Black Bear Hunting: Learn from My Mistakes

Ravens, Vultures, Eagles, OH MY!

Better Hunting: Cover your bait to protect it from the animals you aren’t hunting. You don’t need to cover your bait as in shield it from rain, snow, wind, or the sun, but rather protect it from unwanted critters. This can be birds like crows, ravens, bald eagles, and vultures who can decimate a bait in a matter of days if a lot of grain is present like trail mix, oats and dog food. By having your bait in a barrel (if legal in your particular state) or covering it with logs or brush, you can prevent unwanted animals eating from it. There is no need to worry that you’ll be hiding the bait from bears in the area by doing this. If bears are truly present, the aroma of your bait should be enough to draw them in and they are more than strong enough to push aside a little brush to dive onto your gift of food.

The Elusive Pine Marten

Better Hunting: As I touched on earlier, bears and other animals can make quick work of your bait if you’re not around tending to it. This is why a lot of people utilize bear guiding outfits. If you’re a hard-working man/woman like me it’s tough to take enough time off to nurture your bait to ensure success. So it’s best, if you can, to use a bear guide, take off a large chunk of time to hunt, or use a trail camera with Wi-Fi capabilities so you can see from home that your bait needs attention.

Two Large Bruins Fighting for Ownership of the Bear Bait

 

A rare Black Bear with a white “diamond patch” on his chest

My Mistake: I used a great assortment of food to create my bear bait which I’m sure all the bears greatly appreciated, but it also drew in other animals I wish I hadn’t. I had squirrels, chipmunks, pine martens, crows, ravens, bald eagles, and vultures eat my cookie dough, oats, trail mix, and dog food. Timber wolves ate my tallow, meat scraps, and molasses which had soaked into the ground. The bears of course ate everything, but if I had left out certain foods and covered my bait as referenced earlier, I could have deterred a lot of the other animals from eating away at my bait.
Better Hunting: A lot of the food I used for my bear bait I shouldn’t do away with, but cover it up so birds cannot pilfer it. This would include a lot of the dry food: trail mix, oats, dog food, flake cookie dough, corn, baked goods, etc. All these things are a great addition to any bear bait, but they should be masked or covered with logs or brush. Most meats and related items, if you’re in an area of wolves or big cats (bobcats, lynxes, mountain lions, etc.), should be avoided. Most bears will eat meat on a bait, but they prefer the other food you bring to the buffet anyways (the ones that can’t be found on a forest floor). Another consideration is aroma. If you have a bear bait that is really strong smelling then bears don’t need to be in such close proximity to stumble upon your bait. Also, if you take some of your bait and smear it higher up on trees like molasses or jelly it is more likely the wind will catch that bait scent and carry it further; creating a greater area for your bait to draw bears from.

Some of these lessons I learned the hard way while others I have been using as a staple of my hunting routine. I would suggest that you use as many of these ideas as possible, but if for example you can’t take off a large amount of time from work that isn’t a reason to give up either. They call it hunting for a reason, and not picking up your trophy at your local, neighborhood forest. Everybody needs luck once in a while and you might see your next trophy the time when you least expect it.