Need bear info/advice

1037 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by born2hunt, Sep 23, 2008

befus

Discussion Starter · Sep 22, 2008

Never a bear hunter or even seen one in the wild, do I have some questions for those with some experience.

I went to fill up a feeder for the first time this year. I found it knocked over and pushed off down the hill. Solar panel knocked off, spinner gone, but no permanent damage. legs fallen off and one scattered around a bit too. The area had a very obvious animal smell to it. Musky, sort of barnyard like. A large number of very dark, almost black, piles of what I took to be scat. The older ones with mushrooms sprouting in them like crazy. Property owner reportered a bear raiding his dog food on the front porch a month back. The feeder location is approx. 200 yards down the hill from the house.

Does this seem "bearie" to you, or nothing really? BTW, not nearly as much deer sigh in tha area as last year.

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Selfbow

· #2 · Sep 22, 2008

befus said:
Never a bear hunter or even seen one in the wild, do I have some questions for those with some experience.

I went to fill up a feeder for the first time this year. I found it knocked over and pushed off down the hill. Solar panel knocked off, spinner gone, but no permanent damage. legs fallen off and one scattered around a bit too. The area had a very obvious animal smell to it. Musky, sort of barnyard like. A large number of very dark, almost black, piles of what I took to be scat. The older ones with mushrooms sprouting in them like crazy. Property owner reportered a bear raiding his dog food on the front porch a month back. The feeder location is approx. 200 yards down the hill from the house.

Does this seem "bearie" to you, or nothing really? BTW, not nearly as much deer sigh in tha area as last year.

You have a bear!
If you need him "taken care of" give me a call in 2 weeks.

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befus

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 22, 2008

Selfbow said:
You have a bear!
If you need him "taken care of" give me a call in 2 weeks.

Thanks for the kind offer :thumb:, but I'd really like to take care of him myself due to his unfriendly attack on my feeder. I do need some hints as to the prefered methods and timing of the hunts, etc. No baiting in Arkansas right?

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Manybeards

· #4 · Sep 22, 2008

befus said:
Thanks for the kind offer :thumb:, but I'd really like to take care of him myself due to his unfriendly attack on my feeder. I do need some hints as to the prefered methods and timing of the hunts, etc. No baiting in Arkansas right?

huh....everyone baits in AR

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LedZhead20

· #5 · Sep 22, 2008

If you are on Private land you can bait. There are some restrictions to when you can start and need to stop. Someone here will be able to help!

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befus

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 22, 2008

LedZhead20 said:
If you are on Private land you can bait. There are some restrictions to when you can start and need to stop. Someone here will be able to help!

Good, it is hard to find much advice on bears. I need it all including bait used (I was thinking of the aforementioned dog food and molassas) and any "how to's" anyone wants to share.

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delta hunter

· #7 · Sep 22, 2008

The dog food will work. If you have a donut shop around ask them if they'll let you have what they're about to throw out. Put it in a barrell & chain it to a tree. Put a trail cam on it & see what time of day he likes to visit. The 2 bears I've taken have been late in the evening. I have gotten pictures of them in the middle of the day though. That's why it's a good idea to use the trail cam. Good luck & be sure to post pictures when you get them. :thumb:

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Selfbow

· #8 · Sep 22, 2008

befus said:
Good, it is hard to find much advice on bears. I need it all including bait used (I was thinking of the aforementioned dog food and molassas) and any "how to's" anyone wants to share.

Start baiting him now and kill him before the acorns fall.
Molasses poured over Old Roy dog food is pretty good bait but it draws bees.

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E-T

· #9 · Sep 23, 2008

One of my friends is a biologist for the AGFC. 80% of his job is dealing with bears. When he has to trap a bear he uses beef fat. Any of the local meat processers will have some. If your bear will still come to dog food keep using that. As soon as most of the acorns start falling, the bear will be on them. Also look for hickery nuts. You can tell which trees the bear has been feeding in. They will climb up and break limbs to get to the nuts. They will do this for acorns too. Good luck.

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PiggySticken

· #10 · Sep 23, 2008

Acorns around here started falling 1 1/2 weeks ago

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born2hunt

· #11 · Sep 23, 2008

When using a camera, be careful not to contaminate your camera with the scent of whatever you are baiting with. If you do, the bear will try his best to eat your camera. I wear gloves when handling the bait material. Before I handle the camera, I remove the gloves. After I'm finished handling the camera, I spray the sides and back with scent killer and wipe the front down with a towel moistened with scent killer. So far (knock on wood), I haven't had a problem with the bear damaging my camera. A lot of people do though.

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