# Burning honey or grease for bear bait



## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

Boehr,

As I recall, this is not a legal method of baiting bear. Can you give me the resoning behind this and why it's not specifically mentioned in the bear guide?

Thanks in advance,

Steve


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## boehr (Jan 31, 2000)

OK Steve, you got me, I don't see it in the digest where that is illegal, where are you looking? Of course I havn't worked bear hunters in about 16 years so I don't have all the bear regs just off the top of my head

If it is illegal I could only guess that if you burn something it goes into the air and gets on leaves, bark etc., which then puts bait on places other then the ground. That would be my guess.


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## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

Here is something I have wodered about as far as bear hunting goes. 

If it you use a scent as an attractant [lure] is it still concidered bait? Whoudn't the smoke comming from burning honey or grease be a lure and not a bait. There are other things that you can use to attract a bear that are not actually a bait but rather attract a bear with there odor.


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

I'm thinking that the part of the reg's that cover it is that bait cannot be in a metal container (which burning it would require) and the bait wouldn't be accessable to the animal. It's a fine line, but I was told this method isn't legal by a fellow in the U.P.


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## Biggbear (Aug 14, 2001)

Steve- I asked this same question a couple years ago and Boehr answered the same way. He advised that because he hadn't worked Bear regs in quite a while that I should contact the Co in the area I was hunting. I can't remember the CO I talked to but he was in the Newberry area at the time. I told him I understood that the burn couldn't be part of the bait pile, for scent only. He said that as long as all materials that were used for the burn were taken in and out each time and kept away from the bait he couldn't see where it was illegal. My buddy hangs a second stand next to him in the tree to be used as a shelf for a Propane Mr. Heater on which he creates a bacon grease burn. He hauls everything in and out, the little tin pan he uses for the burn, everything. It seems like a big pain in the rear, but he swears by using this scent method. Because there is no mistaking that this stuff is at the bait pile he has been told he is legal. He took the time to contact the CO I spoke of in Newberry to show him his set up and was told he was okay. I wish I could find the exact CO I talke to back then, maybe it will come to me. Good luck.


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## boehr (Jan 31, 2000)

I agree with Biggbear here. I don't see it being illegal.


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## Bucktail Butch (Jan 5, 2003)

We had the opportunity to talk to the top bear biologist for the Ontario MNR up in the big game preserve north of Chapleau a few years ago. At that time he had a team in the area monitoring bears that they had put electronic tracking collars on over the previous few years. He told us that when it was necessary for them to live trap bears, they mostly just used liquid smoke as bait. If it would bring bears in to a live trap, it should draw them into your hunting area. If it couldn't be used as bait, I assume it would be OK as a scent on a daily basis, right Boehr? If legal, it might be worth a try.


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## boehr (Jan 31, 2000)

Like I said, I see nothing in the digest or the law that prohibits using scents, burning for scents or burning honey or bacon grease. That's why the first question through me for a loop and I posted like I did, thought someone might know something I didn't because I know I don't know everything.


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