Author Topic: Bear Baiting Cost (Read 938 times)

Ithaca1 · « **on:** August 23, 2004, 08:51:39 AM »

I was wondering how much bear baiting costs in MN if you have someone do it. We have a guy doing it and I am wondering how much to offer him per bait to cover expenses? The baits will be set for 2 weeks before we hunt.

Gowge · « **Reply #1 on:** August 24, 2004, 07:24:47 AM »

Is he putting out baits every day or checkin' each day? Is it close to a road or woods road? What's he putting out? Some of these guys are just dumping restaurant or cafeteria leftovers or swill in the woods. Stuff they might have fed to hogs. What's he using? Old Bread? :wink:

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR HUNT!

Ithaca1 · « **Reply #2 on:** August 24, 2004, 11:01:09 AM »

I think he is using oats and honey, and pastries, and fryer grease in barrels on his own private land

Etter · « **Reply #3 on:** August 24, 2004, 01:01:04 PM »

To tell you the truth, you probably could do that but I don't see why you would want to. Doughnuts are easy enough to get for free from a dunkin donuts or similar store. I don't think I'd even want to hunt bears over bait without baiting them myself. You can learn so much. IMO

talon · « **Reply #4 on:** August 24, 2004, 01:45:28 PM »

In MN if you pay someone to bait, with $$ or with 'gifts', the person has to have a guide licence. And, the way the DNR enforces this is pretty strict... If you just pay for the supplies, the baiter, if asked, will have to show that his supplies cost as much as or more than your payment. Land ownership is irrelevant. And, you can't use barrels to hold the bait in MN.

Monster · « **Reply #5 on:** August 25, 2004, 08:52:04 AM »

I'm no extremist and dont mean to offend anyone here but I was wondering about the sportsmanship of bear baiting, is there any? I live on the west coast of canada and do agree with limited bear hunts, although I dont hunt myself we need a certain amount hunted to control their numbers and instill enough fear of man in them to give me some peace of mind in my tent at night however..... to leave garbage out in the bush and lay in wait for a skiddish black bear to come along and then shoot him while he eats.... doesn't say allot about ones hunting skills, or is there more to this?

Cabin4 · « **Reply #6 on:** August 25, 2004, 09:45:27 AM »

In thick hevily wooded area its likly the only way you will ever see a bear. The only other exception being the use of hounds.

Baiting bears is also feeding bears. So the outcome is good for the bear population and hunters.

Monster · « **Reply #7 on:** August 25, 2004, 10:11:56 AM »

Where I live at least, when hiking around the north coast of British Columbia it is harder not to see a bear than it is to see one. Do bear baiters leave the bait for other bears to consume after they've made their kill? If so, wouldn't this habituate bears to the idea that humans offer food?

Cabin4 · « **Reply #8 on:** August 25, 2004, 10:46:36 AM »

In Maine as an example, A pro bear bait operation may consist of 300 bait sites over a 300 sq mile area. Baiting will start in early August and continue thru the bait season which will end in Early Oct. The hunting won't start until the first week in Sep. SO the bears are feeding for a month or so without hunting. Mothers with cubs feed on these sites throughout the bait season. A fat mother & cubs in the fall are healthier in the spring and far more likely to survive. Multiple bears may and are likely feeding off the same bait site but only one bear will be taken in most cases. In this example likly 100 bears are taken in total. So the other sites in the end were feeding sites never to be used. The outfitter will have them in case he needs them but also because he wants to feed the bears in his lease so to protect and grow the population. Maine is a great example of how great baiting for bear is.

Baiting when done like in Maine is really bear feeding/farming. And many more bear are fed that shot. So the outcome is more bear. A pro outfitter like the one mentioned above will go thru 2 or 3 45 foot tractor trailer loads of sweets over the bait season.

Monster · « **Reply #9 on:** August 25, 2004, 01:29:15 PM »

I see, so a pro guide would operate a specific area and habituate the local bear population into frequenting his baiting sites and thus be able to better track populations and individuals. It's good to know that there is some reasoning that goes into this practice and that refuse isn't just dumped randomly in the woods to attract what ever bear my chance by. Thanks for providing some insight into this practice which, from an outsiders perspective... might seem irrational and cruel before one knows the facts. I guess even though I now understand that there is a certain level of conservation involved with professional bear baiting guides I still wonder if it is correct to call this pastime hunting? As I said before, I believe in a controlled hunting season for bears even though I only shoot wildlife with a camera myself. I've seen the results in my province from the over-protection of bears by the neo conservationists of the 1980s & 90s and that is a stressed out bear population that becomes aggressive due to having to fight each other (or kill) for available food.

Thanks again for explaining a bit.

