What would you do on opening day bear hunting.

[Boar]

I was wondering what you bear hunters would do being that opening day is on Sat. Sept. 1st. I dont have a trail cam so it's will be hard to guess when an a bear would be coming in with out it, but i primarily bait 4-5 in the afternoon the same time each time. I've alway did my hunting at that time. But being I have all weekend to sit, there is room for many options. What are you guys gonna do? of course misquitos are a factor, I dont think wall mart has an industrial size spay can. Boar

[roosterslayer]

Well boar here is an idea to try for next year to deal with the bugs. pick out your bug spray that you will be using and spray some near the bait right away when you start baiting and just a little everytime you go back to bait again, this way that bears become tolorent of the smell and will not associate it with danger. also for me i try and sit the last 4-5 hours before dark and that is what i will be doing again this year. If you have a little extra change try picking up a few trail timers and place them on you best baits. i believe they only cost about 15 bucks and it will mark the time that your bears are coming in that way you know exactly when to be in the stand and waiting.

[tealitup]

HOw many people hunt bear in the morning? Or do most people only hunt in the afternoon?

[BIGBORE]

I WOULD NOT SIT IN THE MORNING UNLESS YOU HAVE A TIME THEY ARE COMMING IN, IT REALLY GETS TO BE A LONG DAY IF YOU GO IN THE MORNING. THE MAJORITY OF THEM COME OUT IN THE LAST FEW HOURS BEFORE DARK. BUT GET THERE EARLY ENUFF SO YOU WILL BE SETTLED IN FOR A WHILE BEFORE THEY COME. I WILL SIT FOR 4-5 HOURS MAX

GOOD LUCK HUNTING

[walterman]

Boar, try baiting earlier in the day...say around 10 or so. Maybe your bear will come in earlier? In my years of hunting bears I have only seen one bear shot in the am in my hunting party. Another option for you versus a trail camera is a trail timer. I think you can pick them up for under 20 dollars most places.

[JKing]

I guess whenever we've hunted (three years spread out over the last 10) we sat for about 4hr. in the morning (Until about 10:00a.m.) & then for another 4-5hrs. in evenings (3:30 till dark). One guy in our group has about 6hrs. logged in his stand over two different seasons with two bears being shot, both in the morning. The rest of us aren't quite as lucky as he is but I guess I wouldn't rule out the morning hunt.

You still have time to try the mosquito spray trick out this year as we can't start baiting until this Friday but you hear some mixed theories on that. I might have to give it a try on a few of our baits this year & see what happens.

Good Luck to all of the bear hunters out there.

[Boar]

Thanks guys, I do hava a trail timer so I'll use that,Wallmart has a mutrie4.0 for a hundy, but spent too much this year already, I was thinking if I get good consistant hits, the bear aint far away if not in the imediate vacinity cause I'm the only site with in a mile or more, the last one I shot I know did'n stray far from the site, shot him 5:00 opening day. Maybey not morning but early afternoon, I'll flip a coin. I'll be using mosquito spay while baiting cause I know their bad in the river bottom right now so I'll probabley use just a tad on a nearby bush so it is'nt a foriegn smell. Thanks again guys. Good luck, boar

[Longline]

We do the banging of the buckets when we bait, and usually try to do all of our baiting in the morning. Then when we go to sit we do the 2 in 1 out and bang the buckets just like normal around 2-3 in the afternoon. One year I was only in stand 15 minutes and the bear came right in.

[charliepete2]

I've seen and shot bear in the morning. Typically I don't hunt in the morning until I have hunted the stand a few times in the evening and come up empty handed. I think it's easier to bump them in the morning so I use it as a last ditch effort.

[sysco_joe]

Longline has got the best tactic I think. Tricks the smelly buggers into thinking you've left like always. I whistle the Andy Griffith tune all the way in , then out again like I was just droppin bait, then sneak back in to my stand for the night. Good luck!

[harvey lee]

When talking about human scent around bears, here is what I always do. Each time I place bait out before the season starts, I will do my baiting, then take off my t shirt that is sweaty and hang it in a tree that I will be hunting from. If you do this each time you bait, when its hunting time the bear will not be afraid of your human scent.

When I would go to my stand to hunt, my friend would take me out and I would be very careful with the noise on my door. He would make sure his was loud when he got out. When he left he would again slam the door closed. You can train the bears to believe that when you bait and they hear a door open and then close that its safe to go have supper.

I was amazed how well this works as I have shot two bear within 30 minutes of my friend leaving me. We always went to our stand approx 3 hours before dark. It does work.

[Boar]

The buddy tricks are hard to do with out a buddy, but was wondering harvey do ya leave the t shirt there and exchange shirts when ya bait? what exactly do ya do? Boar

[sysco_joe]

Boar, make noise in, make noise out, then sneak back in if ya don't have a buddy with . Easy enough and works like a charm. Just bring an extra shirt in or double up or whatever, as long as you leave one behind. They're very cautious, but not very smart.

[JustLOVEit]

I don't think it would matter if its morning or before night time because in the pass 5 years i've witness bears taken in one spot every year once in the morning, twice in the afternoon and twice before the last minutes of shooting hours at night. So, it really depends on the bears pop. in your area and how good your bait site is. But the 2 before shooting hours ran out was the 2 biggest. 1 was 357 pounds and the other one was 406 pounds. I won't forget because i was one of them that had to drag it onto the trailer.