I try not to whack out about other writers. But one thing that I can’t help myself on is when some writer who doesn’t know beans about bear hunting goes on a guided hunt and the guide does all the scouting, baiting and setting up the blind and then writes the article like he’s a bear whisperer.
If you aren’t doing the baiting, then most likely you don’t have a clue. If you’re baiting and doing it right, then it’s like you’re the setter on a volleyball team. You’re calling the plays, who’s going to slam it and so forth. After you learn the tricks, you’ll be in control.
Here’s why I say all of this — to properly bait, you need to scout first and determine where to set up your bait. Most likely you’re going to bait in an area where you saw a big bear or where you’re seeing a lot of signs. But you don’t just want to have one bear hitting your bait. You want to draw in bears from other drainages. I’m exaggerating a little but nearly every dark canyon in Idaho has a bear. You don’t want just one bear hitting your bait. You want four to six.
It’d be nice to be able to set your bait out in the open so you can see them coming and get a good shot. It doesn’t work that way, though. You want it in the open enough to get a clear shot but it needs to be close to the brush so they feel comfortable coming in. In fact, my bait has woods on three sides and is back in a lane.
It’s best to put your bait in a 55-gallon barrel and strap it to a tree. Cut a hole 2/3 of the way up the barrel about 8 to 10 inches in diameter. Don’t make it so small that they cut up their arms digging out the bait. That way the bait is protected against wolves, ravens and so forth, as well as the rain. Plus, you don’t want them filling up too fast and leaving. Make them work at it.
So, let’s ask the age-old question. What is the best bait? Really the real question is, what can you get large quantities of. When the bears start hitting your bait hard, they may clean out a barrel every three days. So while they may prefer filet mignons, you can’t afford 300 pounds of filet mignons every three days. Make sense?
Bears will eat about anything when hungry but they definitely have preferences. One time I laid out in a row a bushel of peaches, cantaloupes, cereal, meat and so on. Given a choice they will pick what they like best.
I’ve hauled literally tens of thousands of pounds of meat up in the mountains but meat is not the No. 1 choice. After a long winter of fasting, their stomachs are a little queasy. They’ll eat it. It’s just that it’s not the best choice. Plus, if its a big chunk they’ll grab it and run off in the brush to eat.
I used to work at a place that made 55,000 pounds per day of chicken nuggets. They’re great. They’re small so bears have to spend a while scooping them out so they can’t come in and fill up and leave real fast.
I had a buddy who owned a store and he could get all the expired dog food. That worked great because just like on the chicken nuggets, they had to spend a good amount of time scooping them out of the barrel. Plus, he’d pour old cooking grease over the dog food.
Then you need a scent to help the bears find your bait. You hear about all kinds of scents. Anise oil, Kool-Aid with various other items mixed in and the list goes on. Then if you want some commercially made scents, Tink’s makes a line of products. Donut-scented aerosols, honey maple bacon-scented incense sticks, berry-flavored incense sticks and so on.
And lastly, what do you do with your bear meat? I like to make sausage out of mine. If you’re going to get serious, buy a decent grinder. A small one will plug up and drive you nuts. I use a Weston grinder and just got their 7-pound upright stuffer. If the fishing and hunting will slow down for a minute, I’m going to make a few batches of sausage. But a buddy just called and wants to go crappie fishing tomorrow. Then I have to go up baiting on Thursday, then mushroom hunting and turkey hunting. May be a minute on the sausage.
Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.
