Remember you are watching guided hunts on TV. None of that is remotely like doing it yourself on public land. If you would like an education on bear hunting and baiting you are welcome to come with me. It involves a 60 mile drive, then a 2 mile hike with a 55 gallon barrel on your back. After 1.5 miles you make a hard turn and climb 1000' vertical. This is to get away from other hunters doing the same thing or hunting with hounds. Once you get your barrel located, then you need to make another trip to get a tree stand setup. Now you will need to make at least weekly trips with 40-50# of food (I use cheap dog food and scraps). Now as you will see on your trail camera there are bears hitting your bait but...........they are coming in at night. Every once in a while one will show up during hunting hours so you keep trying. So goes bear hunting - not nearly as easy as it sounds. Unless you pay someone to do the work for you - and what would be the fun in that?
Nope make them come earlier! After the site has been established and you are hunting it. Packout the bait every night when you leave the stand. Leave a few scraps for them. This will condition them to get to the bait earlier. Dog food is an ok filler, but I give them the goods mixed in old donuts, pies, whatever you can get a good quantity of. If you have generic bait they may or may not hit it as regularly. Give them what they really want. Make your bait stand out. Also spray the bait site with vanilla. When establishing a bait site pack in cooking grease and spread it all around. This will get tracked up by small critters and bears and leave scent trails to your bait site.
