bear baiting... night time eaters ? tips ?

[Sendero_Man]

Been baiting for a couple years. Been successful with it, lots of work and very rewarding.

I have a couple bears this year that are total night time eaters. No show in the daylight hours. Heard many ways to get them to show in the daylight...

What tips and tricks does anyone have to make a nighttime bear show in the daylight ?

thanks

 

[HARPERC]

1) Do they never come in during the day or just when you're hunting?
2) Step back and reconsider your set up.
3) What naturals are they feeding on-how far are they coming?
4) Do you have trail timer-game cam data?
5) What volume of bait are you leaving-enough to live on? Maybe taper to a smaller amount while you hunt. A coffee can or 2 at times is enough if they are hooked, don't let them gorge and wander off to sleep. Less food will keep it competitive.
6) How many bear are you feeding? Is there a big dominant bear coming in. Given your Wyoming tag is there a Grizzly in the area!
7) It's early-hot here, things will change in 2-3 weeks with temperature, and changing food supply.
Good luck

 

[Sendero_Man]

1) Do they never come in during the day or just when you're hunting?
2) Step back and reconsider your set up.
3) What naturals are they feeding on-how far are they coming?
4) Do you have trail timer-game cam data?
5) What volume of bait are you leaving-enough to live on? Maybe taper to a smaller amount while you hunt. A coffee can or 2 at times is enough if they are hooked, don't let them gorge and wander off to sleep. Less food will keep it competitive.
6) How many bear are you feeding? Is there a big dominant bear coming in. Given your Wyoming tag is there a Grizzly in the area!
7) It's early-hot here, things will change in 2-3 weeks with temperature, and changing food supply.
Good luck

Answers:
1) got a few daytime pics, very random times. nothing to pattern
2) Set is good, gots bears off it prior years
3) Sheep and they are everywhere
4) have 2 cameras up and lots and lots of pics
5) bait is 105 mile round trip, been filling the 55 gal. drum up
6)4 mature bears on the bait, one larger boar ( not BIG by any means, no Grizz
7)been hot here too.

Thinking of your Number 5.... will try less bait and less often filling. Might help a lot !

 

[HARPERC]

Remembering the wind-last time I was in Wyoming, and wondering what do you anchor your 55 gallon drum with? A joke sort of it's rarely been that bad on my visits.
If my memory serves you're a fairly successful coyote hunter, when we could bait here, we always knew we had a good setup when coyotes were coming in.
Sounds like cooler temps, and a little daytime cloud cover is all you need.

 

[Sendero_Man]

it is held with heavy chain to the big spruce tree.

here is a bear from last year. picture took from shooting position.....

camera pic

 

[screech]

Looking at what ya got if there is any heavy timber close by where they don't have to come out in the open as much I would try placing it there. Also try less food so there's competition and it should help

 

[Sendero_Man]

was empty tonight and I only filled it quarter full or less. Shall see what happens. I had been filling it to the top.

thanks for the hints !

 

[LawShark]

I'd like to know too!

 

[Southwind]

A very successful bear guide in the Greys river drainage told me he turns a nocturnal bear with frozen beaver. It worked while I was with him. He says it's like cocaine for bears and he wires it tight to where they are territorial and won't go far till their desire becomes too great and they show in daylight.

He said he bought them from trappers for $25.00

This was spring and I don't know the chance of finding a beaver this time of year, but might be worth a few calls. I'm sure your local biologist can give you some names.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

My opinion is that BEAR SMELL EVERYTHING and that they detect you in the stand. If they know you're there they will wait until dark before taking the chance at the bait. Do whatever you can to reduce your smell.

Last week I stayed in a baited stand well past dark, I could barely see the sow and cubs as they headed to the bait which was only 20 yds away. I never saw or heard the sow as she approached my ladder stand. When the stand pulled down abruptly from her weight I knew exactly what was happening.

I had sprayed myself, head to toe, with Scent Shield before entering the woods. It was very dark and I hadn't made a sound. I was shocked that the bear still detected me 14" high in the stand.

BEAR SMELL EVERYTHING!

 

[LawShark]

Would beaver castor have the same effect?

 

[Sendero_Man]

A very successful bear guide in the Greys river drainage told me he turns a nocturnal bear with frozen beaver. It worked while I was with him. He says it's like cocaine for bears and he wires it tight to where they are territorial and won't go far till their desire becomes too great and they show in daylight.

He said he bought them from trappers for $25.00

This was spring and I don't know the chance of finding a beaver this time of year, but might be worth a few calls. I'm sure your local biologist can give you some names.

Great idea, but against the law in Wyoming.

We can use no game animal or parts for baiting.

EDIT >>

looked and looked in regulations, finally called the warden after not see any reference to not using beaver, a furbearer in Wyoming, as a bait.
Turns out we can use them ! Will try them ! Thanks !

thanks though.

 

[Sendero_Man]

My opinion is that BEAR SMELL EVERYTHING and that they detect you in the stand. If they know you're there they will wait until dark before taking the chance at the bait. Do whatever you can to reduce your smell.

Last week I stayed in a baited stand well past dark, I could barely see the sow and cubs as they headed to the bait which was only 20 yds away. I never saw or heard the sow as she approached my ladder stand. When the stand pulled down abruptly from her weight I knew exactly what was happening.

I had sprayed myself, head to toe, with Scent Shield before entering the woods. It was very dark and I hadn't made a sound. I was shocked that the bear still detected me 14" high in the stand.

BEAR SMELL EVERYTHING!

I have gone the other way the last two years on the advice of a very successful bear hunter in Idaho. I hung a T-shirt that I wore for a couple days in the tree above my bait. The bears always smell me when they come in. I wear same deodorant, shampoo, etc that I did when I wore that T-shirt. They are so used to my smell, they don't care. It is just the same scent that is on the bait.

When he first told me about that, I kinda laughed... But it has worked. Last year, I had bears on the bait 4 to 5 minutes after I baited and got sat down.

He has a better bear density over there, giving him better competition for the food and hasn't had night bears only. So, he has kinda given the same advice as you guys and cut back food and times of baiting.

Give the T-shirt trick a try... it works and saves lots of money on the Scent away systems !

 

[Yotekiller]

When we tried the t shirt thing on baits that had been getting hit no bait ever got hit again. After stopping that we went to a system of using portable tree stands and hunting as far down wind of the bait as possible still being able to see the bait. The last time we got drawn almost everyone in our group got a bear over 275 lbs using this system. The guys I know who sit right on top of their baits have never even seen a bear over 200 lbs. I think a lot of the older bears know to go down wind and check out the bait before they come in.