Bear baiting/stands
Wisconsin
As a point of interest how often are you bear hunters visiting your bait sites and re-baiting? Also, how high are you archers placing your bear stands?
Right now when I first start it is every 3 days to re-bait. Come August 1st I start every other day and with 2 weeks before season or mid-August I go every day at about the same time and I usually make a bit of noise by banging the bucket on the stump to let them know the goodies are here and to get them use to coming in after hearing the noise and knowing food is there.
I bait my baits everyday an stands I have for bowhunters are 15 16 foot ladderstands
As a DIY bear hunter; I'm baiting every weekend. Stand height is right around 18 feet high.
Huntinguide - Does that not get kinda pricey? What are the benefits to baiting everyday? I do, but it's like the last 10 days - what's your spin on baiting everyday? Do you have better luck that way - keep more bears on the baits till the hunt?
I bait once a week when starting up the baits. After the mating season, the camera and baits tell me how often. If I have a bear on a routine where he shows up every day 30 minutes after I bait, I try and get on that schedule.
Late August, once a day. If the bait needs to be refreshed it gets refreshed. Scent is always refreshed, even it the bait isn't.
Stands - depends upon the site. I have some that use ground blinds, some that are 12 feet and some that are 15-6 feet. It all depends upon the trees and cover available.
Bow stands are 13-20 yards away, gun stands further, again, depending upon the cover.
DIY in Wisconsin I bait about every 2 weeks starting mid June-ish. Three weeks before season I bait, then at two weeks before season I bait daily or as close as possible as I can.
DIY in Minnesota I start baiting when I go up to hunt. That might be a few days before the season starts or as much as a week after the season starts. Saves on fuel and time, and bait costs. Just to make it fair for the bears I now generally also go to totally new territory each time. Scout by internet maps, aerial photos, and talking to people that have been to the area. It is a new experience every time.
Stands generally at no more than 20 yards. Probably about 15' high. (10 steps, short legs here, same height as most of my deer stands)
Jeff-
Question- Is the pressure up there as high as it is here in Wisconsin with dog training and the number of hunters?
I know that in Canada with zero pressure we can bait just before season and still harvest a good number of quality bears.
When Im baiting only one or twice a week- I like to use two heavy buckets of loose bait- something that can't be woofed down on the spot. (legal limit) and heavy bait- not cones or popcorn. I like cookies with with corn and sunflower seeds mixed or better yet strait trail mix. Two five gallon pails of that will take more time for the bears to clean up. When I start baiting daily - I cut that to one pail. JIM
To bud in and answer your question Mike, if your talking Minnesota, depends where you hunt. Some area's have more hunters than others. Guiding is popular as well. They have rcently limited the number of baits per hunter so 3 bait sites is the max. Some guides would just carpet bomb some areas. So that makes it nicer. All bait stations must be registered with the MDNR and location GPS provided per hunter.
Tags have slowly decreased over the years and now some wait 3-4 years for a tag. The no-quota area sells tags over the counter and is located in the NW part of the State. Much more private land over there and bears seem to be less in numbers from what I have heard.
There are absolutely no dogs running in Minnesota - no training - no trailing for the hunt.
Maybe Jeff could add more.
When I increase to daily baiting I drop down to a half bucket and decrease that according to if there is still bait left on the site.
I think there are areas in MN where you can draw in 2 years. There is also some no quota area on the eastern edge north of the twin cities. Not only do bait sites need to be registered they need to have signs posted that identify who is maintaining it.
Yes hunter density in MN varies greatly. That is one reason why I quit hunting the area that I hunted them in for over 20 years. The density of hunters got so bad when tags increased that the age structure was horrible. Combine that with the alert level of the bears going up from activity the odds of getting even a decent bear (150 dressed) were pretty bad.
Season is only a few weeks away! Anyone getting any good pictures of big bears?
I put a few cameras out yesterday despite some recent tampering. Couldnt sell a solid 9' hollow log for $20 yet some have the time to drive an atv a mile down a trail for a 24" stump???
No dog injuries yet and my brother ran a solid #400 bear two days ago. Running on Sat morning, hopefully I can snap a few action shots!
Baits are being hit on a daily to every other day basis. Took the cameras off as of now cause I do have a good idea of what is coming into each bait. Just waiting for the season opener and hoping for cooler weather.
Yep, bears hitting well now - waiting for season as well. No pic's as all the bears I have are average and nothing real interesting I guess. But they are eating up the baits so....fingers croseed.
