Bear baiting 2016 about to start
Wisconsin
Baiting season starts April 15. I plan to start at least some of my bait locations then. Who else will be starting that early?
I found this in the baiting regs: Baiting of any sort is not allowed on lands managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. (bottom of item 1 in the baiting regs at the link below)
I presume that does not include the national forests but what exactly are these properties and where are they in Wisconsin? Thinking maybe along the Mississippi is one of them.
The USFWS and USFS are two different entities. For the most part the Fish and Wildlife properties are refuges (Necedah, St. Croix, etc.) The may also have properties that are theirs that I can't think of such as a waterfowl protection area. Any of their properties would be clearly marked as USFWS and have the distinctive Blue Goose logo.
Yup, the bears are out and hungry.
The USFWS rule has been in place for many years. You will see the signs.
The logo is called the Blue Goose.
Wolf Patrol is back also. They were spotted again in NW. Wisconsin this weekend.
That's kind of what I thought with the USFWS lands.
What the heck is the wolf patrol trying to cause trouble with this early in the year? Nothing is open for them to monitor yet.
I will be baiting in areas that are likely to have wolfs around, so I do plan to be armed in case they get too aggressive like that one did last fall. Never know what kind of trouble one could encounter out there in the wild north woods.
DT, glad you got the goose name right. Smokey will be happy when he sees that.
I was planning to start, but not much moving here yet. WIll have to see how it goes.
Wolf Patrol,,,,, what a bunch of assholes....
Wolf Patrol - How their fearless leader gets away with his crap is amazing to me. Not a another guy more deserving of repeated groin kicks.
I wonder if the recent hunter harassment law will affect groups like wolf patrol? What they do clearly violates the law.
RutnStrut.....We will find out.
Recent hunter harassment law? I thought Wisconsin had a hunter harassment law. What is different now?
Jeff I linked a story that should help explain it.
They (wolf patrol) are already telling people to challenge the law. Citing it is a violation of their civil rights, and "INTENT" has to be proven. Well, if you head out to specifically to do what they are doing. Intent is very clear. I find it amazing how a convicted Eco-terrorist is claiming civil rights!
Sounds like a good change, thanks for the link.
I agree if someone hangs around a hunter that is harassment. Same for fishermen and trappers. Messing with anything within say 100 yards of a bait or trap site, tree stand, or blind should also be included.
I spent 8 hours today doing scouting and setting up one bait site. Got the logs cut and stand trees picked out. The log trees are setup so I can put the bait on either side of the trees for stands that will be east and west of the bait. Ground blind to the west on a steep hill, balsam tree to the east. Hope the bears don't pull those 'crib' logs out all the time. This is near a creek with fast flow and rocks so good background cover noise. I saw a sow with 2 cubs there 8 years ago. One of the cubs found where I stashed the bait bucket and was carrying it around.
I spent most of my time there fighting through windfalls from the big storm in 2014 and clear cut logging slash from 2015. I didn't think the USFS allowed loggers to leave slash on numbered forest roads but they did, couldn't even tell where the road used to be most of the time. Did not affect where the bait is setup but going in and out was a mess. Need to check if access from the other side of the creek will be easier.
Another old stand site (not used in 8 years) I decided to nix it, too much underbrush to get any clear shots. Looked for an alternate location there and gave up.
I did not see any bear sign. I did see deer tracks and droppings. Not a lot of either but more than I expected. Saw a doe and very small yearling deer along the highway on the way back. Saw elk droppings, woodcock, and grouse.
I checked out a ground deer hunting blind near there. Someone trimmed out branches from a balsam only 15 yards from my ground blind. Maybe I will hang a stand in it and put a bear bait in front of it.
Today I finally baited that site that I posted the picture of above. On my way out I took a different route hoping for easier walking, not much easier. But I saw a significant rub from last fall on my way, best part is a second significant rub from two seasons ago only 4 feet from it. :-) Then not too far from that I almost got run over by a doe. Only thing I can think of that got her running is wolf so maybe I saved her, I did not hear or see anything coming behind her but the sig came out of the holster just in case it decided I was an easier catch.
