

Wyote.. I went to school in Sullivan..Go Eagles!!

RE: getting bears in.
 

Scotsman:
I didn't even know they had bears in Arkansas.

In Alaska, we start baiting shortly before they come out of hibernation.

We take a lot of time to haul massive loads of bait into the stands (several 50 gal. drums worth).

It is a good idea to become friends with your local bakery :). See if they will give you all their scraps and stale doughnuts etc.

Another "lure" we use, when starting a bait stand, is to burn a pot of honey. This sends a cloyingly sweet smell out for miles. Or you can burn some bacon.

But you have to have the bulk stuff in place before you start this process.

Check your bait every week until you get a hit, then keep replenishing it on a regular time schedule that the bears can get used to.

When it comes time to hunt, you'll top off the bait barrel(s) one last time, and then sit in your stand or blind, instead of leaving.

This usually brings a high rate of success, and in some areas you can get many different bears a night, hitting the stand (at least in Alaska...don't know about AR).

<img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle> If You Ain't Hunted Alaska, You're Still Just Practicing <img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle>

RE: getting bears in.
 

More good baiting advice to add on to what Thane said...

Sweet Stuff, bears are irresistable to sweet stuff
Maple Syrup
Cheap dog food to mix in with the pastries.
Grease!!! A good 5GL bucket of grease from your local Wendy's, McD's, etc., a week. Not only do the bears like to eat it when it thickens up, but if you dump it out onto the ground around your bait stand then the bear(s) will track it throughout the woods, and hopefully other bears will pick up on the scent trail and follow it back to your stand.

The honey burn is a good scent bait like Thane said, and can easily be made out of a coffee can and smaller can. I know alot of people who use the canister burners as the source of heat.

Other scent baits include, syrup, bacon grease, and vanilla (both pure vanilla in a squirt bottle and the automobile vanilla scent that you can find it the auto center at Wally World...just squirt it up in the air every so often.) another good method is to make your own scent trail with a rag and whatever type of scent you choose. Just pour it on to the rag, tie the rag off to a string, and tie the string to your ankle.

Another important factor is to have a good setup at your stand. If you are using a drum, build a crib around it, so that the bear will be drawn into the bait by one direction. Bears are like humans and will take an easy route when opportunity exists, therefore they won't step over the miniature wall you have established. Also, lots of people have the mentality that you have to have a drum to bait. Not true, dig a hole into the ground at a 45 degree angle, bait the bottom, and cover the whole up with small logs to keep smaller critters out. Also, if you use the drum, do the same by covering the hole. Make sure you use a sturdy chain with your drum.

After setting up your drum or hole, mark off a nearby tree next to your drum with flagging tape about 3'-4'. A good Arkansas bear should measure that tall on all fours. This will assist in being selective on your hunt.

Lastly, I would either invest in a small timer that is set off by tripping the string, get yourself one of those fancy game-trakkers or go to Jesse's Hunting page and investing $80 to make your own camera/timer. Bears will generally come into your bait stand during the same time. This will help you out in the long run.

Good luck, and be ready for some hard work.

Jim

RE: getting bears in.
 

you need to bait.

RE: getting bears in.
 

WI

You don't say! Thats about the best information I've seen anyone on the board post.

Jim

Its all about scent
 

Bears live by their noises so get a lot of scent out there. Once they recognize your location as a place where there is food they will continue to visit. There is a lot of info on u-tube. I spent hours upon hours reading and looking at videos. When I finally got done it was clear to me that someone needed to put all the info in one easy place. That said I made this quick clip on Who to build a bait barrel - . Additionally, I am a huge fan of a stink bucket (its in the video). This is a easy way to greatly increase the amount of scent you are putting out there.

Better be careful if there are wild hogs there. If you bait the next thing you know the landowner will have a hog problem

When baiting was legal in Colorado a guide friend of mine baited with dead cows and molasses, worked great also anise oil is said to work great on a rag hanging in a tree. Good luck

Does anyone ever use plain old corn? We are not allowed to bait anything in PA. But, bears sure love the backyard corn feeders that people have for viewing deer.

I've had success using a varmint call to bring in bears - usually when I don't have a bear tag.... :-)

Corn would certainly work. I had a 50 gallon drum on a tripod with a spin feeder on it set up behind my hunting cabin up in northern MI to keep does around to bring in the bucks when the rut was getting near, but I never hunted within a 1/2 mile of it. One day when I was up there to cut grass in late August I filled it with 300# of fresh corn and late that afternoon I looked out the window and there were three cubs that probably weighed around 40#. I watched them for a few minutes and then saw the sow come slinking in to check them out. Then she went back a ways and laid down as it was getting dark. The next morning I went out and she had either taken her nose or a front paw and pushed the feeder off center just enough to allow all the corn to fall on the ground and the only thing there was a dead coon. Those bears must have eaten all night and didn't like that coon getting in on the goodies. It looked like the sow had probably just smashed him into the ground with a front paw, as there was no blood around and it looked like she had just flattened him with a paw.

300 pounds in one night...wow. They do love their corn either on the kernel or the cob. They really make a mess and flatten a corn field once they find them.

That was the last time I used a feeder up there, as I figured there was no way to keep a bear from doing that without extending the legs up another few feet to get it up higher. I decided it wasn't worth the hassle messing with it and I hope those bears had some belly aches after eating that much corn in one night!

I know what happens when I eat too much corn...LOL

For bait here in AK I use wet cobb grain. It has molasses and corn in it. Lots of vitamins and protein that bears crave. We use some sweet stuff like anise oil. And bacon grease works wonders too.

We had a sow and her 2 cubs clean out 100 lbs of dog food and other associated goodies in 1 night. When a bear finds a good food source they will not leave until it is gone. They may go just out of sight and continue to return until they can eat it all.