What works best for you? Do you do anything different to get the 1st bear coming to your bait

I saw a show one time were they took a clean soup can and burned marshmallows in it right before getting in the stand. I think they had like a candle under the can.

https://youtube.com/shorts/6rrD61u-4_c?is=OI3iIuZTpFUtx_GG

Soak a rag in anise oil and hang it in a nearby tree. They can smell that from a long way away.

Anything will work, they got good noses and will find it and it doesn’t have to be the most rank gut wrenching smell coming off it. If there’s other baits around, the best bait will usually get the most action so it can be tougher competing with outfitters using Reece’s Pieces and that kinda stuff. There is a trick I use that seems to work, but it only works in late spring. You can probably guess what goes on in the bear world in late spring ……lol

Make sure you always keep bait at the bait site.

Too many visits and no food they'll start looking elsewhere.

If you can use old deep fryer grease, they'll keep coming all summer. A little 1/4" hole in a 55G drum chained to a tree. They'll dig a deep pit fooling around with the stuff. they don't stick around long, but the resident bear will be checking it out all summer.

I baited for many years. My diaries show I've been in on over 400 bears taken.

Other than not putting a bait where there are no bears, THIS is the single most important "tip" about baiting. They need a reason to come back.

Pete

A bottle of Liquid Smoke. Soak a rag with it. Universally, bears are attracted to the smell of something smokey. It holds well too. If your in a ladder stand 25 yards out, and the wind is right, you can smell the rag yourself.

Killed a book bear two years ago and a 232 lb Idaho spring sow/ ( no cub this year)
If you wouldn.t eat it,, don't give it to the bears,,

As far as starting a bait bears have a good nose,, set the bait up wind.

Some guys like grease to track, Some will do a honey burn some spray fragrant oils or scents.


I just set bait,, generally with in 3 days any bear willing to work the bait will show

Get on this guys YouTube channel he's got alot of good info.

Not that it is legal in WA, 5 GALS of COB ( corn, oats Barley) 16 Oz jar of softened creamy peanut butter, 16 Oz of Raspberry Jelly, 8 Oz honey . Take half the cob put in separate bucket add half the other ingredients mix well in each bucket and away you go

This year in AR, get near a creek - it is dry and they need water. Sweets here, nothing that rots. Beaver carcasses that might work up north will not work down here. Dog food and corn mix, pour imitation maple syrup over it. Get all the day old sweets from bakeries you can lay your hands on. Pray for no acorn drop until after you have your bear.

Got a friend up North and he always told me the dollar general store is his secret when baiting. All the tips given above in previous responses are spot on to what he does. He hooked up with a couple local bakeries and it didn’t have to be just donuts he took about anything they were tossing. Old sourdough loaves, cookies, but even standard white bread loaves and rolls. He provided a couple big containers with lids and he just backed up and loaded them from back of their shops.
He hit dollar general for things like grape jelly, pancake syrup, and he liked to buy jars of molasses and even jello mix too. Any of that he picked Up he added to the old bread and that was his go to. He used barrels for bait stations but other containers too. The tuff empty feed tubs from cattle I saw him use. He ran multiple stations and put cameras on them to monitor visitor activity. He kept the stations going and bait loaded.
And yes he set up where there were bears. He did a lot of scouting.
I was always interested in his explanations. I thought it was similar to what I do with prepping areas for quick coon harvests, but on a much, much bigger scale.
Jim

One other thing, AR bears are not northern bears. They are much more cautious when approaching a bait site - especially a big bear. I have had my best success when getting a steep hill directly behind my hunting position, or even hunting from the side of a steep hill - I find them much less likely to circle me. AR hunting can be brutally hot. I have walked into the hunting location when it was 103 degrees. When it is hot like that - bring a big ice chest with full of ice to cool one down if you happen to get lucky

My bear hunting guide in Canada just set used burnt popcorn. And It worked.

Thanks for the replies so far.

