Fast Action Baits - For Houndsmen & Bait Hunters

In some areas, you have a short time to get your baits working. Here are some strategies for firing them up fast and keeping the bears coming. by Bernie Barringer

Here in Minnesota, the date you can bait bears is the Friday two weeks before opening day. Through the years 2000 until about 2013, I could draw a bear tag most every year in Minnesota’s Area 45, and several members of my family and friends would also draw tags. That was before the new law that limited the number of baits to three baits per license. The woods were full of bear baits to say the least.

I baited mostly on public land, and even though I would keep to lands outside of the state forests where the pressure was the worst, most every one of my baits had another bait within a mile or two of it. In order to get bears to my baits and hold them there so I didn’t lose them to another baiter, I developed specific techniques for these hyper-pressured situations. Even in areas with much less pressure, these techniques have stood the test of time and have helped me pull in more bears in a short time. Once I get the bears there, I can out compete the other baiters with quality bait and lots of it, and by using strategies that minimize the odds of turning a bear nocturnal, but that’s a story for another time. Another application for these techniques is for hounds men. Many hounds men travel long distances to bait and need to get one started quick. Let’s talk about a few effective ways to get the bears on your baits quickly.

THE IMMENSE VALUE OF LOCATION

If you’ve read my past writings you know how important I feel location is. Being near water is key, and if you can get your baits around natural food sources that ups your odds of getting them within nose range of your baits because most bear find the baits with their nose first. Get upwind of a swamp where bears can spend the warm summer days and try to use funnels or pinch points, terrain features and edges that will direct a bear’s travel and put the bait in thick cover close to where the bears are already traveling.