Bear Baiting Tips

Bear baiting is not as simple as throwing out some food every once in awhile. For an avid bear hunter, baiting is a very precise activity and is crucial to the success of the actual hunt. Listed below is a breakdown of some basic bear baiting tips.

* Baiting schedule. You should start setting your baits in late June, early July. When you begin baiting you only need to bait once a week. During these first couple of weeks, you are simply trying to see whether bear will come in to your bait as well as what sizes. Once you have located which baits you are going to continue with, you can begin baiting more often such as twice a week. Approximately a month before your actual hunt is to begin, you may now start baiting your baits every day. To try and get the bear into the same schedule planned for your hunt.

* Bait at the same time, every time. Be sure to always bait your bear at the same time. This will help to get the bear, as mentioned above, on the same schedule as you are. This helps to make sure your bear comes in during the daylight hours. If your bear is coming in at night, you need to make adjustments to your baiting schedule. Try not feeding them the next day or begin feeding less each time so they come earlier to get the food before other animals do.

* Setting up a game camera. This to me is a necessity in bear baiting. Not only does the game camera tell you what is coming in to your bait, it also provides you with the exact times as well. Be sure to purchase or make a metal cage for your game camera. Otherwise the bears will attack it because of the food scent you transfer to it.

* Don't go overboard with sweets. Yes, bears love sweets, however just like us if you eat too many sweets, you get sick. Bears are the same way. Be sure to include sweets in your baiting, however not the entire meal.

* Be consistent with your baiting habits. When baiting your bear try and make the same sounds each time. For example, banging on the bait bucket when you leave. Once your bait has been consistently hit, chances are the bear is probably waiting within a couple hundred yards for you. By making the same sounds, you again stay predictable and non-disruptive of the routine. We have had bears hit the baits less than 15 minutes after we baited.