# Best Bear Bait



## fishotter

ok i was just wondering what some of you guy think are the best bear bait?I have been using cookies.Do some of you use something special to get them coming in and switch to something different to keep them coming back?Just trying to get all the info i can


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## Jumpshootin'

I bait a station with 50# of dog food covered with 10 gal. of cherry molasses. I keeps them coming in. To bring them in initially I hang a rag soaked with anise oil over the bait.


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## Todd Frank

Anything Sweet, and kept fresh...
And refrence the previous post, you are not allowed to hang a rag above a bait in mi,..Fyi


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## explodingvarmints

i guy i knew that used to live around here and moved to the u.p. to start a bear guiding business used to go to the wholesale wonderbread/hostess places and pick up all of there throw-away outdated treats. i'm not sure if they were supposed to give it to him but they did anyway. he would also go to the morely candy factory and do the same. i guess yogi has a big sweet tooth.


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## 4x4_Hunter

Doesn't it ever make you wonder about "nutrition" for bear? Seems like everyone uses sweets, oils, etc. Can't be all that good for the bear and yet companies keep coming out with new things for deer to improve the nutrition and protein consumption. Doesn't anyone care about the health of a bear???  

Anyway, the bear really seem to hammer our junk-fish that we keep when we hit the water during the summer. Bear and ***** really like SheepHead!!! :corkysm55


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## s&a smolen

Bear do eat protein. However, anything loaded with carbohydrates is the key to a good fall bear bait. As this is what the bear are looking for to build fat reserves before hibernation. 

S.Smolen


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## Luv2hunteup

> ok i was just wondering what some of you guy think are the best bear bait?


What ever is free. :lol: The bear will tell you what they really like, it's always the first items gone from the bait site.


> Doesn't it ever make you wonder about "nutrition" for bear?


Nope, I just sprayed my clover/chicory plots with a grass selective herbicide. I think there are more piles of bear scat than deer scat right now, it's like that every year. Don't kid yourself in thinking bears don't hit food plots or other Ag crops. They are opportunists, they'll take what's free and plentiful.

Apples, pears, dried dog food, Hostess surplus sweets and pie filling get eaten first off my bait piles. Corn and oats also gets action when covered with pie filling.


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## Mickey Finn

Anyone ever try burning molasses to announce their bait stand? I have been told that it can jump start hits on your bait.


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## DANIEL MARK ZAPOLSKI

When I Used To Live In Alcona And Alpena County We Found That The Bears Would Tear Up A Pile Of Cattle Guts And Bones. We Used To Go To The Slaughter House And Get 50 Gallon Drums Of That #*#*#8383 And Bait With It. The Bears Would Usually Come In At Dust And Just Raid The Piles. And If You Do Use This Method Of Bait Make Sure You Know The Prevailing Wind In Your Area, Because When That *&^*^ Gets Ripe Look Out! But The Bears Love That Smell!


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## uptracker

I used corn, dry dog food, molasses, and the ocassional pie filling or marshmellow cream a few years back. Try GFS for a quick fix of filling, otherwise, look for a good deal on a 50 gal. drum...nothing over $100 per barrel though. You CAN find it much cheaper. Also, old sugar cones, anise, liquid smoke, meat scraps, all of your nasty garbage...less the bag and paper products of course.


For a previous post...I did try honey burns which seemed to work for intial start up. Get a coffe can and a burner of some sort. Put the honey in and go to town....let it get nasty, blackish. Afterwards, poor it over the bait site. I did add molasses to the honey on occasion.


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## Rustyaxecamp

4x4_Hunter said:


> Bear and ***** really like SheepHead!!! :corkysm55


Heck, who dosen't like sheephead?:lol: 

I plan on using a honeyburn in Maine this fall, I am assuming you rig up a coffee can with some grating/wire and burn sterno under a soup can with honey in it? 

Anyone have a better idea?


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## coonhollow

Does anyone know where one could buy large drums filled with candys, cookies, poptarts, etc. for bear bait?


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## stirfry

try this web site www.lucky7bearbait.com the place is in MN. but they seem to be cheap


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## mibearbait

For the last 15 years I have used a combination of over date bread products, pork and beef fat, with honey or peanut butter spread over the logs that I cover the other products with. I also spread molasses around the bait. The molasses is used entire for the purpose of getting the bear(s) to step into it and carry the scent with them. I've had really good luck with the approach. Usually can have bears hitting the bait within a day or two and they keep coming back for more.


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## stick bow

When I went bear hunting in Saskatchewan I asked the guide about the quality of the meat and how the bear meat tasted in general. I expected him to say that it would be the best meat I ever tasted (or something like that). He looked at me like I was stupid and said, "hell, I don't know". Then I looked at him like he was stupid and said you are darn near 50 years old and have lived up here all of your life and have never eaten bear? He said "hell no" I asked why, he said "because I see what they eat". :yikes: I choked down every ounce of that bear that year. When I bait at my property I will not be using anything nasty just because it brings in the bears. I will be using sugar and spice and everything nice. :lol:


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## mibearbait

Stickbow, you and better stop eating pork and chicken, because if you knew what they grind into their food and what some pig farmers feed their pigs, you would be more shocked.


