WHAT AM I MESSING UP?

So I put out my first bait last week. Its in a low spot with in a hundred yards of a creek fed pond in a clearing in a wooded area full of moose trails. Granted its a little muskeggy and still damp but there is tons of new growth and even cranberries starting to grow. I found some but not a lot of what looked like autumn bear scat on the quad trail going about 100y by the area I baited. I put out a 55 gal drum full of popcorn, dog food, and bacon ends as well as bacon grease and I scented the area pretty well with caramel extract diluted in fry oil.


So would you believe it when I told you that a week later my bait was completely untouched? Only two pics on the trail cam and neither one was a bear.

BTW this is near an area where I shot a black bear last year so I know there are in the vicinity.

i believe it. bears arent glued to bait as much as most think. they KNOW its not natural food. they know they're taking a risk going after it. ive seen videos of bears walking right up to the baits and walking right on by without a care in the world. if they have a good food source the will choose it over bait, the fact you see cranberries growing could be a good indication that they have food .

get a trail cam on it and see if anything is visiting. also , try something like hard sugary cookies, soft pasties tend to loose their smell quickly so load up a scent on top, so they know where it is. the best spray ive used is a raspberry/ peppermint mix . i usually spray it all around the barrel and ground and all over the bait. animal foods are very very low flavor , so they probably aren't interested in it.

there is 2 major reasons bears dont hit bait . they have a solid natural food source or they dont like what you have down.

PM me if you want bounce more ideas

bait em 907 blueberry scent ball and their anise gell balls work wonders... but you may get some grizz on bait as well.

So far we have one bear visiting but not frequently. At this point we have tried just about everything out there and I'm sure by now we have scared everything away. We have dog food, pop corn, molasses with sugar added, doughnuts, salmon (from the store fish and game) and we randomly through in some potatoes which oddly enough were half eaten and full of bite marks.

For scent we have used those 907 blueberry balls, anise oil and blocks, caramel smell, and sow in heat urine.

Yes I have only a slight clue as to what I am doing. It kind of comes with the territory of not having enough time away from work to really meet people (contrary popular belief most hunters in the army don't avidly hunt while on active duty) much less have enough time away from work to be out in the woods trying stuff since these ass holes think we need to go to the field every other week when its warm out.

If I'm remembering correctly from his other threads, OP is near Fairbanks. You can shoot grizzly over bait there now.

I heard buttery microwave popcorn works wonders. I have a friend of mine who baits em year round just because he likes bears. He says it wont fail.


..and yes I know thats illegal in PA but I aint the one doing it.