Bear bait went from Hot to Dead?
 

Hello all a few years ago I set a bait east of my acerage. Miles from the nearest road, deep dark spruce, mixed old growth nearby, water. First spring had at least 8 different bears on cam all returning. That fall my wife shot a nice first bear just shy of 17 inch skull we had 4 bears that night come in. Also heard a pack of wolves that night. Following spring had at least 6 different bears as repeat customers lol. Only hunted once. Had 3 bears come in and were all very scared one was a nice size boar and was very paranoid. This past fall I filled the bait 3rd week of Aug with 4 bags of Oats fryer Grease lots of left over beaver and meat scraps in a beaver cage.
The weird thing is I had 2 cameras operating all fall. Just checked cameras every 2 weeks never hunted had 1 cow moose with chewed up back hawks come in on camera. As of 24 of October bait was not hit except for ravens for the meat.?
I set up a new bait in Aug north of my other bait and had 1 small and 1 nice size bear on the bait all fall.
No other Baits that I know of in the area
Very little to no traffic back there.
Did the wolves push them out?
Weather with the extreme heat drive them back further?
Enough forage they didn't have to come in.?
Aliens?
Black Dodge Dually with pool noodle?
I wasn't using a Grendel?
Any thoughts?

There was probably a better food source somewhere else

Not sure about your area, but my area had a nice warm fall and green grass was plentiful. I'd rather eat green grass and forage than eat rotten meat and oats at a bait in the fall.

Yah we had a really warm fall as well. Iam thinking try the bait again this spring. If no action move it

One thing to remember , is when a bear is first out of the den, needs the most rank meat to send there plug out, then onto the high calorie food like oats or green grass or dog food or bread or donuts

I agree for sure. Rotten meat in the spring is key. I just found Its weird that bears conditioned for a bait won't even touch the oats and greese.

It’s timing
Their food needs and wants change

Wolves will keep them away but if they were not on cam., then it wasn't them
Can't blame everything on the wolves...haha

Sounds like a Sasquatch moved into your area....:kap:

Try em this spring.
If u r baiting in september use nothing but 500 gallons of blueberries hahahaha.


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Its true
What would you rather eat? Blueberrys or old meat thats been in the sun and heat. Bears have a lot of options in the fall for food. In the spring they arent as fussy when they come out of the den. But they get pickier once the grass starts to green up

I hate it when they do that! :mad0100:

Makes sense as to the more available food sources. Tha fall before the berry crop was not as plentiful. I ll give it another go in a month....I'll need the sled to get back there to much damn snow

If you want to eat the meat, NEVER use rotten meat for bait. Second thing, people think rotten meat attracts bears better because they can smell it so well. Trust me, the bear has a great nose and can smell donuts just as far away as he can smell rotten meat. The only meat I like for bear bait is FRESH, beaver carcasses. Either recent shot or frozen and fresh when put out. If they start to go rancid, I used to toss them at the landfill or dispose of them at least 20 miles from the bait sites.

As far as getting rid of the butt plug, that is all about volume and green dandelions, grass etc are usually what gets that job done within a day or two of coming out of hibernation. The bear isn't waiting to find meat for his first good poop of the spring.

As far as your bait being dead last fall, Bears will travel the shortest distance they can to get quality and quantity of food to bulk up on for winter. Given the fall we had there were a ton of options. You will know after you bait this spring what the outcome is. Having a bait in the same spot for a lot of years is a big advantage, I would not move it unless it went completely dead for spring and fall.

Grizz probably moved into the area and let all the blacks know "They can come for supper".

Funny you mentioned Grizzly moved in.....the first spring I had one on camera.....:angry3:
It never came back....but its still out there.
And this is not a known G bear zone.

But its so hard to get a sasquatch tag.

Longer draw wait than antelope or Turkey, so I hear.......

6.5 Creedmoor...?

I would use a club over the Creedmore.....maybe my pool noodle was the wrong color

Are you sure about that ? A good source told me that the last food intake they have in the fall is a small amount coniferous needles. These can't be digested over the winter dormance but can be expelled when the Bear gets mobile in the Spring.
Dunno if thats true, but it makes sense... especially when there is no dandlions or grass available in the early spring.

In the past have had better luck once the bait is established switching over to day-old donuts from Tims or local bakery and salted cashews.

To get the bait started up again, we always hung a beaver carcass or two in a burlap bag off the ground just out of reach. And include the castor.
Had a deal with a local bakery for day-old pastries by the garbage bag full.
Cashews by the pound from a distributor at wholesale prices. I purchased a load at the time and have not purchased any since so I mix with the day-olds and have had a good response.
As mentioned be mindful of set locations and natural food sources as seasons change.