Hunting a Nocturnal Bear

Caper28 · #1 10-04-2009, 06:03 PM

Hey guys, I have a nocturnal bear at my site. He's the only one I have coming in. I'm trying a few things to try and get him to come in early, but no luck. I put out some scat from 2 different bears in the last week. I'm starting to reduce the amount of bait I'm putting out. right now I have a 77L garbage can in there, gonna let it dry up for a day or so and only bring in a 5gal bucket from now on. Right now he's coming in 2 hours after dark and then around 4 in the morning.

Is there anything else I could try to get him to come in earlier.

Here's a pic of him, how big do you think he is. That's the 77L garbage can in the pic. It a bit over 2' high I believe.

Bushmaster · #2 10-04-2009, 06:32 PM

OK, we need more info.....what time do you arrive at the stand everyday? How often and how much are you feeding him?? Maybe his visit 2 hours after dark is in reaction to the time you get there, not the time of dark ?? I found most bears timed their visits to my visits......but you have to bait everyday to see this...and all I ever baited was a 5 gallon pail everyday, after the bait was established.

And a last resort would be to try to ambush him on his trail back in the bush further.....he is likely coming and hanging around in the background somewhere.

Caper28 · #3 10-04-2009, 07:02 PM

I usually arrive mid afternoon and sit until dark. I was coming in every second or third day depending on the weather. At first I was putting out quite a bit of bait. I was half filling the garbage can and also putting fruits on the ground and I also had oats and a few other baits to see what he liked. Turns out I have a fussy bear and had too much bait. Right now all I have is the garbage can full of tim hortons and a 5gal bucket filled with dog food mixed with sugar, honey and syrup. Will be mixing the dog food with the Tim's stuff tomorrow and gonna start bringing only a 5gal bucket of bait from now on.

He has a well beaten trail to my bait, was going to get in there early in the next week or so and see where it goes and see if I can ambush him.

dbell · #4 10-04-2009, 07:48 PM

yea try sitting back on the trail he has beaten in to the bait. i would sit a long ways back if you can. or if theres a water source in the area that he is visiting try sitting that first thing in the morning. big bears are hard to hunt! that looks to be a decent bear, not huge but nice for nova scotia! i grew up there

Bushmaster · #5 10-04-2009, 07:48 PM

How close to the bait are you parking/driving?? He also might be coming in after he hears you leave....have someone else drop you off and sneak in to the bait.

We once had a bear that triggered to the sound of the quad leaving....as soon as I was driving away the hunter could see the bear coming down the far hill.

Caper28 · #6 10-04-2009, 08:02 PM

I'm hunting with another guy. I go in and bait, walk out and put my gear on and he leaves and I go in to my stand. I even had him come in and bait, then leave while I got in the stand. At the end of the night I walk out and about 1Km down the road before the other guy gets to my site.

One guy told me he had a wind-up alarm clock, sets it for the time the bear comes in. He said it has changed a bear to come in durring daylight. Not shure if it would work, you know of anyone who has tried it before.

Caper28 · #7 10-04-2009, 08:16 PM

I should also mention that I've been doing honey burns. I tried that bear crack mixture, it didn't bring him in but he licked the pot clean that night. I also tried those Bear Sense Wild Berry scent sticks.

I was hunting at a buddies site the other night and brought a bear in with the wild berry scent stick. He came in 3 times but just couldn't get a shot. He was coming in through some thick spruce. He realy wanted to get to that scent stick. It was getting to late though and I had to push him off and leave.