What is bear baiting? Modern-day bear baiting is the process of using bait stations to attract and hunt bears. It is important to note that not all states (in the United States) allow bear baiting.
As of this writing, bear baiting is lawful in 9 of the 28 states that allow bear hunting. These states include Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Basic bear baiting consists of the following:
- Bait
- Locations
- Tree Stand
- Camera
1. Bait
The most foundational food for your bait station is bread; from fresh to recently expired bread. Any type of bread products will work in this situation (bread, bagels, doughnuts, cakes, cereals, etc.). Again, this is the basics of your recipe and you will add other sweeteners to, well, sweeten it up for the bears!
There are different sweeteners you can add to your bread bait, from industrial powders to everyday table syrup. Hunters use different additives for different reasons.
If you intend on rotating your bear bait from one site to another, you will want to use a powder additive. If you intend on leaving your bait for longer and just continuing to refill and add more on top, you can use either powder or syrup.
It’s best if you can leave your bait untouched for a week before revisiting the bait site.
Another idea is to take fryer or bacon grease (and even add some molasses) and spread the liquid on the ground around your baiting site. This will not only attract bears but as they walk through the area they will take the scent with them and track it around for other bears to smell as well, inviting them to your baiting party.
Baiting Bonus Tip: Use syrup as a sweetener. The syrup will only attract bears, not wolves and coyotes.
2. Locations
Place your bait as far away from roads and trails as possible. With this in mind, you may want to consider using alternatives to purely hiking in your bait in order to find a location less accessible to other hunters.
Depending on the terrain and time of year, you can consider snowmobiles, four-wheelers, or even horseback. Again, the goal is to find an area undisturbed by human traffic and remote enough for you to have an advantage over other hunters with the same ideas of a trophy bear.
Hill Area: If you intend on placing a bait station on a hill, make sure and create a nice, flat spot for the bears to stop and eat your bait. If the area is too steep, the bears will tend to take the bait and go elsewhere to eat it.
3. Tree Stand
At some point after the initial baiting of your site, you’re going to want to have a tree stand set up. Some may argue that setting up a stand the second time to the site is easier as you are not taking in as much follow-up bait and gear. Second, you want to be able to find out which direction the bears are coming to your site before setting up the perfect stand location.
The argument against this is that you want to set up a tree stand as early as possible to introduce it, and any accompanying human-smell along with it. This way, when the bears do come to your site, they will be used to the smell related to the stand itself over time. When clearing limbs for your stand, you may want to clear a little wider area around the tree in case you need to adjust your stand after seeing where the bears are approaching from.
Also, get your back to a high-ridge, pond, or a creek where it’s difficult for the bears to circle around you and approach the bait. Check the predominant wind directions for the time of year you are hunting in your area. These couple considerations can make a huge difference when you introduce yourself to the tree stand and are working toward a clean shot.
4. Cameras
Unless you intend on living in a tree stand day and night, you’re probably going to want to invest in a motion camera to record the bear activity at your site.
These cameras not only record the action but clue you in on what time of the day the bears are visiting your bait stations and from which directions.
This information is critical as you learn the eating behaviors and patterns of the bears in the area. It also clues you in on when the best time is to be actually sitting in your tree stand waiting to personally observe the bears coming in.
When setting up your camera for the first time, you should be able to set up one camera on a nearby tree. This is a good starting point as there is no need to waste numerous cameras on a single site until you are seeing the type of bear traffic and sizes you are looking for.
When you start to see more activity at a specific site and are seeing the bear sizes you are looking for, you can then allocate your resources and cameras to that specific site.
Make sure and check your state laws regarding the legalities of bear baiting before engaging in any activity related to this type of bear hunting and the lawful seasons in the area where you intend to hunt.