This picture is a site that I setup and baited today. I baited about 300 yards south of this in the past but because of a change of ownership I couldn't put it there this year. It is in a spruce swamp. The wind storm of 2014 took those trees down that I am partially using as a crib. It is an eighth mile walk from where I park and can be baited in under a half hour. I also used to be able to drive the 4 wheeler to the old bait location but have to walk this year. Forest crop open land and too thick to get the 4 wheeler in so it doesn't really pay to ask the owner if I could use the 4 wheeler.
Spent all day Tuesday bear scouting. Checked a bear den that I haven't been to for a couple years, this is one of the coolest dens I have ever seen, its on private property, the den is dug under a very old concrete slab where a silo once stood many years ago.
It was awesome revisiting this bear den, you could see where the bear raked all the leaves into the den to make it nice a comfy for its long Winters nap.
Did you ask the FCL open landowner if you could bait? Many hunters assume that they can bait on "open" private land but in reality they need permission. Unknown you have permission, everything is supposed to be removed every day.
Good point, the bait itself is on public land. I just use the forest crop open land to get to it.
That brings up a question. There is a place near Hayward that is about 60 acres of pine trees. Not a great hunting spot, it is at the intersection of two county highways. That land is FCO, but is posted about every 50 yards all the way around. Signs specifically say no hunting, violators will be prosecuted, and are signed by one of the owners. Been that way for years. Is it legal for them to post it that way and is there any way they could enforce it if a hunter ignored the signs?
I thought you could not post it. I have a piece of property (40 acres) that I take care of for the owner that lives out of State, the back half 20 acres is open to the public but the front half is private, she has it posted.
You cannot post open MFL or FCL lands. You can put up a sign showing what activities are allowed (hunting, fishing, x-country skiing, snowshoeing, and hiking). Check the Sawyer County website or the DNR open lands website and verify it's still open. If it is, csll the DNR service center ib Hayward and talk to a forester.
Tried to call the forester a couple times but he is out of his office working on stuff related to the high fire level here right now. Will keep trying.
There are also some staff changes going in in the area, so give them a little understanding. If you don't get a response in a week or so, shoot me a PM. I can help.
Will bears eat bread products regularly? I plan on sweetening the pot with other things. I've got basically an unlimited supply of bread and pastries. Just don't want to stock up on too much if the bears are going to eat around the stuff.
Does a bear chit in the woods? Absolutely....they love bread & pastries. Pour sweat liquid on the bread, like syrup. Bread has tons of carbs, they know what food to eat that will pack on the pounds for there long Winters nap. Good luck hunting.
Go cheap and mix some used fryer grease with the bread. They love it plus it waterproofs the bread a little. Just be sure there are no solids in the grease as that makes it illegal in Wisconsin. Also, you can dry the bread so it keeps till you need it, or pack it tight into air tight drums or pails and keep it that way. A little mold won't bother the bear either.
Got three more baits started on Wednesday.
Today I got back to rebait the first two baits I started. Both were hit hard by bears, logs repositioned and had to be bears that did it. Bait was cleaned up. On one that I had a camera on set to video a lot was eaten by squirrels and at least 2 coon but by the time the 4 gig card filled up the logs had not been moved so the bear got there at least 10 days after the bait was started.
I have several videos of a female wolf that obviously has some nursing pups somewhere. Also another slightly smaller wolf that acted nervous was there several times on a different day. The coon had dug under the logs enough for the wolfs to steal some of the bait.