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## kdogger

> Apples, pears, dried dog food, Hostess surplus sweets and pie filling get eaten first off my bait piles. Corn and oats also gets action when covered with pie filling.__________________


NOte on apples, pears, corn, and oats from the DNR:



> All other materials, including fruits, vegetables, salt and minerals, may be used in limited quantities, starting October 1, except in those counties closed to deer and elk feeding and deer baiting. Bear hunters using grains, fruits, vegetables, salt and minerals beginning October 1, must comply with all other deer and elk feeding and deer baiting regulations for the area and time in which they are baiting bear.​


However, the DNR also says:


> From the start of the legal bear baiting period through the end of bear hunting season, bear hunters may use up to two gallons of grains per bait station provided the bait is made inaccessible to deer and elk. It is illegal to use grains in counties closed to deer and elk feeding and deer baiting.​


How do you make it inaccessible to deer and elk if you cannot:



> It is unlawful to use metal containers, plastic, wood, glass, fabric, cloth or paper at a bait station. Dead and downed trees may be used. It also is illegal to use a tire at a bait station. ​
> It is unlawful to place bait other than on the ground at bait stations​



​


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## mibearbait

As noted in the quote number 1. It is unlawful to use metal containers, plastic, wood, glass, fabric, cloth or paper at a bait station. Dead and downed trees may be used. It also is illegal to use a tire at a bait station.

Note that it says, "Dead and downed tress may be used." That is what I use. I cover the bait pile with the heaviest logs that I can handle and fill in holes to keep the smaller critters out as much as possible. Frequently I can tell if the bait has been hit, as I walk into check it, as crows are fighting over the leftovers. I've seen where some people dig small pits and cover with logs.


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## hunting man

I use stale doughnuts. I go to the doughnut shop 2 times per day and get the stale ones they didnt sell. After a week of doing this I take the whole truck load and dump it on the bait pile. I take a 55 gallon drum and fill it with corn,oats and soy beans. Then dump cattle molasses over the whole barrel. It sits for a few days and gets stiff. I dump the truck load of doughnut and a barrel of the sweet mix on top. I only have to bait once a week and it keeps them coming in for the whole season. Of course i remove the barrel after I dump its load

For you to buy bait go to the pinconning store or visit their web site @

bearbait.com


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## yippy

I was just checking out the above site and found it was incorrect.

here it is for pinconning bait. www.bearsbait.com


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## uptracker

You read my mind.....


Rustyaxecamp said:


> Heck, who dosen't like sheephead?:lol:
> 
> I plan on using a honeyburn in Maine this fall, I am assuming you rig up a coffee can with some grating/wire and burn sterno under a soup can with honey in it?
> 
> Anyone have a better idea?


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## Rustyaxecamp

I heard from some "locals" in Saginaw once, that there was a pearl in that hump on a sheepshead head.

We were trying to get walleye (and not get shot) down in Sagnasty once, and the sheeps were running. A bunch of the locals were gathering behind us and started yelling at us for throwing them back, we ended up giving them probably 30 sheepshead. They said they're just like eating white bass...... 

Anything out of the Saginaw River has got to taste good, right?

Back to the subject though, anyone have tips on honey burns (actual setup, not recipes)


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## steelsetter

covered gun grabber/anti hunting yuppies hog tied on top of a donut pile.......... I thought everyone knew that!


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## brokenarrow

Kdogger
Find yourself a large hollowed out stump. chainsaw a slab about 4" thick of a solid piece of timber and you have yourself a bait station. A case of beer will get you one almost everytime if you talk to any logger at breakfast or in a bar. Many co-ops and or feed stores (atleast in Wi.) sell bear bait. Infact I am traveling next week to pick up a 55 gallon drum of lemon pie filling and some cookies. I still have a drum of candy hearts left from 2 years ago. Keep them dry in that 55 gal. drum by squeezing the clamp tight and use a gasket material (if one is not on it). They love them candy hearts.
Not legal to use meat products here in Wi. but when in Canada (years ago) for many many years we used fish guts and heads. The key to that is to let them get moving around before baiting with them. The kind of 55 galon grum that when looked into is kinda slowing agitating with maggots. When the redhorse used to run up there they (the bear) would throw them on the shore rip out the fatty parts and leave em rot, only to come back later to eat the good treats left on shore.


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## Duck-Hunter

explodingvarmints said:


> i guy i knew that used to live around here and moved to the u.p. to start a bear guiding business used to go to the wholesale wonderbread/hostess places and pick up all of there throw-away outdated treats. i'm not sure if they were supposed to give it to him but they did anyway. .


they will give you all the throw aways you want my cuz got a truck bed full for baiting.


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## Sprytle

Havent baited bear yet but i heard to use sweets- cookies, doughnuts, twinkies, ect. then pour discarded fryer grease all around it so when they come in it gets all over their feet and will track it back down the trails making long scent trails that make it much eaiser for a bear to cut the trail and get the scent for a much more effective site. - Bob


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## big buck club

I found cream puffs 60 in a box about the size of the palm of your hand frozen...chocolate and vanillia for 3$ a box..box size 12x15x17 the cream has a shelf life ..so I think they will be fine when they thaw he has over 1800 boxes.. real nice guy to work with.. don't buy them all ..I want to go back for more ..howell michigan # 5175468217


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## irishmanusa

stick bow said:


> "hell no" I asked why, he said "because I see what they eat".


 
*NOW THAT'S FUNNY!*:lol::lol::lol:


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## 6inchtrack

Be real careful what you use below the bridge.
I guess you cant use frier grease, bacon grease, dogfood, popcorn, candy, cause a deer might be hungry enough to eat it.

Look at the legal section if it doesnt get deleted.


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## Luv2hunteup

Things have sure changed in the last four years since this thread was started but then again we didn't have CWD in our state back then. Deer ranches have sure ruined what we once took for granted. Many of our bear baiting items have been banned, maybe it's time to ban the root cause of the problem and that's captive deer herds. I know I won't miss them.


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