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Bear bait ideas

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#21 ·
K-Mo said:
Stick a sweaty T-shirt in the barrel and in your deer stand. Swap it out with another dirty one every time you bait. Toss some thermacell pads in too. Stay away from meat in the fall, it’s more of a spring bait. Find water, persimmons, and acorns, then add your bait on top of what they’re already using. Close to dark and thick cover like a cedar thicket in a creek bottom. Honey burns with a coffee can and sterno can are SOP. Anise flavor is another very popular scent for opening a bait. Water it down and spray it all over. Oats covered with fish grease is the cheapest and easiest bait, followed closely by greased dog food or bread.
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Have you ever actually baited and hunted an Arkansas bear?
This sounds like a collection of internet expert tips from all over the country.
 
#23 ·
The guy that told me dog food was a WMA manager that had to trap lots of bears. He drove me around and showed me sign and what to look for. The bears were a nuisance to him he wanted them thinned. He had to trap them on private and release them on his area and he said it was a waste of his time because they walked back to where he trapped them the day he released them. He had to follow orders. He baited his bear traps with cheap dogfood as well.
 
#24 ·
Well, first off trying to bait bears is a lot harder than a lot of folks think. You need about 3 months of putting out bait every day or at least every other day. So... number one- you need free or very cheap bait. Try to find grocery stores or bakery shops that throw out bread and ask if you can have it. The standard deal is a loaf or two of bread put into an onion bag and hung on a tree about 4" up- to try to discourage other animals. You need a trail cam to see what is hitting the bait. Most folks get gallon sized containers of oil of Anise and soak the bread quite a bit to give it more flavor. You need to plan the thing, where the bear will come in- using cover. The tree you will sit in. A double trunk to hide yourself is good. Then how will you approach the day.
If you don't want to make that kind of commitment, might think about not doing it at all.
 
#27 ·
Daveem said:
Well, first off trying to bait bears is a lot harder than a lot of folks think. You need about 3 months of putting out bait every day or at least every other day. So... number one- you need free or very cheap bait. Try to find grocery stores or bakery shops that throw out bread and ask if you can have it. The standard deal is a loaf or two of bread put into an onion bag and hung on a tree about 4" up- to try to discourage other animals. You need a trail cam to see what is hitting the bait. Most folks get gallon sized containers of oil of Anise and soak the bread quite a bit to give it more flavor. You need to plan the thing, where the bear will come in- using cover. The tree you will sit in. A double trunk to hide yourself is good. Then how will you approach the day.
If you don't want to make that kind of commitment, might think about not doing it at all.
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Arkansas bear baiting starts 30 days before season. Most guys will have a 55gal barrel or two and try to keep it full once a week. Guys that can’t source free stuff have to resort to dog food often. It’s a pretty expensive route, but about to be on par with baiting deer since cheap dog food and corn are about the same price now. But one bear eats a lot more than one deer.
 
#28 ·
juleo said:
I agree, there may not be a ton of bears in the area and I did see bears while hunting, it just happened to be a mama bear with two young cubs that were in range. I had those three bears and another boar bear in there almost every day. I just thought there might be a way to draw more bears in to have more opportunities. My main problem was sitting in Cabot watching a seventh grade football game opening morning of bear season and watching the boar on camera at my barrel for hours while I’m two hours away.
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so yeah other than spreading grease/oil everywhere so that animals can track it/spread it through the woods .... scent bomb of some kind

you could burn something like these

 
Discussion starter · #37 ·
Do any of you have a lead for bulk stuff in the Conway area? I understand if you aren’t comfortable giving away your stash in public forum, but if you don’t mind shooting me a message.
I did find gallon jugs of mrs. Buttersworth syrup for $7.28
 
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K-Mo
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