Bear Hunting

[Rick]

Here you go bear hunters, your own little spot.

[Guest]

what's going on bear hunters? are your baits being hit? what are you finding for natural food sources? I'm not hunting this year but a buddy had 3 out of 4 baits ripped this past week! what do you think of the early opener?

[Guest]

hey i'm 14 now and have never been bear hunting but i am going next year can anyone give me any imformation on what kind of gun to use ext.. thanks for your help

[Rick]

bump

[Rick]

Check out http://waskishminnowstation.com

Upper Red Lake Wilderness Bear Hunting help can be found there.

[emtbucket]

Let's get this forum stared bear hunter's. with just over a month before baiting starts, let hear your baiting tricks such as what you use for bait, where did you find your bait. my best bait last year turned out to be uncooked pizza from a local grocer I picked up for free. hope to get more this year. I've found that getting pastry from stores is just about impossible because they give it to local food shelves for tax write offs. can't blame them for that. if anyone knows were I can find it in the southern part of the state let me know. would like to find out dated frozen strawberries,etc.. so let's start posting on this forum. with all the rain it looks to be another tough year bear hunting!!! the three postings last season didn't do much, so let go on this fellow bear hunters

[Hubcat]

I thought you could not start baiting for bear till Aug 10th. Myself I like to feed the bear before I start to really bait.

This my second year bear hunting and last year we got 1 bear out of 4. We hunted near the echo trail by Ely. This year we are trying around Brainard.

We talked to a guide and he said to use anything that smells to get the bear to your bait and then give them a variety of food to choose from. Once you find out what they like stock the site heavy with that type of food.
The guide also said to use air fresheners like renuseit (take out of container a smear it all around your site).

I also heard that if you dump used deep fat frying grease in front and around your site so that the bear will walk in it and spread the smell all around the woods (other bears can follow the trail back to your site)

If you have any colleges or schools around where you live can try to get pastries or grease from them. They make alot and will not keep them for more than a day or two.

Let's hear some more tricks and if you have any information on where to hunt around Deerwood in crow wing county e-mail me.

Hubcat

[emtbucket]

hubcap what zone are you going to hunt? I think it splits close to hwy 6, maybe not would have to look at map. we hunt zone 45 and hunt up by nimrod & huntersville. my brother lives in brainerd and his neighbor works at camp ripley as a cook, so we get plenty of grease from him. my brother inlaw farms so i usally get 4 or 5 dozen ears of sweet corn and they really eat it up!! one of the first things to go off my pile!!! will see if i can help after i see what zone your hunting talk at ya later.

[Hubcat]

emtbucket
We will be hunting zone 45.
We are staying at one of guy cabin near Deerwood, just west of Hwy 6.
We are going up on Sun,Mon,Tue to do alittle scouting and a lot of asking questions from the locals. Any info would be appreciated.

Hubcat

[Guest]

Whats up, Try popping pop corn,its cheap and bears seem to like it and also try a honey burn

[Dave]

flipper,
Doesn't popping corn out in the woods scare the bears away Ah, and is it more atractive with butter or without?

[Guest]

You don't pop it in the woods!!!!! Pop it at home.Try getting some grease and soak the pop corn.I had 5 bears hitting my bait last season. Good Luck Russ

[Dave]

flipper,
Calm down.........that was a joke......everybody knows fires scare away bears. And, it's very hard to run an extension cord for an electric popcorn maker that far into the woods. Ya gotta pop it at home.

[mnwild14]

I have heard that Dog food in water for 2-3 days is absolutely excellent on the bears. Has anyone else tried this. I am looking in a new area to hunt this year in zone 24. What type of land do people recommend for setting up? Swamp areas, creek or lake edges, forrest (pine or hardwood) any suggestions?

[mnwild14]

You could plug the pop corn popper into a current bush and then add a silencer to it. Besides it would give you something good to eat while you watch the show out there!!

[Guest]

Dave I was hoping you where kidding,but after some of the things I'v seen in the woods you never know. Good Luck. MNwild try on the edge of a swamp. Try soaking a old shirt in bug spray rub it with soap and hang it in a tree, the bears get use to your smell come hunting day you won't have to worry about your sent

[Guest]

Dave I was hoping you where kidding,but after some of the things I've seen in the woods you never know. Good Luck. MNwild try on the edge of a swamp. Try soaking a old shirt in bug spray rub it with soap and hang it in a tree, the bears get use to your smell come hunting day you won't have to worry about your sent

[emtbucket]

Has anybody tried burning those scent sticks they sell in the sporting goods stores. I have heard that jello works good because it is so sweet. just spread two or three packages on and around your bait pile. dog food works but only after you get them to your bait. coyote's and wolfs will eat your dog food so make sure you get bear before you put it out. that's the biggest problem with meat and meat by products. sunflower seeds and bird food works good. the key I think is to make the bait better than the natural food source, and that is hard to do. watermelon smashed around the bait is highly attractive. anise oil works good if it doesn't rain.

[Guest]

I tried the cent candles and they did'nt work very well. I did honey a honey burn and worked very well.......

