2016 Bear Bait Group Buy and Barter Ideas UPDATE

wildwoods · #1 03-02-2016, 10:50 AM

Fellow Baiters,
#1 March is here! Super stoked for baiting season. I want to start sourcing bait now as to be ahead of the curve come early April. As promised, I will be putting together a group buy for dog food (most likely next week).
FAQ's:
-Dog food is not expired, just slightly damaged bags. Good for your dogs to eat.
-Price: $10 per 20~ kg bag. No delivery.
-Many brands of dogfood includng the premium Holistic down to Ol Roy. I can't guarantee any brands or hold premium. We take the mix on the pallets that day...
-Pick up just east of Sherwood Park or meet in west edm on day of my pickup.
-Prepayment required if I don't know you (via EMT or cash in person)
-PM me your order
-I will advise on distribution date

#2That aside, I want this thread to be open to everyone to barter/exchange/inexpensively help supply each other.
For example: I have an excellent source of bread and have way more than I need. I would be willing to exchange some for beaver carcasses or fryer grease...

#3 If anyone comes across a deal at a store/source somewhere and are willing to share it, please post it up. Example: Free or cheap rain barrels, Molasses on sale, cheap grain, expired doughnuts.

We obviously can't be sharing our little secrets

with each other for things in high demand. I get that. I'm not asking for that. Just a thread to help each other be more resourceful and cut costs. We have a ton of buying power in our community. Let's do it!

bonecollector10 · #2 03-02-2016, 11:15 AM

Great Idea. I have a few beavers frozen from last year id be willing to part ways for exchange of some bread or popcorn...

wildwoods · #3 03-02-2016, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonecollector10

Great Idea. I have a few beavers frozen from last year id be willing to part ways for exchange of some bread or popcorn...

PM sent

wildwoods · #4 03-02-2016, 05:44 PM

30 Bags Ordered plus 15 for Me=45

wildwoods · #5 03-02-2016, 09:54 PM

15 more = 60. Looking for a firm 90 then I will proceed with the order

Update. All spoken for. I'll do this again in early April potentially.
I would still like to hear some other ideas for bait sourcing. Keep this sucker goin!

beaver hunter · #6 03-03-2016, 10:01 AM

done already? I just read this.....

wildwoods · #7 03-03-2016, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaver hunter

done already? I just read this.....

Nope. I've saved some extra for the stragglers.
PM me your order

I relish any ideas. If you have found something cheap that works effectively then by all means, post it up

NBFK · #8 03-03-2016, 06:05 PM

Air poppers are 18 bucks at Walmart. Kernals are 1.50 for a kg. probably the cheapest bait a guy could get his hands on. Two air poppers rolling, a bottle of rum and you can fill some barrels in a night.

marlin4570 · #9 03-03-2016, 10:30 PM

I'm in for $100 if still available!!!

J0HN_R1 · #10 03-03-2016, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NBFK

Air poppers are 18 bucks at Walmart. Kernals are 1.50 for a kg. probably the cheapest bait a guy could get his hands on. Two air poppers rolling, a bottle of rum and you can fill some barrels in a night.

A fella I know who used to hunt bears regularly was just telling me yesterday about his "on the cheap" bear bait.

He said the "best" bait he ever used was popcorn & molasses. "Best" meaning cheapest, but still attracting bears.

- Just before the season opener, he'd fill a 40gal drum with popcorn.
- He would heat a litre of molasses in a pot, almost to a boil.
- With a ladle & turkey baster, he'd spread molasses (as evenly as possible) through the popcorn.

The day before he'd go hunting, he'd put a couple 5gal buckets (lid on, but holes drilled all over the sides) of the popcorn & a single loaf of fresh bread on top at each site... He said it worked every time.

NBFK · #11 03-04-2016, 08:08 AM

Popcorn is literally weightless and is a real advantage for those hard to get to places or someone who doesn't have access to an atv all the time. A lot of the time I pack fresh bait in on foot before I sit just freshen it all up. Popcorn sure beats me slugging bags of grain.

curtisb · #12 03-04-2016, 01:03 PM

Guys;

I've ran baits for a couple years by learn it yourself/trial and error.
My intended focus this year was set up and I plan on building some walls out of trees to direct the animals properly as I hunt at ground level.

I generally end up buying about 18-36kg (1-2 bags) of dog food (IF I can find discount/sale over the next couple months). I usually buy cracked oats with Molasses, 2 bags.
I also ran through 5 gallons of liquid molasses last year, but it seemed to make little to no difference.
This runs (2) bait sites for about a month.