Any barrel tips? Is the barrel a must have? Steel or plastic

Yes, a barrel is a must. Dont want rain ruining your bait. Bears will chew a plastic barrel over the season - but they should last all season. We normally used steel. You dont want a hole so big they can stick their whole head in - let them rake it out with their paw - makes them stay at the bait longer. Strap or chain the barrel to the tree to keep them from tipping the barrel over and spilling the contents. Barrel can set on the ground strapped or chained to a tree.

Dont set in the middle of the bear trail like my son in law did


https://youtube.com/shorts/X_otceHhge8?feature=shared

I used plastic for the first time this spring. Very happy how they’ve stood up, surprised actually. Use chain. Buddy used cable cable on one barrel and it’s all screwed up. If you got tons of good bait and can keep it stocked, every few days, big holes are ok. I used small holes, they had to muscle the barrel around to get treats out. On barrel was full of deep fryer grease and a 1/4 hole. They’re still coming into it. An outfitter about a mile from our bait has easy access with big holes and good bait, we’re the 2ndary site they visit……lol
The white barrel has the cable and oil. If you use a cable, keep it tighter to the tree.

Only tip I got is be sneaky, hope the GW dont find the bait site, if its illegal in your area....lol

We worked bear baiting relentlessly here in southern Georgia back in my GW days.

55 gallon barrels.....honey buns and other pastries, bulk peanut butter, candies, shelled corn with old honey poured over it.....

If he is hunting in AR, baiting is legal 30 days before season opens - which would be about right now. I found baiting to be a chore. I figured out I could pretty much go on a hunt to canada every other year and it would be about the same cost as baiting a lease two years in a row - and not having to hunt in 100 degree heat

Used to bait bears to run hounds off the baits when it was legal in Oregon. That was before 1994, can’t think bears have changed much. I used to get dead dairy cows, haul them up on a ridge, tie them off and bears will find them. I only remember 1 that didn’t get eaten by bears, it just became a large blob of maggots, the smell was horrible. Most would get hit pretty fast, then they completely consume them. If you didn’t tie them up they drag them off. A full bear is much easier to tree. It was a great way to train young dogs. I also had barrels out and the hostess cup cake and Twinkie bakery would load my pickup up with outdated goods, unwrapping all that sucked but my kids loved it.. lots at almost past the date. I figure a Twinkie will never go bad.

wws

Dont consume the bait for personal use.

We did this year's ago, and it worked. We set bait on the ground on a shallow depression. (In Michigan you could not use containers or barrels on public land) Covered bait with heavy logs. Then we racked a path around the bait 2 feet wide. Poured fryer grease in the path and smeared it around. When a bear came to the bait, he got that grease on his paws. When he left, he left a scent trail for other bears to follow.

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Nothing special is needed,If it smells like food they will find it

x2……mix what ever bait with used cooking grease .The bear get it all over their feet and leave a scent trail to the bait for other bear

Bait during 10am to 2

If possible, use a texting camera so you dont walk in on a bear at the bait

Put your stand between a beaver pond and a corn field I guess. I had 11 bear pictures one day and I am not baiting.

If you are hide hunting hunt the best trails just beyond a quarter mile from the dump.
Same as hunting over bait but way less work.
Here you cant hunt within a quarter mile from the dump.
That said I never hunted over bait but killed dozens of bears spotting and stalking both spring and fall in the burns and clearcuts.
I hunted for hides and meat.

We dont have dump bears in AR. I have been by dumps in canada that would have several bears at one time in the dump. I think our dumps are much better regulated. There is someone at most of them all the time. Our county does not allow household garbage to be thrown in the dump - only dry goods like furniture, old lumber, junk. Household garbage has to go to a different dump in another county where folks are covering it as it comes in. We either have garbage truck pick up or take it to a transfer station with large bins that are loaded on a truck. We cant just drive up to a big open dump and throw away household garbage.

I wish I could use cell cameras however there is NO cell service where I hunt. I have to treat my reveals like older cameras and just pull the card.

I was able to get 200 loafs of bread. 110 gallons of trail mix with candy,& waffle cones and cookies. I also got 55 gallons of caramel popcorn. I should be able to keep them happy if I can get them coming in.

Now I just need to build my bait barrel

I am not a bear hunter but I would sure think that would be good vittles for them. I mean, they eat dirty diapers for crying out load.