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Bear baiting

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Bear baiting

Postby NorthIDTLH » 04 20, 2017 •  [Post 1]

This is the first year I've baited for bears. Season opened 5 days ago, my bait has been out for three days. My question is, how long does it take for bears to hit it? My son and I sat in a blind hunting for a couple hours yesterday, but I pulled the plug after no activity. What are your experiences?
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Re: Bear baiting

Postby ishy » 04 21, 2017 •  [Post 2]

Very big variables year to year with each bait. Once you have a bait you use multiple years they will be there sooner. We've had stuff hit the day we put it out and not hit for a month. We will usually just check it once a week until things start getting hammered. Just getting hit doesn't get us excited. You really want there to be competition (multiple bears) and for them to get comfortable and willing to come in during shooting hours. Then stuff gets fun.
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Re: Bear baiting

Postby Lefty » 04 30, 2017 •  [Post 3]

I had one bait location it took 3 weeks before it started hitting then shut off.

A friend and their group hauled in 1000 of meat to one site last Saturday. Yesterday the place was licked clean, Lots of variables
One fellow claims if a bait isnt hit in a 3 days he moves.. Another claims new baits need to soak for two weeks or more
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Re: Bear baiting

Postby wawhitey » 05 01, 2017 •  [Post 4]

The first year i started running trail cams, i set one up in may or june, and i wanted to get a lot of action on it, figured id see if the area was all whitetail, or if some muleys were around. So i dumped out 2 bags of sweet cob (corn, oats and barley rolled in molasses) and put one of those deer blocks there. Instant bear party. Somewhere around a dozen bears came in. Taught me real quick not to put that crap out when bears are awake. You might try some of that stuff.
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Re: Bear baiting

Postby ishy » 05 02, 2017 •  [Post 5]

+1 on sweet cob, that is our base. The other thing is towards the end of May you start getting into the bear rut and there is always more movement which will equate to more bears finding your stash.
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Re: Bear baiting

Postby wawhitey » 05 06, 2017 •  [Post 6]

Well maybe i didnt learn my lesson. Been a rough winter here, and i was feeling sorry for my deer, so against my better judgement i dumped a bag of sweetcob in my back yard. Woke up this morning and had to chase a bear out of the yard. Guess the deer are on their own for a while.
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