In my opinion the honey burn is probably one of the most effective ways to attract bears to your bait. This is a very productive tactic as you can get a sweet odor that travels with the wind and produces a resultant of what I like to call “a good humm on the bait”. The smoke produced from the mixture I use actually operates in somewhat of a steamy consistency, actually allowing the vapor to “stick” to the surrounding vegetation. I usually do this while i am setting up the bait. The reason being is that if i am sitting at a bait, I probably have already had a bear hit it. Trust me if he knows where he got some food before he will be back, huney burn or not so burning while you are there is not really necessary. The key to bear hunting is to get them to the bait, and honey burns at the beginning will do that.
My Mixture:
1 Liter of Honey
2 Cups of CHUNKY peanut butter
1 Cup of Brown Sugar
1 small bottle of Vanilla Extract
2 Cups of Milk…..just to make the concoction more viscous
I pack a kerosene Coleman stove but I am certain that any fueled burner apparatus will work just fine. To protect my stove I like to put my coffee can on top of a 12x24 baking pan ( ask your wife before you steal hers…… bad news if you don’t….trust me ) as the mixture will actually boil over on occasion. There is no rocket science involved in this operation so just let the thing plume out smoke until the can is burned out. Personally I wear my hunting clothes when doing this so they get permeated with the honey smoke and overpowers my human scent for the most part.
***** IMPORTANT NOTE *****
DO NOT LEAVE YOUR STOVE UNATTENDED !!!!!!! We don’t want any forest fires happening so keep a close eye on your operation. I usually find an area where I can clear away some vegetation to expose enough dirt to significantly reduce the chance of catching something on fire.
Below is a pic of the 20 7/16" Black Bear I took near Fort McMurray where I used a honey burn in conjunction with my regular bait station.