Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby dan » Tue Aug 30, 2022 9:51 pm

Getting close now... I have a few good bears coming in and some daylight activity but a lot of night activity. I do have one boar that Im quite sure is the boar I hunted in this spot the last couple times I hunted this area, that is guarding the bait from smaller bears... Hopefully he stays there and keeps on protecting it. How about the rest of you? Hows the baits looking?


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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby ihookem » Wed Aug 31, 2022 9:10 am

Mine are doing quite well , but I'm in Sawyer co. I baited mid June and didnt start up again but have 4 weekends of baiting so I didnt start back up till August. They found the bait very fast . I am sure there are a lot of bears in my area, but also sure I have one of , or maybe even the best spot in a few sq. miles. It is a goos spot for sure. We will see how good it is in a week from tomorrow. I really hope I get a bear the first day . If so , my son and I are going straight to Upper Michigan to fish for big northerns on the northern most part of Green Bay. It may sound strange but I cant wait to go fishing. There is no rime or reason for the way a guy thinks. I remember being so jacked up in 1999 when I was young. Now, my thoughts are , " I hope I get one the first day so I can go fishing. " Go figure.
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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Dewey » Wed Aug 31, 2022 9:38 am

ihookem wrote:Mine are doing quite well , but I'm in Sawyer co. I baited mid June and didnt start up again but have 4 weekends of baiting so I didnt start back up till August. They found the bait very fast . I am sure there are a lot of bears in my area, but also sure I have one of , or maybe even the best spot in a few sq. miles. It is a goos spot for sure. We will see how good it is in a week from tomorrow. I really hope I get a bear the first day . If so , my son and I are going straight to Upper Michigan to fish for big northerns on the northern most part of Green Bay. It may sound strange but I cant wait to go fishing. There is no rime or reason for the way a guy thinks. I remember being so jacked up in 1999 when I was young. Now, my thoughts are , " I hope I get one the first day so I can go fishing. " Go figure.


I can totally understand that thinking. Last year well before the rut I killed a buck I would have normally passed on only because I wanted to head up north musky fishing the first week of November. I missed the peak of the rut but never regretted it one bit.
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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Kelly49 » Sat Sep 10, 2022 4:33 am

ihookem wrote:
Mike Foss wrote:
ihookem wrote:I seem to be getting several bear to the bait. I am sure I have a big sow on the cam. However, there is another bear with it that is much smaller and quite certain it is a 1 1/2 yr old cub. Sometimes it is there with mom, sometimes I dont get it on the cam. Maybe it is off to the side , or is it mostly on it's own already. It is way bigger than a raccoon , so it is not a 6 month old bear. It is about the size of a black lab with short legs, likely around 50 lbs gutted. This is already a legal bear , however, I dont want to shoot the mom , even if the cub does not come in to the bait in a few weeks. I wonder if that bear would survive this winter if someone shoots the mom. I am pretty sure there are a few other baiters inside 1 mile. of me, even likely a few inside 1/2 miles from me . However, there is a good size swamp between me and the next road so bait is likely quite a ways away. I also have a bear come in that is pretty small. It might be the "cub" without mom, not sure . A few bears were very good size.

That 1 1/2 year old yearling already has been educated on how to survive, it would be just fine without it’s mother.


I suspected the same thing. His mommy is a very good size bear. I will however pass on the sow if the cubs come in with her. If they dont come in with her, I might shoot it, but would rather not ,,, ,,, but 1 1/2 yr old " cubs " don't stay real close to mom, they are at least 1.5 yrs old, maybe older . I think the final law is, if there are no cubs with her, it's a legal bear. However, I'd hate to shoot and then see little black streaks running away. That would bother me.


