This will be my first year setting baits for bear. I know it is still a long ways away but now that deer season is over I am starting to get fired up for a shot at some bear. What if any prep work goes into your bear hunting and when do you start? I already have bait lined up when it is needed and the land as well.

Schultzy should chime in any time now. He baits as do I. I can legally use barrels for my bait. So I run 2 barrels at each set up. I used oats corn and used cooking grease for the base of my bait. Donuts, breads and meat/fish scraps were also used.
I've started collecting bait already. I've got pails full of grease in my garage. Last yr I used 70gal for 2 baits. This yr I wanna at least 4 baits so I'll need alot more. I also have a pail full of meat scraps and a pail of fish scraps..... I hope to have at least 4 pails of each come time to run baits. My hunting buddy and I bought oats last spring and got a good price so we bought an extra 1200lbs of it.
You'' have to tell us your allowed to do legally and then I think you'll get more help

wecan'tstart until August, 30 days prior to the season.I am going to be using barrels as well. My friend who has the camp where the land is has access to unlimited amounts of pastry and syrupsandgrease.

Do yourefill the bait barrels every week? And if you do do you carry a sidearm with you?I know bears aren't aggressive but when you are carrying baitI would bet they can be unpredictable.

Sandiland said It pretty well on what to all use. Every area a person bear hunts In Is different. The biggest factor In bear hunting/baiting Is the people pressure. The less people pressure the less one has to go In to re bait his baits. Where I bear hunt It's loaded with bear hunters and bear guides. The 2nd weekend of August Is when we can start baiting, the hunting season opens September 1st. I live 4.5 hours south of where I bear hunt so the 1st weekend I can bait I'll run up there and put out 12 to 15 baits. Everything Sandiland uses for bait Is pretty much the same stuff I use minus the oats. Oats Is good to use, I just have no access to any. We usually pile on about 200lbs of meat and pastry's on a bait. Some gets put on the ground and covered with heavy logs so no wolves or small critters can take It and about 70lbs of meat only gets hung In a tree about 6' up In a burlap sack. The meat In the sack Is real good for getting scent out and also good for seeing the size of bear by going by the amount of claw marks on the tree. Less claw marks means taller/bigger bear. Grease Is a must. Get as much as you can and spread It all over In the area by the bait. A month or so before your baiting season opens go catch some fish and put them In a 5 gallon pail whole with a tad bit of water In It and paint the pail black and set It in the sun and let It ferment- Excellent attractant! Splash this around In the tree's around your bait to get some scent In the air to hopefully bring a bear or more bear In. If I didn't have a boat load of hunters up there I'd only bait every 10 to 12 days. I bait every weekend up till hunting. As far as I'm concerned, the less you go In to your bait sites the better so If I had the choice I'd do It like that but I can't being there's way to much competition with other baiters so I have to make damn sure my baits always have food In them.

I also believe pastry's Is your best bait that you can use. I sure wish I could get more of It. Check your regulation's also on what you can use for bait. Here In Minnesota we can't use uncooked pork or bones. If you can use bones, do It. Back In the day we could use them and man did they sure like them!!

Schultzy is your man here. I bait in the spring. But to answer your question I filled my bait...... it lasted all season. I would have refilled if it ran dry though. All in all I had 500lbs of bait then 70 gal of grease.
How many barrels can you get? Like I said I run 2 per site and last yr ran 2 sites. This yr I'm gonna run 4, maybe 6 depends on how many guys want to hunt. I want 2 per hunter. I like small holes in the barrel...... that way your bait will last longer. You wanna make it so they can get to the bait and without too much work or they will move on. I do 1-2" holes

I know that as of right now my friend has 2 barrels, I will buy a couple more. I hope to have at least two different sites for the first year.Their are some bear outfitters in this area,I know Ted Nugent used one guyfrom the same town where I am going to go,but they are not in the immediate vicinity of where we are going to bait.I will probably check the bait after the first week and go from their.I plan on hanging a couple of cameras as well to see what is in the area.I guess i will have to run on trial and error the first year and learn what works in my area as I go. The tips are greatly appreciated and I am sure I will have lots of questions when the season starts to approach.

There Isn't a better teacher/expierence In the world then just going out there and doing It and see what works for ya!!! Good luck!!

Ya keep us informed. I like trading baiting info. Good luck Dmen

I do not hunt bear but have freinds that do.. They did get a few bears as they guide hunters. The biggest problem was the amount of nuts that were around. The bears were busy hitting the nuts and less on the baits. The year before they did awesome using some cherry pie filling in with the baits. This past year they didn't use the pie filling soI am not sure if that helped the year before or not. Also during the later part of the season some hound hunters were running hounds around the area they baited in. Good luck to you and hope you have some great success..