I run about a 3" hole in my barrel, keeps the bears there longer w/less bait, and I generally don't carry more than 50lbs cargo into the bait site.

To add to this, I do a very thorough soak with cooking oil (fried chicken), and solidified chunks of donut oil, once/twice week when I top up with a few gallons of oats and dog food. I'll typically also hang 1 gallon bucket of cooking oil high in the canopy, cover a couple spruce trees, etc - they seem to spread the smell better. (total - maybe 20 gallons over the course of a month.)

To date, I've been very successful, lots of bears.

HOWEVER: NOT successful early (or what I'd consider the best time)! I figure I should be getting bears early may, not mid to late may...?

I'm wondering if I'm in the right place to ask advice to get the bears coming in earlier:
-Is popcorn worth it (other than being lighter - do bears like it more), is it a hot ticket item?
-Should I be using stinky meat scraps or beavers? Will this pull in the bears earlier. I have a vision of hanging stinky scrap meat high in the canopy, maybe in burlap, or in a steel perforated bucket or something...
(With this in mind, any help how to get the meat scrap or beavers in FM would be appreciated)

SBE2 · #13 03-04-2016, 02:33 PM

Popcorn works, but let somebody else do it for you. There is a great lady west of Stony Plain that pops bags that will almost fill a 45 gallon drum. I think it is $30 bucks a back, might get a deal if you buy more, negotiations are up to you. She's super friendly and awesome to deal with. Once you factor in the cost of supplies and your time, in my mind this is the way to go. Her number is 780-963-8213. Best of luck boys.

wildwoods · #14 03-04-2016, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SBE2

Popcorn works, but let somebody else do it for you. There is a great lady west of Stony Plain that pops bags that will almost fill a 45 gallon drum. I think it is $30 bucks a back, might get a deal if you buy more, negotiations are up to you. She's super friendly and awesome to deal with. Once you factor in the cost of supplies and your time, in my mind this is the way to go. Her number is 780-963-8213. Best of luck boys.

Solid Gold. Love it

wildwoods · #15 03-04-2016, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curtisb

Guys;

I've ran baits for a couple years by learn it yourself/trial and error.
My intended focus this year was set up and I plan on building some walls out of trees to direct the animals properly as I hunt at ground level.

I generally end up buying about 18-36kg (1-2 bags) of dog food (IF I can find discount/sale over the next couple months). I usually buy cracked oats with Molasses, 2 bags.
I also ran through 5 gallons of liquid molasses last year, but it seemed to make little to no difference.
This runs (2) bait sites for about a month.

I run about a 3" hole in my barrel, keeps the bears there longer w/less bait, and I generally don't carry more than 50lbs cargo into the bait site.

To add to this, I do a very thorough soak with cooking oil (fried chicken), and solidified chunks of donut oil, once/twice week when I top up with a few gallons of oats and dog food. I'll typically also hang 1 gallon bucket of cooking oil high in the canopy, cover a couple spruce trees, etc - they seem to spread the smell better. (total - maybe 20 gallons over the course of a month.)

To date, I've been very successful, lots of bears.

HOWEVER: NOT successful early (or what I'd consider the best time)! I figure I should be getting bears early may, not mid to late may...?

I'm wondering if I'm in the right place to ask advice to get the bears coming in earlier:
-Is popcorn worth it (other than being lighter - do bears like it more), is it a hot ticket item?
-Should I be using stinky meat scraps or beavers? Will this pull in the bears earlier. I have a vision of hanging stinky scrap meat high in the canopy, maybe in burlap, or in a steel perforated bucket or something...
(With this in mind, any help how to get the meat scrap or beavers in FM would be appreciated)

The experienced guys on here will tell you not to bother baiting before May 1st. I start early anyways just to break the cabin fever.
A great scent distributor is to hang a beaver in burlap with a five gallon pail over it. The nasty beaver juices drip down on the ground and disperse in the air very well, all while keeping birds off. A trick anothwr member here taught me is to buy a cheap dollar store squirt gun (the kind you fill by suction) and spray the treetops with fryer grease. Very quick and easy.
It's only my second season. Hard to offer advise. Like any hunting I think a guys head could swirl with advise. Hard to pinpoint the most effective vs. Unnecessary. Learning from a few really good baiters here, it appears that sometimes less is more. Keep it simple approach. Habitat is way more important than method

TBark · #16 03-04-2016, 08:30 PM

Pm sent, 16 bags please, repeat customer, ha.

TBark

bonecollector10 · #17 03-06-2016, 07:48 PM

does anybody have any leads on a beaver cage? Need something heavy duty and welded.