If they truly are 1 1/2 year olds they won’t be with the sow-she would have kicked them out this past summer during breeding season. If they still are with her in the pictures now they are cubs from this past winter.
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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Mike Foss » Sat Sep 10, 2022 4:59 am

Kelly49 wrote:
ihookem wrote:
Mike Foss wrote:
ihookem wrote:I seem to be getting several bear to the bait. I am sure I have a big sow on the cam. However, there is another bear with it that is much smaller and quite certain it is a 1 1/2 yr old cub. Sometimes it is there with mom, sometimes I dont get it on the cam. Maybe it is off to the side , or is it mostly on it's own already. It is way bigger than a raccoon , so it is not a 6 month old bear. It is about the size of a black lab with short legs, likely around 50 lbs gutted. This is already a legal bear , however, I dont want to shoot the mom , even if the cub does not come in to the bait in a few weeks. I wonder if that bear would survive this winter if someone shoots the mom. I am pretty sure there are a few other baiters inside 1 mile. of me, even likely a few inside 1/2 miles from me . However, there is a good size swamp between me and the next road so bait is likely quite a ways away. I also have a bear come in that is pretty small. It might be the "cub" without mom, not sure . A few bears were very good size.

That 1 1/2 year old yearling already has been educated on how to survive, it would be just fine without it’s mother.


I suspected the same thing. His mommy is a very good size bear. I will however pass on the sow if the cubs come in with her. If they dont come in with her, I might shoot it, but would rather not ,,, ,,, but 1 1/2 yr old " cubs " don't stay real close to mom, they are at least 1.5 yrs old, maybe older . I think the final law is, if there are no cubs with her, it's a legal bear. However, I'd hate to shoot and then see little black streaks running away. That would bother me.


If they truly are 1 1/2 year olds they won’t be with the sow-she would have kicked them out this past summer during breeding season. If they still are with her in the pictures now they are cubs from this past winter.
. Kelly49 Nope not true, those are 100% yearlings, even if she went into heat this year the sow wouldn’t kick them out, it automatically happens for safety reasons and they take a little vacation until momma is done being chased but they will definitely be together soon after. Not every sow goes back into heat every two years , probably, definitely, for sure every 3rd year, but not “Always” every 2 years. When it’s time for hibernation and the Sow decides she can survive throughout the winter with cubs it’s then she gets pregnant and those yearlings probably will have to find a different place to sleep for the winter. In all the years dealing with bears I have never seen yearlings without there mother unless something has happened to her.
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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Elite » Sat Sep 10, 2022 5:51 am

I had a big boar coming to my bait daily during daylight before the season started. He and all the bears just vanished since 9/6. I’m not even getting nighttime photos either. I never changed my baiting strategy. My thermals have been pulling down the small ridge away from the bait. Pretty discouraging for my first time bear hunting.
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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Findian » Sat Sep 10, 2022 5:58 am

I’m not bear hunting but my cell cams have shown the the bears and deer have switched over to acorns.
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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Mike Foss » Sat Sep 10, 2022 6:38 am

Elite wrote:I had a big boar coming to my bait daily during daylight before the season started. He and all the bears just vanished since 9/6. I’m not even getting nighttime photos either. I never changed my baiting strategy. My thermals have been pulling down the small ridge away from the bait. Pretty discouraging for my first time bear hunting.

Just hang in there and have patience, best part of the season is coming up when other bait stations dry up… just keep monitoring your baits and don’t change anything your doing, once when it gets hit again immediately Hunt it’s. Good luck
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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Ol Split ( ) Toes » Sat Sep 10, 2022 6:58 am

Mike Foss wrote:
Elite wrote:I had a big boar coming to my bait daily during daylight before the season started. He and all the bears just vanished since 9/6. I’m not even getting nighttime photos either. I never changed my baiting strategy. My thermals have been pulling down the small ridge away from the bait. Pretty discouraging for my first time bear hunting.

