When 10am-2pm isn't an option

[john1984]

I've learned on here that you.should just bait between 10am-2pm.

So if you had to work from 7am- 330pm and your bait sites were between 20-30 miles from your work place. When would you bait???

Lets say living in WI too,,,, BUT,,,, you get the weekend's off.

What if you feel you need to bait during mid week??? What would you do? When would ya do it?

Last I year.I burned a few half vacation days that I had to borrow before I earned them, just to get out baiting earlier.


A lot of people gotta work during the day.

[dan]

I live over 3 hours from some of my baits... I bait weekends and take vacation for the 1st week of bear hunting. I would love to bait midweek. Thats just not reality for most of us.

[Bear Magnum]

I now live 2 hours from my main baitsite. Last year I would wake up at 3am on Wednesdays, drive up, get there at first light, load my baitsite up with about 50 gallons of bait, switch to my work attire, and drive to work, getting there on time. I would also bait Saturday's, getting to the bait at 10 am. No nocturnal bears, kept the baitsite full, shot a late season UP ~200lb boar.

[Bearman13]

We bait from 10am-4pm. Like to normally be done by 3 if we can. I have baited past 5 on remote baits we only bait once a week. Just load up your baits heavy.

[JAK]

I would agree with the bait heavy if you can't run baits during the week just don't get caught. But I've always tried to be in and out of all my baits just my preference. Had a friend who drew a tag last year and some times he was running him baits at 6 pm.. and as soon as that started his baits nocturnal.

[Hunt247365]

I would stick to weekends. I try to be done by 330 and sometimes push it to walking away from the last bait just after 4 but by Aug 3:00 is the latest I would go in. One thing I took note of from the guys I know who bear hunt but have a very hard time getting one is almost all of them bait after work at 5-6pm area and baits go cold or all nocturnal.

[BassBoysLLP]

I always bait in the morning. During the work days, I'm on the road before dawn and walking to the first bait in the gray light. Weekends are a bit more laid back but I don't like running baits in the heat, so I try to be done as soon as possible. I want my baits to be undisturbed in the afternoon....well until the first hunt.

I do make a fair amount of people noise when I bait. The woods can be very quiet in the morning. I'll have a conversaition with the woods on the way in many times to give the bears a chance to move off the bait and not be startled. This works well.

[dan]

When I have to bait in the evening I try to make enough noise that the bears can hear me coming. Last thing you want to do is surprise them. If you walk up on a big bear at a bait and spook him he likely ain't coming back. I have hits on my baits all day usually. From morning to evening, so its always a possibility of spooking a bear. I don't go in banging or yelling, but I don't try to be quiet either.

Going in during the morning or midday is more of a training thing to me. They come in more when your not around and generally well after you bait and leave. Some of my baits are getting baited right at 1st light, sometimes it ain't even light out yet. I would much rather they come in from noon till dark. I get up around 2 or 3 am when I bait and drive 3 hours to my 1st bait and then bait till noon or 1ish. My Wisconsin baits are spread over a couple counties.

We have all had some bears that listen to you bait then come right out as you leave. We had two bears 2 years ago that would come out pace around, snap there teeth and wait for us to back away and come in... I think that gets a lot of people to think all bears are like that, and there not, especially older wiser bears that have been hunted. The bigger older bears seem to like as little human interaction as possible.