bait site is set up!!!
Bears
Got out and set up our black bear bait site today. Had a ball despite light rain and snow all day. Temps were only 30-35 degrees. Couple really nice surprises to the day. First was how well the improvised cataraft Barge worked to ferry gear across the river. it was the first time the barge was used, and in moving water no less!! Smooth as silk!!
Second surprise.....I had not been to this site in between 10 and 12 years. It originally was set up by A friend who I hunted it with for 2 years, but he has since moved out of state!!
I was going just on memory and as we walked the dry slough/ river channel, my buddy asked me where we should enter the woods. I picked a spot, started slowly walking and going on gut feeling and after only about 15 minutes, despite my buddy telling me he thought it was more to our right, I suddenly stopped and felt something very familiar.....I followed my hunch and despite my buddy again telling me it was more to our right again, I told him go check that way. I took about 10 more steps, and to my surprise.......There was the site. My buddy was amazed since we didn't have a GPS track or even a GPS point in his GPS. I found it all from ancient memory!! We could have spent hours trying to find this site, but it only took about 15 minutes!!!!! Whoda thunk it???!!!!
Surprise 3.....we got to the site and were greatly relieved that the stand was still there....10-12 years later. And the kicker is.....it had been rebuilt by another friend with weather resistant/outdoor lumber. The friend even had his last name painted on the steps. I laughed because the friend who rebuilt the stand has since moved to Fairbanks. Happy day to find a palace in the trees and that we didn't have to, but were prepared to, rebuild ourselves!!!
Got our bait barrel filled with about 110 pounds of bait out, hung a scent ball, spread more scent around the area, marked/posted the site according to the law, and headed out to get back home. It is about a 2 hour drive one way! Saw tons of ducks, swans, eagles, and a falcon!!
Photos hopefully will follow. I took the photos with my android phone and have to figure out how to post them. If I can't figure it out tonight I will post photos tomorrow when I can hook up my phone to a PC.
It felt sooooooo good to get out in the bear woods again, especially with my friend who I have hunted with for about 25 years!!!!
I have to say.....this was the first trip in years where everything went so smoothly!! Now just praying the bears find our site quickly!!!
Tern Lake and the Kenai mountains behind it.
Swans and goldeneye ducks.
Pile of old lumber that used to be the stand. Now have bait hidden under!
More bait hidden under a root ball.
View around the site.....very thick!
Main bait barrel. It is only a 30 gallon barrel. The only holes for food to come out are on the end facing the stand.
Any of you pros able to tell if we should enlarge the holes? They are about 1-1/2 inches in diameter.
A better view of the stand. About 12-13 feet up. Room enough for 4 at least!! We will be adding some camouflage netting on our next trip down!
It is 16 yards from the stand to the bait barrel. My buddy will be hunting with his muzzle loader. I will be using my bow. Only thing left for stand is to add camo netting and to figure out what to use for seats!!
This is where I took my first black bear 12-15 years ago!!
A question for you pro's/guides out there, how long do you usually wait to go see if the bait has been hit after you first out it out? A week? 2 weeks?
We also have a game camera we put out to help us know what has been coming to the bait!!
Looking forward to the day we go back and see if the bait was hit and by what.....black or brown bear. The season is ope for both black and brownies at our site!
This is going to be good! I am no expert but I've had my Minnesota baits hit within a few hours. This of course was fall but if your bears are out it shouldn't take long. Good luck.
City....no it is not a beaver ball. It is a jelly donut scented ball. Smells sweet as can be!
Bnt40,
bears are just waking up. Usually this time of year there is still 2-3 feet of snow left in the woods. There was so little snow this year that there is no snow and no ice on the river or in the sloughs that the bears started waking up about 2 weeks early.
To my knowledge This site has not been hunted for at least 5 and maybe 8 years!!!
I bet there will be some good ones around. It's always fun checking that bait for the 1st time. The anticipation of it all :^)
Some years you will have a bear hit your site within days, other times it may take two weeks. No rime or reason. I've tried beaver carcasses before. They never touched them at all. We have to fly everything into our area so lightweight and size is important. Popcorn sprinkled with Coolaid works outstanding!
We are using dog food and popcorn mixed with Kool aid, fake maple syrup, and honey. Has worked well for us over the years.
good luck,sounds like an excellent adventure.
I knew it would happen.....my buddy/hunting partner called last night. Originally he was going to wait 10-14 days to go check to see if the bait has been hit. But..........last night he called me and said he is going down either Sunday or Monday. That is only 1 week.
I love the anticipation of seeing/knowing the bait has gotten active.
Wow, that looks like a blast. Do you have any idea how blessed you are to be able to hunt in a place like that without spending your life savings?
Steve, Yes I do. I talk about that with my friends and family quite often, and think about it all the time when by myself or when my wife or son gets down about something. I remind them that some people never get to see the places we play, and those who don't live here pay tons of money to do what we have the opportunity to do almost every day.
We are blessed and lucky too!
THat stand looks like the perfect place to come out to and have a bear sitting in it waiting for the hunters to show up! :)
Keep us updated and good luck!
Shiras. I have had bears try to climb in this stand with me in the past. A poke in the nose with a broadhead did the trick to get them going back down!
Elmer, I think the holes you got will be fine. That is all I use. I am even thinking of making them smaller or closing one up for this spring.
When you guys put up a stand, you REALLY put up a stand. Great picts already. Looking forward to even more. Keep us posted!
Ibow....it was a friend who built that palace of a stand.....and he doesn't use it any more. Lucky us!!
Elmer that is a good friend. What's the competition like up there? Are other hunters pretty respectful of not setting up too close? Or are there rules in place of where you can have/register a bait station?