Went up last weekend with some supplies and did some scouting before everything got too green. Saw one bear and found some nice stand sites. Hoping to get up there in early June to start some baits. Found some other stuff as well.
curious....... I baited last year, for a friend, who shot a really nice bear.... I did not start that bait, till late July,,,,,, why do you start so early, just curious..... I ran my baits in Forest Co..... thanks in advance
Why do you bait so early? Couple things come to mind. Personally for me I have a huge responsibility for my clients. The opening of baiting mid April to me is like the opening of the Archery/Rifle season to others. Imagine only drawing a deer tag every 5 years. Bears are extremely habitual animals, the earlier you bait chances are the more you will attract to a well established bait station, even if they don't visit it every day or even once a week, they will know its there and possibly show up while the hunter is on stand. Baiting early during the breeding season (June/July) your chances of capturing on trail camera a monster bear and some awesome Sow/Boar interaction are good.
The theory behind early baiting is you might attract a big male that is outside his normal range during the breeding season. Is it worth it, not sure. I don't bait often this early, maybe every 2-3 weeks depending on how anxious I am to see what has happened and retrieve pictures.
Put a bait near that water, there is no better barrier that will force a bear to come in from the direction you want him to.
okay thanks..... got some great private land to bait, think I will start one than, and put out a camera....... have no tag, just like doing it
Jeff -
When ya bait in Minnesota, ya still shoot some very nice bears and that is only two weeks before opener.
My wife asks why we bait so early and in Minnesota we can only start 2 weeks before season. I don't have a real good answer for her other than it's fun baiting bears.
Running several bait sites, can get expensive.
I am still using up bait from probably 10 years ago when I phased out of supplying bait to a guide friend of mine in Minnesota. So, no current expense involved, thankfully as bait has gotten way more expensive.
There is no doubt that 2 weeks of baiting is more than enough. The second most recent time we did DIY baiting in MN (me and one other guy) we started baits like a week into the season due to my friend schedule. We did not pre bait because we were too cheap to pay the high gas prices plus looking for the challenge. It was an area neither of us had ever been to. It wasn't a great hunt, most baits never hit, the ones that were hit we didn't see anything but I was still able to get an average bear in the last minutes of the last day, only one we saw.
The last time we went was another never been there spot. We set out our 6 baits starting 3 days before the season. All baits were hit soon after starting them. Partner got one about 350 dressed and mine was just under 200.
So, no there is no requirement to start early. Just takes some knowledge, research online looking at maps, buying a plat book, and some luck.
In fact, I know people that bear hunt MN and go the second or even third week of the season. They just look for existing baits sites where the identification sign has been taken down and restart those bait sites. They do OK. Only down side is that once grouse season starts that can add some frustration if you are in grouse habitat.
Since I don't need to drive far when baiting in Wisconsin I get more involved with baiting much longer. It builds the anticipation over a longer time, especially when you get some pics of nice bears ahead of time.
I have decided to set out 3 more baits. In an area that I have never hunted or baited before. Kind got an idea where looking at google earth. I think 8 baits should be more than enough for me to choose from, I will have every wind possibility covered.
Its interesting how two States side by side can have such different views on there natural resources.
Seen this guy by the house today. Real bruiser chewing on grass. Sorry about the crappy cell phone through the binoc picture.
I got within 10 feet of a bear in the 180# class today. Well the part of the body that was left hanging on the skinning pole after it was caped out. It was behind the taxidermy place across from Kwik Trip in Hayward. Guessing it was a road kill.
Drop - Looks like a buffalo! LOL
No new posts to read? Hmmmmm
I had a big boar in my yard the other night. He is in the 350# range. He's been in all of the burn barrels and garbage at the few houses up and down our road for the past few weeks. It won't be long before the hounds are running him all over the neighborhood.
There has been a bigger one in this block for two years but none of the hunters have been able to put a tag on him.
Still debating if I am going to guide any hunters this year or not.
A little one form this winter. He looks happy to be out romping with Mom!
Here's a good one that I have been watching for 2 years now. Maybe one of my hunters can connect.
The three stooges and their Mom look pretty good after the winter.
