# best bait



## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

What is the BEST bait or attractant for bear. purchased gathered or otherwise??? we had some raspberry bar filling that worked well the last couple years.


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## bigrackmack (Aug 10, 2004)

I found the only thing that they did not eat that I put out was water melon and lettece.....I found the sweets to work best.....Mack


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## dsconnell (Aug 29, 2007)

The outfitter I hunt with in Ontario uses dog food that has a high content in corn and the bears fene for it.. As well it is easy to transport in an out and when season comes he just uses a little pie filling and pours mollassees over the dog food and then sprays a little anise on the trees and around the sites!


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## oziedon (Jun 10, 2005)

dsconnell said:


> The outfitter I hunt with in Ontario uses dog food that has a high content in corn and the bears fene for it.. As well it is easy to transport in an out and when season comes he just uses a little pie filling and pours mollassees over the dog food and then sprays a little anise on the trees and around the sites!


 
Dog food, molasses and corn


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## dsconnell (Aug 29, 2007)

The dog food that he buys consists of about 60% corn... Or are you saying this is something that you have tried? I have been helping Denis with baits for the past few years and I could show you photos of bears that climbed up onto the roof of his storage shed pouncing up and down trying to get into the doog food.. One site will go through a 50 lb bag every 2 -3 days..


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## hiawathahunter (Aug 20, 2004)

I prefer to use items which stand up to the weather. There's nothing worse then hauling in powerded doughnuts to a remote bait site and having it rain that night disintegrating all your hard work. 

Some of my favorites are: corn, chocolate doughnuts, cereal / granola, and table scraps.

For attractants, its best to use something that fills the air and will also last several days: anise, molasses, honey burn, or bacon grease (or grease from any smoked meats). Scent rags or scent trails are also a good idea if you're going into a new location.

hh


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## dsconnell (Aug 29, 2007)

If you chain a 55 Galon drum to a tree and cut a couple 6-8 inch holes in it above the 2nd ring you should be good to go.. The other thing that he uses are bait boxes which are strapped to the tree that are welded out of steel and when the bears want to get in the have to lift the lid and stick there head in.. As well when placed at the right height these are great indicators as to a bears size and critters have no way at all to get at the food here unlike the 55 gallon drum.. once it is tipped over it is fair game.. with the boxes there bear backs away and the lid slams shut which is also works like a call cause it tells bears in the surrounding area that someone is at his bait.. 

The other thing that he does is pours French fry grease from the resturant in town on the dog food as well! Anise also makes for a great cover scent as well as an attractant.. Very strong scent!


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## dobber (Feb 9, 2008)

for bears the dog food works great, keeps the bears around a while due to them having to work for the food. i found that soaking used fryer oil on the bait works great, i sometimes used the 5 gallon pails and tied them up with the lid off to make the bears work for it. 
A great come to bait when starting is a nasty mixture of milk and liver. You use a plastic bottle, 1/3 full on milk, 1/3 raw liver , seal the lip tight and set it in the sun for a week or so. They both start to break down and the smell is something you will never forget, even worse if you "splash" some on yourself when opening the bottle.


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## cscott (Oct 12, 2006)

I think the best attractant is a honey burn. Bears will eat just about anything if given enough time. I have had success with the honey burn on two different bears that would hit he bait consistently after dark, but when the aroma of the hot honey hit the air the bears came in before dark. For bait I have used baked good scraps(clumps of dough seem to be best), sun flower seeds, corn and meats. I usually get grease from bar/restaurants and pour it over what ever bait I have.


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## rbol121 (Apr 16, 2006)

Try to get ur hands on some bulk popcorn. I went to movie theatres and got there old stuff at the end of the night or next day. Made some arrangements with numerous theatres throughout the year. Bears loved it and its light and easy to cary to ur bait site. Only bad thing is it gets mushy when wet, but bears still loved it. We also used hostess pastry's and cicken grease. But the ease of the popcorn was awesome, give it a try, they'll love it.....


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## JWICKLUND (Feb 13, 2005)

dsconnell said:


> *If you chain a 55 Galon drum to a tree* and cut a couple 6-8 inch holes in it above the 2nd ring you should be good to go.. The other thing that he uses are* bait boxes which are strapped to the tree* that are welded out of steel and when the bears want to get in the have to lift the lid and stick there head in.. As well when placed at the right height these are great indicators as to a bears size and critters have no way at all to get at the food here unlike the 55 gallon drum.. once it is tipped over it is fair game.. with the boxes there bear backs away and the lid slams shut which is also works like a call cause it tells bears in the surrounding area that someone is at his bait..
> 
> The other thing that he does is pours French fry grease from the resturant in town on the dog food as well! Anise also makes for a great cover scent as well as an attractant.. Very strong scent!


