Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Bear bait recipes

To be blunt and untactful:

Amateurs pick baits, pros pick sites.

One can have the absolute best bear bait but if it s an area a bear doesn't normally go or feels unsafe then you won't see a bear or at least not during shooting hours. Unless the natural food crop is extremely poor, it is rare to see anything other than a juvenile at a poor site and even that bear will be very hesitant to come in during the day. There is always an exception someplace but those are pretty long odds on which to bet success.

Pick an area in which the cover from the ground to at least your shoulders is thick. If you can see 30 yards it is too open and 20 yards and less is much better. Thick cover such as that should also extend out well past the bait site, an acre of such cover surrounded by an open park is not going to cut it. This is a pretty good rule for the Great Lakes states, other areas may have other cover types that preclude this advice.

I like finding a site on the edge of a large marsh, stream, pond, or other moist/damp area. This type of habitat seems more attractive to larger boars than higher and drier upland cover which seems to attract sows, Cubs, and juveniles. Beaver ponds are great as there is water, food, and cover close at hand and the waterway offers cover for travel.

I bait once a week due to time constraints so use a lot of bait at a time. 150# to start is typical and at least that much each visit once bears start hitting. I bait betweenness 11AM and 1PM as bears are least likely to be at the bait during those times. scare a bear off the baits and it may never return, at least not during the day.

A good stand site is next in importance. I like a well branched out spruce or fir with a large diameter trunk. This allows good cover as it breaks up my outline. A tight clump of aspen or birch is good too but it is more open. If one can be to the southeast of the bait it would be great but any stand should be positioned in shadow to lessen the odds of being spotlighted. I try to keep the prevailing winds from blowing my scent over the bait or toward the expected approach route but I don't sweat it. A mature bear will invariably circle the bait and eventually smell you and your footsteps. I find that if you can get into place at least 4 hours before a bear is expected to show, the bear is less likely to spook if one is also quiet and still. It appears bears place more emphasis on foot odor than air scent if there are no other warning signs.

I help things along by showering before I head out, do as much as possible to not work up a sweat, keep my clothes as odor free as possible, and use a cover scent like skunk or red fox ursine. I'll add a couple drops of bacon grease to the Thermacell bug strip too.

I'll trim out a narrow shooting lane to the bait, typically it is only a couple of feet wide. What to consider with a shooting lane is it directs one's gaze along that path and works both ways. A bear is pretty cautious and observant of both the ground and what is above which means they spot movement quicker than a deer. It is another defense one needs to be aware of.

I position my bait container in such a way that the bear is likely to be broadside to me. I do this with an above ground 6'x6'x1' pit made out of landscape timbers. I use a 3 piece cover made out of (6) 4"x8' landscape timbers that are flat on two sides. 2" green treated boards cut in 2' lengths screwed into the timbers and then three 2'x8' pieces of plywood are screwed onto the 2"x pieces. I like one board every foot or so. These covers are placed across the pit parallel to my stand. Bears tend to push the end covers off so this tends to get them broadside.

Now, for baits. That really depends on the bear. Corn has not been a good choice in my area except fermented corn and that is more of an attractant than feed. To make it, fill a 5 gallon bucket 3/4 full of corn, add 5 lbs of sugar, stir well, and let sit in the sun for at least 2 weeks and four is better. I started my buckets on July 1st. I dump a half bucket of corn and water along the outside dirt of the pit.

I found cream cheese to be the favorite. I mix it with trail mix or sugary cereal to make it go further. Pastry icing is OK but not as good as cream cheese. Caramel corn is pretty good too and relatively cheap to make. Any sort of soft candy such as licorice, gummy bears, jelly beans, etc are good additions as they are weather/water resistant but rank lower down for my area. For whatever reason bears don't care for either dry or liquid molasses though shredded beets sometime soon et hit.

Fruits and vegetables are used often, I hit the farmers stands and offer to buy their bruised goods for a couple bucks or buy the person working a lunch. Typically, they give it to me for free if I supply the bucket but the offer is greatly appreciated. Everything but tomatoes, peppers, onions, eggplant, and apricots are used. I'll save crab apples from the previous year then crush them and ferment like corn.

I don't use much pastries or breads as they rot easily and bears hate it in that condition. I will use them once bears are hitting regularly but not before. Same goes for dog food and meats. I add gravy to the kibble to make it more palatable otherwise the bears don't eat it. I deep fry all meat; it lasts longer before rotting and bears do not care for rotting meat- at least not in the fall. It is also easier to pull meat from the bone once cooked a small mammal bones are not legal bait in MN. You are not allowed to have more than 1/4 of any single mammal in the pile at any given time. The oil is used as an attractant, some is dribbled on the ground while some is painted onto trees in an X pattern for a good quarter mile each way.

As final attractants I hang an old towel doused in bacon grease and fish oil 10'-12' above the ground over the bait. I also take a couple of large Jell-O packets, tear them open lengthwise, and toss them as high into the tree/air as I can. This creates a pretty good odor that can be smelled for a long ways. I top the pit by smashing a watermelon over the lid. I haven't see no a bear eat the melon but it seems to ll P pretty goodCantalopes, honeydew, and musk melons work too. If I go into october I'll use pumpkins.

There is more to bear hunting than bait and this should be enough to get started.