Bnt40. Competition for a good bait site is getting tougher. Where our site is, as far as we know there isn't another bait for at least 5 miles. Other places there are bait sites every 1/4 mile. Of course, these are road accessible places. The other remote places that you can access by boat or plane there is far less competition.
Our site is a little harder to have competition because you have to cross a river before you start hiking in.
Wild1.....Will post bear pics when I start hunting.
Looking forward to pics and stories! Good luck!
Nice! Got any pics of your barge? I like home made , improvised, rigged up gear:)
Here is a photo of the cataraft barge.
A little closer look at our barge. It worked great. Will be interesting to see how it works when the river rises as the glacier and mtn. Snowpack melt. Water will rise at least 5 feet. Sometimes more.
My hunting partner is headed down to our bait site with another hunting buddy tomorrow. They will be Re baiting if needed, and checking game cameras to see what if anything is coming in. If nothing is happening yet, the next trip down will be around May 1st. We plan on hunting the 1st - 4th if there is any activity. Early season my main hunting partner is looking for a big Brown bear if one happens to come by. Will be looking for blackies after that!
Can't wait to hear if the bait has been hit yet and see what the game camera has to tell us!!
Great thread... thanks for sharing your adventure with us. I hope your camera has tons of picts!
Well.....I haven't gotten a phone call from my hunting partner saying he is on the way home, so...... At this point I take it as a sign that the bait has been hit and they are hunting tonight. It is that or they did not get an early enough start and just Re baited and are camping and coming home tomorrow. Ugh, I hate not being down there.
On the bright side it gave me time for a good 75 minute run with my dog Hannah. It had way too many hills. After the run I took time to finish digging out the second of three new garden beds at our house. moving 30 pound boulders and wrestling/pulling out roots up to 2 inches around now have my back and shoulders hurting. Tomorrow it is on to the last and largest garden bed to dig out/make. 12 x 18 feet. Gonna have some good fresh veggies this year!!!!
can you please advise what the plastic bag with the paper in it hanging under your stand is?
Thanks
Paul T. The bag with the paper is our method of placing our placard which is required by law, to be posted with the licence numbers of all who will be baiting and hunting at our site. We used to tape it to a tree but every year the bears would tear it up. Now we put it under the stand and no longer do the bears bother it.
It is also our thinking that the movement of the bag in the wind might get the bears used to some movement at our stand.
Just got a call from my hunting partner who went to the bait site yesterday. Bait has NOT been hit yet. It has been out 7 days now. Partner and another friend made a bench in the stand. Did not rebait, but put out more scent and did a honey burn. Partner and his wife are headed down Friday for 4 days. Hopefully I will be able to join them.
It is looking more like I will be able to go down to our bait site this weekend. If bait is hit, we will be hunting and I will take photos. Will try and post photos early next week if I get any.
Yes!!!! Got the ok from the Mrs. To leave tomorrow to head down to our bait site with my hunting partner and his wife and if the bait is active, stay and hunt till Tuesday. Will have camera ready to take lots of photos while in the stand!!
If bait is not real active yet, it will be a good weekend to do some hiking/running and exploring!!
Good luck! Awaiting some postharvest pics.
Bait not hit as of last night. Put out more scent and did a chocolate burn. Found 1 track about 100 yards behind bait. Was 60 degrees, so we will be active any day now. Will check bait again tomorrow!
Still pretty early... We just put ours out yesterday, doing another today.
Back home after a fun 3 day weekend. Bait still not hit as of Sunday noon. But....it is still early. Despite the lack of snow and the warmest April on record, bears are still mostly on their regular schedule which normally doesn't have the moving till the 10th or so of May.
Still, did a couple great hikes, soaked up lots of Sun, and there is now at least 175 pounds of bait out!! When the find it, they will be happy.
I did find a set of brown bear tracks on Friday when we went to check and Re bait as well as today, Sunday. Both sets of tracks seemed to be following a cow Moose's tracks. Bear just waiting for mama moose to drop her calf!!
We spent hours glassing hillsides, especially south facing and never saw a single bear, black or brown. The other bear hunters we talked too had the same experience as we did!! Will be checking bait again next week Sunday!
Following are some photos from the weekend!!
My home for 3 days. Quite comfy in the back of the wagon!
Chocolate and honey burn in progress.
Built a bench and added some netting to the stand.
Popcorn with raspberry Jello.
Main bait barrel and hanging scent ball...looking from the stand.
View from west end of Ptarmigan Lake. 4 miles each way.
On the way down from Ptarmigan Lake.
Looking across Kenai Lake. 68 degrees on May 3rd!! That is more like June temperatures!!
I sprayed vanilla and anise scent trails for about 1/4 mile in 4 different directions from the bait site!
Another view across Kenai Lake.
On Saturday we hiked 4 miles into the mountains to Ptarmigan Lake.
Good luck! Keep the pics and updates coming please.
very cool thread and better pics!!! Good luck!!!
Looking good it will happen soon. Hunt
That is one heck of a big bow stand. Mine are normally no more than 24 x 24 in and a strap on tree seat.
Habu John, me and my hunting partner did not build the mansion...err..... stand. Friends who moved out of state/town built it and don't use it any more!
Nice pics Gods country, thanks
My Hunting partner is headed down to the bait tomorrow to Re-bait if necessary and tocheck and see if we have finally been hit. Hoping to have photos Sunday night or Monday at the latest. Historically our baits have been hit for the first time between the 10th and 15th of May.
If we have been hit we will start hunting the next weekend.
Headed down on Friday to see if our bait has been hit. If so I will be hunting Friday night. Let's hope we finally have some action.
Amazing scenery. Thanks for posting your pictures. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