Just hang in there and have patience, best part of the season is coming up when other bait stations dry up… just keep monitoring your baits and don’t change anything your doing, once when it gets hit again immediately Hunt it’s. Good luck

Have to agree with Mike they will be back eventually. This is why I always tell people to run multiple baits, 3 minimum
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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby ihookem » Mon Sep 12, 2022 1:28 am

Yes , they will come back. I baited last Saturday , and there was not a spec of food left when I refilled on Tuesday morning. I come back to hunt the next day , on opening day and it was not touched . We hunted Wednesday ( opening day) and nothing. I We decide not to hunt Thursday due to the SE wind blowing right to the bait and the heat along with it not being hit. We go in to rebait Thursday morning and nothing again, Friday evening , not even touched, but we hunted there anyway but it rained the whole time we were there . We lasted 2 1/2 hours and it was pouring when we left . We did se a bear but did not come in nearly close enough. It was a really big bear, tall and long legs. It pased back and forth 3 times that we know of but after a while we were very cold and many rain jackets suck, mine did ok, my son was soaked through. We decide to hunt Saturday. It was perfect wind, and 5 mph, perfect wind, perfect temp of 64 degrees. The bait was hit, but we didnt know when. We didnt see anything Saturday so We decide to come home. The bait was hit @ 5 AM. Sat. morning. We are sure we did everything right. Layed off the bait , and didnt hunt with a bad wind that could shut the bait down. We think we have a big bear that gave the smaller bears a lesson cause its a bigger bear. To make matters even stranger , on Thur. when we didnt hunt, we went fishing. We come back and just by chance decide to check the trail in the yard. While we were gone, a bear game into the yard. Our cabin .7 mi. from the bait. It came in and smelled a bucket 50 yrds from the cabin. We think it smelled a filleted fish we threw in the woods and we had empty marinating sauce bottle on the deck. Now why would that bear be walking around in the yard at 11 AM and not touch my bait?? ? We walked up and down that trail 20 times and it didnt seem to bother him. The acorns are dropping, but I am real close to the few oaks in the area. Nothing made sense this last 4 days of hunting. We will try again next weekend if there is not too much rain in the forcast and will enjoy an early fall bear hunt instead of a hot summer hunt.
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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby ihookem » Mon Sep 12, 2022 1:28 am

Yes , they will come back. I baited last Saturday , and there was not a spec of food left when I refilled on Tuesday morning. I come back to hunt the next day , on opening day and it was not touched . We hunted Wednesday ( opening day) and nothing. I We decide not to hunt Thursday due to the SE wind blowing right to the bait and the heat along with it not being hit. We go in to rebait Thursday morning and nothing again, Friday evening , not even touched, but we hunted there anyway but it rained the whole time we were there . We lasted 2 1/2 hours and it was pouring when we left . We did se a bear but did not come in nearly close enough. It was a really big bear, tall and long legs. It pased back and forth 3 times that we know of but after a while we were very cold and many rain jackets suck, mine did ok, my son was soaked through. We decide to hunt Saturday. It was perfect wind, and 5 mph, perfect wind, perfect temp of 64 degrees. The bait was hit, but we didnt know when. We didnt see anything Saturday so We decide to come home. The bait was hit @ 5 AM. Sat. morning. We are sure we did everything right. Layed off the bait , and didnt hunt with a bad wind that could shut the bait down. We think we have a big bear that gave the smaller bears a lesson cause its a bigger bear. To make matters even stranger , on Thur. when we didnt hunt, we went fishing. We come back and just by chance decide to check the trail in the yard. While we were gone, a bear game into the yard. Our cabin .7 mi. from the bait. It came in and smelled a bucket 50 yrds from the cabin. We think it smelled a filleted fish we threw in the woods and we had empty marinating sauce bottle on the deck. Now why would that bear be walking around in the yard at 11 AM and not touch my bait?? ? We walked up and down that trail 20 times and it didnt seem to bother him. The acorns are dropping, but I am real close to the few oaks in the area. Nothing made sense this last 4 days of hunting. We will try again next weekend if there is not too much rain in the forcast and will enjoy an early fall bear hunt instead of a hot summer hunt.
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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Elite » Mon Sep 12, 2022 1:39 am