[Guest]

When it comes to bear hunting the bottom line is the natural food source. For the past 4 years, MN has had an excellent natural food supply. Hence, hunting has been difficult and the harvest is not what the DNR would like. Therefore, we have had management changes like the early opening and 2 bear limit in response.
I really disagree with this for a couple of reasons. The first is that neither of these regulations will increase the harvest if the natural food source remains excellent. Bears DO NOT like humans and will Avoid human scent, until natural foods are absent and hunger takes over. Second, most of the hunters I have encountered in the last 4 years have had limited success early and give up. They would not have taken 2 bears, I think very few hunters actually have a choice of bears early in the season if there is an abundant natural food source. In addition, this problem manifest with the increase in first year hunters trying the sport. Opening weekend brings hords of cities hunters that have not scouted or baited properly, simply dumping "stuff" in the woods. These individuals soon give up as well. Again a 2 bear harvest is not the solution.

I have taken a larger bear( 200lbs +) the last four years thru patience and persistance. Last year, I harvested my bear on Sept. 17th. I would speculate that less then 10% of the opening day hunters were still hunting.

So what should the DNR do?
Is there a bear population problem?

If you have lived in rural northern Mn in the spring you might think so. Why, because bears will ransack your birdfeeders, garbage can, ect. The bears do this because there is a lack of NATURAL FOODS and they are much more likely to tolerate human scent and activity if they are HUNGRY! Hmmmm. maybe a spring bear season?

Other "management ideas" that have been looked at include a split season. Does this make any sense? The only thing this would accomplish is to make crowding less of a problem. It would not reduce the harvest!

[emtbucket]

jhovick, Don't know who or what you meant by you statement nor do I care. now that you told everyone your opinions let's here what you baited with and what kind of area you hunted. As far as telling us that we don't spend enough time hunting or know how to bait you better think that threw. I personally hauled 1500# of bait out in the woods last year & seen only one bear. Hunted till late Sept early Oct. As far as the time in the woods most people work for a living and one trip a year is all they can manage, or the wife will let them go, so let try and help these guys out with some helpful pointers. Now let's get back to the helpful thoughts and idea's.

[Guest]

My god theres one in every bunch of apples.The early start of the season does help, because the bird hunters are not in the woods jhovick that means no human cent....Last year on opening day in area 24 I had 5 bears hit my bait or at least walk around it so do me a favor don't wine to me ,thats what mothers are for.........

[kelly-p]

One thing to keep in mind when picking a spot is the effect the Tent Caterpillars will have on the tree's and bushes ability to produce berries or fruit. In this area the caterpillars were real bad in a lot of places. Sure the trees have regrown leaves but will they produce berries, acorns or such? Time will tell.
Do the bears really eat the tent caterpillars? The bears had a feast on every tree around here for a while when the caterpillars were thick but the bears still seemed hungry.
Good hunting all :-)

------------------
Waskish Minnow Station
218-647-8652

[Guest]

I wasn't wining. Some people do get lucky or do their homework and benefit.But, the majority do Not. Try going to a bar, state forest campground, or anywhere else there is a large group of hunters, the past 4 years. How many of them even saw a bear opening weekend? Zone 51 for instance has 5000 tags this year. Of those 5000, how many do their homework and stick it out?
My point was, if the DNR wants a larger harvest, then a spring season would accomplish this because the weekenders would have more success.
I am very aware that most people work- Fortunately I am a teacher- summer off- so am able to do my homework! Not everyone can for sure.

As for pointers- I have found that bears are like people- they have different tastes. several years ago the only bait they would touch in my area was chocalate licorice. Naturally the following year that it what I only used for bait- Bad idea. Try a variety of baits at your site.
When I say do your homework- I mean get in the woods and look for sign. Bears have home ranges and areas they frequent more often than others. If you drive up north and dump stuff in the woods in a spot that looks good, you are asking the bear to find your bait. Why not put the bait where you know it will find it. Bears do a number on berry bushes, leave well defined trails into/out of swamps. Look for these areas!
Lastily- Leaving your t-shirt ect. in the woods so the bear gets used to it is a mistake as far as I am concerned. Again the smaller bears will tolerate it even if there is a natural food source because the larger bears push them away from the natural more desirable food source. Do every thing you possibly can to conceal your scent- simialiar to deer hunting.

[Guest]

What happened to everyone.Did the great white hunter scare everyone off hope not.Was out in the woods on sat,saw a little sign some large tracks and berry bushes torn apart how about everyone else.

[Remington]

Well I have put out many test baits so far and am at about 75%. The earliest a bear has hit though, is 9:37 pm. Any suggestions? I had the same problem last year, in fact, the son of a gun would hit 10 minutes after I left the stand. That bear had me down. The baits I have tested this year were food scraps, pastries, bacon grease, and dog food, and they all worked.
Any suggestions on getting them to hit earlier?

[mnwild14]

I thought you could not put out test baits until Aug. 10? Can you use test baits before then? Just nothing consistent or permanent?

[Remington]

You can test bait if you do not establish it, and you do not hunt within 100 yards of the test bait. I have tried various areas, but I stay far enough away from areas I would put a stand.

[Scott]

Does anybody have any ideas on where to be able to pick up bait, and what types of bait to use. I'm pretty new to this so any help would be appreciated.

[mnwild14]

One thing to try if they are coming in 10 minutes after you leave is to bring someone else out with you, and then after you put out the bait and you get in the stand have them walk out. This way they think you have already left and will come in earlier, this does wonders, unless they are smelling you which is a different problem.