Bear Warm Up and helpful Secrets

[Chris Conroy]

How far are your beds from the trail and bait?

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[BassBoysLLP]

How far are your beds from the trail and bait?

[ Post made via Android ]

I shoot for 100 yards but terrain can push you different distances. For a westerly set up like this one, I really want my best lay down area straight west of the bait. This gives you the option of setting up off bait if he stages downwind at dusk or tries to circle. However, in this case, I'm hoping he will come straight in for an evening hunt due to the thermals from the swamp hole.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Bearman13]

If it was me I'd have my stand back up against that beaver pond. Block him from circling. Another thing I've done, especially on a big pond like that is set my baits right in old beaver runs. Bears just walk right down the old runs.

Great thread.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[BassBoysLLP]

You don't necessarily need a water source nearby to have a great bait site for an archery hunter. Bogs and swamps create similar thermals at dusk that give an advantage to the archery hunter (green arrow) In fact, this is one of my most productive bear bait site types every year for bigger bears as I suspect they feel more comfortable have a scent advantage. This particular spot is set up for a south or southwest wind (blue arrow).

Yellow square is a cleared laydown location.
Orange dashed line is the boar's approach
Red dashed line is the baiting access.

This particular set up utilizes a fake ambush tree (orange star) that is set up during the baiting season. Yellow star is the ambush tree(s) only approached on day 1 of the hunt (tree should be picked on day of hunt based on wind direction)

[bowhunter15]

The aerial photos with your setups are great learning material. Post as many as you can!

[BassBoysLLP]

I love hunting small islands in the middle of large swamps. Especially ones like this one that don't appear on the topos, but can be picked out by carefully studying the aerial photography. I routinely get my most consistent daylight activity in these types of locations; however, they can be a challenge to hunt. Not all spots have features that give the hunter an advantage. In this particular case, I prefer to control their approach with a trail camera and bait stand and ambush off bait.

Blue Arrow = West Wind
Red Circle = Bait Site
Orange = Bear Trail/Approach
Yellow Star = Bait Stand
Yellow Diamond = Trail Camera
Blue Star = Kill Tree

[john1984]

Bass, in that last setup how many yards away is the kill tree from the bait?

[ Post made via Android ]

[BassBoysLLP]

Bass, in that last setup how many yards away is the kill tree from the bait?

[ Post made via Android ]

60 yards, but it could be farther depending on terrain.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Chris Conroy]

Bass, in that last setup how many yards away is the kill tree from the bait?

[ Post made via Android ]

60 yards, but it could be farther depending on terrain.

[ Post made via Android ]

Is that a stand for gun hunting?

[ Post made via Android ]

[BassBoysLLP]

Bass, in that last setup how many yards away is the kill tree from the bait?

[ Post made via Android ]

60 yards, but it could be farther depending on terrain.

[ Post made via Android ]

Is that a stand for gun hunting?

[ Post made via Android ]

All my setups are for bow. Sometimes a younger bear will come directly into the bait, listen, and tear into it, but the older bears most often circle downwind of the bait stand/tree stand. You can probably see this in your pictures already. I always get a bunch of but photos, even when the camera is upwind.

If I was gun hunting, I'd rather be as far as feasible off the bait. The strategy simplifies with firepower.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Mike Foss]

http://youtu.be/Tj-qnPdznlQ

[Mike Foss]

https://www.youtube.com/upload_thumbnai ... 4200727640

[Mike Foss]

[bbvideo=425,350]http://youtu.be/yA_uaS-PgU8[/bbvideo]

Cool but not so cool collared young wolf. Had wolves all over this bait station last year (County Land), but that didn't deter bears from coming in. A nice 260lb boar was shot on the second day.

[Terry]

On average, how long after you start baiting before you start getting bears on a regular basis?

[ Post made via Android ]

[Mike Foss]

Terry.....I cant speak for anyone else but I use an extreme amount of Bacon scent, when there is a nice breeze the aroma can be smelt a long ways away, this is really what gets the bears attention. Once they track down the source of where its coming from, ya got them. With in a day or two is how long it usually takes me to get a bear to hit one of my bait stations. Not every area is the same, I just happen to live in a very high populated area for bears.