Ithaca1 · « **Reply #10 on:** August 25, 2004, 03:30:01 PM »

He is not asking for anything $ or gifts. I am just wondering how much to offer him because of courtesy and I am sorry I stated that is using barrels he is not he is using a stack of logs. It is pretty hard to do your own baiting when you live 700 miles away. Maybe some of you should read my email I asked what is the cost per bait on average for two weeks?

talon · « **Reply #11 on:** August 25, 2004, 05:38:14 PM »

The cost of a bait varies greatly. A lot has to do with where you get the stuff the bear eats and what it consists of. Then there's the labor and cost of transportation. The more baits you 'run' the more you can spread your fixed costs. As a rough guess, if a person was baiting 2 baits a day ( he would probably skip one or two days a week just to keep the bear guessing), and feeding about 6# of bread/grease/ cheap dog food/meat scraps for each bait, that's about 60# a week @ $1/pound. If his labor was a favor, he'd still be using a little fuel... maybe $5/ week minimum as baits have to be far apart(1.25 miles minimum) . Food costs would go down if the bear only came by 3 or 4 times a week... you don't want to overfeed. If the baker said " why, here's 200 loaves of out-of-date bread for free", the food costs would go down a bunch. Guides who bait do it on a grand scale and their costs per bait probably are around $5 per day per bait, because of labor costs as well as great distances traveled. You best bet is to let your friend know that you'll cover his out-of-pocket costs, but get it across to him that you really don't have anyway of telling what that would be.

Geno · « **Reply #12 on:** August 26, 2004, 03:42:02 AM »

Talon outlines this pretty well. If your friend is doing this out of friendship and generosity, you have a very good friend. Take very good care of him. Baiting is very laborious, hot, sweaty work. To give a different idea of costs. If you were to hire someone to provide you with an active bait site, the costs might range from $250 to $500. This can go up substantially, depending upon other services offered, like, setting up stands, tracking, skinning, processing, campsites, lodging etc.... hope this helps a little.

Cabin4 · « **Reply #13 on:** August 26, 2004, 04:21:01 AM »

How many site his he baiting for you ?

If more than one, how far are they apart from each other ?

How far is the drive from his house to the first bait site ? and how far is the return trip from the last bait site ?

What frequency will he be baiting the site(s) daily, weekly, ect. ?

Kathy-Fish River Lodge · « **Reply #14 on:** August 30, 2004, 03:54:46 AM »

It always amuses me that a person who has never hunted over bait always asks if it is "sporting". I have sat for over 10 years on a very active bait site with my camera to try and get video of a bear coming in. I know he/she does, but never when I have my camera there. The state of Maine issues 15,000 permits a year to hunt bear. We harvest, maybe, 4,000 bear. If it is so easy and mass slaughter as the anti's claim, I don't see it. People think a bear is stupid and slow but they are very smart and know that the food in the woods is not there 10 months in the year and that we are there. Most of my hunters will say that when the bear comes in he looks right at the hunter. They will circle and nash their teeth and growl. I had one click his teeth at me last year when I was baiting. It is a very uncomfortable feeling and these poor old feet moved very quickly in my retreat. Many people who want free range hunting only have no idea that up here in Northern Maine you can only see about 50 feet, at the most, in front of you. You will never get a bear in that situation. One thing about this referendum that bothers me is the people who vote for it have no concerns about their fellow citizens in areas where the bear could become problems. We have professionals who direct the control of the bear population. I think it should be left to them. If they see the decline in the bear population they will cut the hunt in a heart beat. That is sensible wildlife control. Hunt safe.

Tim4Trout · « **Reply #15 on:** September 04, 2004, 03:07:10 PM »

Quote from: Monster

I was wondering about the sportsmanship of bear baiting, is there any? .... to leave garbage out in the bush and lay in wait for a skiddish black bear to come along and then shoot him while he eats.... doesn't say allot about ones hunting skills, or is there more to this?

One of the keys to the anti hunter's rhetoric is to try and create the impression in people's minds that bear baiting equates to a guaranteed kill.

Yet in spite of the amount of baiting that occurs in Maine, the harvest rate is about 25%.

Remember that it is not uncommon to attract other game to a hunter's location like deer, turkey, and waterfowl.

In places like Maine where baiting is allowed, forest density makes most other hunting methods futile.

In Washington state where a referendum banned baiting in 1996, the highest yearly bear harvests over the past 6 years, averaging double that of the next highest harvest area, have occurred in the northeast part of the state where the forest density is more open than it is in other parts of he state.

Years ago an old timer and good friend told me about the time he and his wife visited some of her relatives out west. He said they were astonished when he tod them that he hunts deer with a 12 gauge shotgun. Accustomed to 200 - 300 yards shots or longer, they could not comprehend just how dense the forests of northern New England, especially Maine, are, and how a shot of 75 - 100 yards is often a long shot in such places.