Author Topic: bear hitting everyday, today nothing (Read 660 times)

rookie_j · « **on:** August 30, 2004, 10:42:20 AM »

hello, I'm new to the forum and would like some opinion. (sorry about the length, i'm trying to not leave anything out).

this will my dad's first year (and my first year back into it after a 7 year break) of baiting and hunting bear near Hibbing. my dad and my cousin have been baiting 3 baits, every day around 10 a.m., since the beginning and have gotten hits religiously on 2 of the 3.

saturday around 4:00 p.m. he brought me out to show me the bait locations and 2 of the 3 had already been eaten clean.

yesterday, my day, my cousin and i went out to re-bait all 3 and place our stands. when we arrived in the area, one of the baits, the inactive one, was being attacked by about 20 crows. so we covered that one with more logs to try and deter them. it is the only stand that is visible from above, the two active baits are in thicker brush.

this morning when my dad went out to re-bait, nothing was touched, not even the two stands that were being hit every day.

it did rain last night and the only other things that changed were placing the stands (we added some deep fryer grease to the bait piles and placed some more logs on the baits to deter crows or coons). i'm hoping our stands have'nt scared them away.. my dad has been very excited that the bears hit so regular and now today, nothing.

i told him maybe it was because of the rain? could it be that i had'nt ever been there before and left a scent they are'nt used to? i realize it's only a guess, but opinions are appreciated..

talon · « **Reply #1 on:** August 30, 2004, 02:21:13 PM »

Bears love rain, but thunder and lightening drives them to cover right now. And a smell of a new baiter will most probably keep a bear away for several hours... depending on how hungry it is. " several hours" could mean a day or two. Using grease in your bait if you suspect rain is a good idea. Holds the bait together a little better, thou a hungry bear will eat a gallon of dirt if there's sugar in it. After a week or two of feeding them, most bears aren't as hungry. That's why it's best to skip a day once in awhile... to give them a feeling of insecurity (some other bear or animal is eating its food!!). They WILL return to the bait each day, and stick around it a bit, even thou they may not eat it all. Strongly advise not changing baiters. It's been mentioned time and time again on this forum that bears have good noses. All I can say is that any description on how good a bear can sniff would be a gross understatement. You can NOT cover your sent: at best you can only make it seem that you are no threat. Any new human in the area is considered a threat until the bear desides otherwise. The less you "stink" the less of a threat you are ( that's my supposition, of course).

rookie_j · « **Reply #2 on:** August 31, 2004, 03:07:41 AM »

i was thinking similar, thank you for your reply. hopefully they realize i'm not a threat soon and get back to their routine (season opens wednesday).

good luck

talon · « **Reply #3 on:** August 31, 2004, 04:33:51 AM »

The Minnesota Opener will be a character building exercise this year. Cool, sprinkles, with possible fog in the early AM. Good Luck.

rookie_j · « **Reply #4 on:** August 31, 2004, 10:21:52 AM »

day #2 and still no hits........... hope i have'nt ruined things

myronman3 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 01, 2004, 12:29:16 PM »

i will bet that either berries are getting ripe or the acorns are starting to drop.

ihookem · « **Reply #6 on:** September 02, 2004, 02:18:12 PM »

Keep baiting, every day, but just a little bit. The sweeter the better now. Also, you may have another baiter that came in the area with better bait and is putting the hurt on you. I suspect you may have been baiting an older bear and you left too much scent around when you built your blind, and if you are hunting on the ground your odds are somewhat against you. And old bear may circle around your bait five times before it comes in. With that nose he has he will smell you every time.You have a long season so don't sweat it. Also, you may want to go a few miles away and try a new bait sight and see if bears start hitting it.

rookie_j · « **Reply #7 on:** September 07, 2004, 06:03:18 AM »

bears started hitting again on thursday, after a 3 day dry spell.

recap of the weekend;

friday evening i'm sitting in my stand watching two chipmunks chase each other around my bait. i hear a twig snap and start watching the two trails coming into the bait.

after about a minute i turn my attention back to the chipmunks, still chasing each other. after about another minute, i hear another twig snap, the two chipmunks take off like their butts are on fire. i start watching the two trails and a short time later i see somethingout of the corner of my eye near my stand. i look in that direction and think to myslef "what the hell is that?, it's a BEAR".

i lift my gun and place the scope on the bear, only to see black, i had my scope set at 5 power, the bear was only 15 feet away. i lowered my gun and the bear looks at me, i can see in his eyes he was thinking "oh, no", he turned araound and walked back the way he came.

after he left i was a bit upset, it was'nt the biggest bear, but it was'nt the smallest either, would of been a nice 'first bear'. after about 10 minutes of kicking myself for being so stupid, i realized "how cool was that? most people have never seen a bear, much less have one walk within 15 feet oblivious to your presence. i'll always have the memory of "the one that got away".

saturday night nothing. sunday night, i could hear one behind me, but he was down wind and never appeared..

my father got his first bear, a 150 lb boar, saturday night. my 17 year old cousin also got one saturday night.

developed the film in my trail camera, have a nice shot of a (what seems to be) a nice size bear.

heading back up friday.