Looking for plastic barrels as well...

deerguy · #18 03-06-2016, 09:45 PM

How big do you guys make your holes? Probably going to go with the popcorn/molasses mix with a few dozen doughnuts thrown in and some bear bait stuff from wholesale sports.

wildwoods · #19 03-06-2016, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonecollector10

does anybody have any leads on a beaver cage? Need something heavy duty and welded.

Looking for plastic barrels as well...

pmd you

SBE2 · #20 03-07-2016, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deerguy

How big do you guys make your holes? Probably going to go with the popcorn/molasses mix with a few dozen doughnuts thrown in and some bear bait stuff from wholesale sports.

For small stuff like oats and dog food, I drill three 3/4 inch holes. One at top just below lid, then a third of the way around barrel and in the middle, and then one at the bottom another third way around barrel. You want them to stay and eat, not eat a bunch and leave, and you don't want them emptying it in a day or so. With the holes spread out like that a little bit will spill from one of the holes whenever they roll it, they will lay beside it and pick it out with a claw for a long time. I wrap a chain around the top of the lid and bolt it, then give them 10-12ft of chain and wrap the other end around a tree, they roll it around forever. Two other drums are fastened to trees. Also, with smaller holes if it rains it minimizes the the amount of moisture that gets to bait, popcorn can turn into a soggy mess and dog food can expand and be a pain. Covering the site and all trails in and out in A LOT of used cooking grease ensures they leave a trail for the next one to follow back in. I save bacon grease through the year and rub it on the south side as many sun exposed trees as possible. When the sun hits that you can smell it from at least a km away, so a bear can probably smell it for miles. They claw up all the trees that I do this to and climb to get to it. If you have my luck, this has worked on all sizes of bears, but only the small ones show up when I'm in the stand. FML. Best of luck.

Hugenuge · #21 03-08-2016, 08:39 AM

I have 5 large bags of popcorn that usually almost fill a whole barrel for 10$/bag who wants them? After this 5 are gone i can get more on a small order basis so let me know and we can try to work something out to help you fill your barrels for cheap

curtisb · #22 03-08-2016, 10:48 AM

Any ideas of beavers or meat scraps in Fort McMurray area?

wildwoods · #23 03-08-2016, 10:55 AM

Hey guys. Today was group buy day. Smashing success. Thanks to all who participated. Great itrader reviews coming your way!

Bigmac56 · #24 03-08-2016, 11:35 AM

Hit the bakeries and ask, always worked for me. Also, bring empty 5 gallon pails with lids and fill them with used grease from any restaurant in the back, Works great!!!

Hugenuge · #25 03-08-2016, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildwoods

Hey guys. Today was group buy day. Smashing success. Thanks to all who participated. Great itrader reviews coming your way!

Yeah buddy!! thanks for putting in the leg work, looking forward to picking up my stash

Hugenuge · #26 03-08-2016, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugenuge

I have 5 large bags of popcorn that usually almost fill a whole barrel for 10$/bag who wants them? After this 5 are gone i can get more on a small order basis so let me know and we can try to work something out to help you fill your barrels for cheap

The 5 bags as mentioned have been spoken for! Ill keep you all posted if i have more available.

double gun · #27 03-08-2016, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugenuge

I have 5 large bags of popcorn that usually almost fill a whole barrel for 10$/bag who wants them? After this 5 are gone i can get more on a small order basis so let me know and we can try to work something out to help you fill your barrels for cheap

Sorry for the dumb question but does each bag almost fill a barrel or the 5 bags together

double gun · #28 03-08-2016, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildwoods

Hey guys. Today was group buy day. Smashing success. Thanks to all who participated. Great itrader reviews coming your way!

Damn, I wish I had seen this thread earlier - I would have been in on this.

wildwoods · #29 03-08-2016, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by double gun

Damn, I wish I had seen this thread earlier - I would have been in on this.

Sorry about that. Super limited supply this year. I'll try again in a few weeks.

antler1 · #30 03-08-2016, 07:07 PM

I haven't hunted bears for a few years, having taken enough bears for one guy. I did happen on one idea that worked well to draw bears in and keep them around. I hunt a lot of gophers and would save them up to take to the bait site. I strung a rope between two trees in front of my bait barrel and suspended a five gallon can full of gophers. The pail had holes drilled in the bottom. As the gophers fermented what dripped out of the pail drove the bears crazy. They ripped up the ground under the pail and repeatedly climbed the nearby trees to try and get to the pail. The scent trail coming out of the pail was a good draw as well. As I said "off the wall" but effective.