Make sure you follow public and commercial land use rules when baiting.


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## dsconnell (Aug 29, 2007)

I do not know the guidelines on public land here.. This is an outfitter up in Ontario that I hunt with! Should have clarified!

Thank You!


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## chilipepper (Nov 11, 2007)

Dog food OMG. My old outfitter used it also but the birds and critters got much more then the bears did. In fact we often baited and within an hour the food would be gone no matter I really don't condone dog food for this reason alone. We raid the local donut shop for day olds before we go each year. We mix it with molasses and meat scraps mixed all together. We have had good sucess with a cereal block. This is an mix of 3-4 cereal's put into a 1ft x 1ft box and melted marshmellow over the top which makes a real cool block of sticky sweet cereal block which bears love but have a hard time to eat...


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## dsconnell (Aug 29, 2007)

Stop and think about what you just said for a minute...

1 - Your old outfitter used it... There is a reason that he uses it.. It works.. Very good too!

2 - If you read my post it is very easy to see that dog food is not meant to pour all over the ground to attract bears cause yes then you will have everything in the woods on it.. That is why he uses 55 Gallon Drums with the holes above the 2nd ring and Bait Boxes.. 

I am sure the things that you like to use work and work good however it is a whole lot more work going around gathering these up and then they might go bad. All I had said was Dog Food is cheap.. I think that he gets it for like $7 a bag and it is easy to carry in an out and in culmination with the French Fry Oil and Molasses and a little anise in the air it works great!

Note - The only reason I posted this was to give the gentlaman an idea of something else that he can use taht is effective.. Many different people prefer many different things and if used correctly they are all effective.. I am not into getting into a pissing match about what product is better.. 




chilipepper said:


> Dog food OMG. My old outfitter used it also but the birds and critters got much more then the bears did. In fact we often baited and within an hour the food would be gone no matter I really don't condone dog food for this reason alone. We raid the local donut shop for day olds before we go each year. We mix it with molasses and meat scraps mixed all together. We have had good sucess with a cereal block. This is an mix of 3-4 cereal's put into a 1ft x 1ft box and melted marshmellow over the top which makes a real cool block of sticky sweet cereal block which bears love but have a hard time to eat...


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## sidnaw59 (Jan 4, 2008)

SWEETS<SWEETS<SWEETS! Honey drip work excellent. This past season I smoked 6 salmon heads I caught and hung them from a tree, the combination of all this brought in a nice Michigan Bear for me.


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## wild at heart (Feb 19, 2008)

I shot a 306# bear this year over granola covered with red michigan cherries.


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## Jr.BowmanMI (Jun 27, 2005)

pour some liquid smoke on top of your bait pile. Also put some fish oil.


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## U.P. In Da Woods (Aug 8, 2007)

I'd Pop A Brown Grocery Sack Of Popcorn Dump In A Box Of Cherry Jello And Shake It Up And They Loved It. I Can Smell The Jello From A Long Ways Away And It Last For A Couple Days.
Steve


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## U.P. In Da Woods (Aug 8, 2007)

Or Just Put Out Some Bird Feeders (sunflower And Suet) Cant Seem To Stop Them From Coming To Our Yard And Destroying Or Taking Ours


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## D.C.U.P. (May 24, 2002)

Essentially whatever you can get in mass quantity at the cheapest price. Bread, donuts, meat, corn w/sweetener, etc. Meat can get stinky, though.

To enhance the smell of the area, I often smear peanut butter (the cheapest kind) on trees all around the bait site. I also like to hang a jug of molasses up high.

Some folks like to hide their bait a bit to keep ravens away. I don't mind ravens that much. They advertise like no other.


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## JWICKLUND (Feb 13, 2005)

D.C.U.P. said:


> To enhance the smell of the area, I often smear peanut butter (the cheapest kind) on trees all around the bait site. I also like to hang a jug of molasses up high.


*F.Y.I. - This method is illegal for use on public or commercial forest lands.*


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## JWICKLUND (Feb 13, 2005)

sidnaw59 said:


> This past season I smoked 6 salmon heads I caught and hung them from a tree, the combination of all this brought in a nice Michigan Bear for me.


*Anything not on the ground is illegal on public or commercial forest lands. Just a reminder for those that may not be aware of this law.*


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## D.C.U.P. (May 24, 2002)

JWICKLUND said:


> *F.Y.I. - This method is illegal for use on public or commercial forest lands.*


Yeah, I didn't really think of that. I always have the luxury of hunting private land, so I often lose sight of the fact that many rely on State and Federal forest for bear hunting.

Thanks for the reminder!


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