ihookem wrote:Yes , they will come back. I baited last Saturday , and there was not a spec of food left when I refilled on Tuesday morning. I come back to hunt the next day , on opening day and it was not touched . We hunted Wednesday ( opening day) and nothing. I We decide not to hunt Thursday due to the SE wind blowing right to the bait and the heat along with it not being hit. We go in to rebait Thursday morning and nothing again, Friday evening , not even touched, but we hunted there anyway but it rained the whole time we were there . We lasted 2 1/2 hours and it was pouring when we left . We did se a bear but did not come in nearly close enough. It was a really big bear, tall and long legs. It pased back and forth 3 times that we know of but after a while we were very cold and many rain jackets suck, mine did ok, my son was soaked through. We decide to hunt Saturday. It was perfect wind, and 5 mph, perfect wind, perfect temp of 64 degrees. The bait was hit, but we didnt know when. We didnt see anything Saturday so We decide to come home. The bait was hit @ 5 AM. Sat. morning. We are sure we did everything right. Layed off the bait , and didnt hunt with a bad wind that could shut the bait down. We think we have a big bear that gave the smaller bears a lesson cause its a bigger bear. To make matters even stranger , on Thur. when we didnt hunt, we went fishing. We come back and just by chance decide to check the trail in the yard. While we were gone, a bear game into the yard. Our cabin .7 mi. from the bait. It came in and smelled a bucket 50 yrds from the cabin. We think it smelled a filleted fish we threw in the woods and we had empty marinating sauce bottle on the deck. Now why would that bear be walking around in the yard at 11 AM and not touch my bait?? ? We walked up and down that trail 20 times and it didnt seem to bother him. The acorns are dropping, but I am real close to the few oaks in the area. Nothing made sense this last 4 days of hunting. We will try again next weekend if there is not too much rain in the forcast and will enjoy an early fall bear hunt instead of a hot summer hunt.



That sounds identical to my situation since opener!
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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Mike Foss » Mon Sep 12, 2022 5:25 am

You guys are doing everything just fine it’s up to the bears now, just hunt. Patience Patience Patience hang in there.
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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby ihookem » Mon Sep 12, 2022 9:18 am

Elite, where are you hunting? I am in Sawyer / Price co. Wis. so maybe we are close.
However, we did do ok fishing. My son caught an 18 3/4" smallmouth , our biggest we ever had out of the South Fork Flambeau , and we had the land for 33 yrs. now. I caught a 39" musky just by chance with a jig and twister tail . It was just by chance. We caught about 20 smallmouth on Tuesday ,the day before bear opener.
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Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby ihookem » Wed Sep 28, 2022 2:01 pm

I hunted 3 days on opening weekend and then hunted the last weekend for Wisconsin bear with bait. I saw 1 bear for a few seconds other than that we didnt see a bear . I went to bait on Labor Day weekend and came back Tuesday and there was nothing left of the bait. Tuesday we rebaited . Everything looked really good. We come to hunt on opening day ( Wednesday) and the bait was not touched. I was really puzzled. We only saw a deer opening day, and a darn big one too . The second day we didnt hunt due to wind , heat and the wind direction was not in our favor . We decided to not burn the stand out just to sit one day but we did go in to rebait, just to find it now did not get hit for 2 days. We hunted 3rd day, ( Friday) in the pouring rain. We did see a bear for just a few seconds. It was a very big bear and it was tall. It never came in. We decide to leave an hour and a half before closing cause the weather was only getting worse and raining harder all the time. We were soaked right through our rain gear. by 5;45pm. The next day was much better for wind direction and weather. We hunted again ( Saturday) and the bait got hit over night to find a bear came in @ 5 AM. My son and I decided we did the right thing by leaving. We did not want to have to look for blood in the pouring rain. On Saturday we hunted till dark and didnt see anything at all. We decide to go home and give the stand a rest. I cam back 11 day later to find the bait all gone and bear activity seemed pretty good. I rebaited on Thursday morning and thought I would do well. The bait did not get touched as of Saturday afternoon. I decided to call it off and not hunt Sunday at all. I figure if they were not hitting at night, they likely would not come in the daytime. My season ends tomorrow and I am done . It was the worst bear hunt our camp ever had. We always saw at least a bear the 1st few days except one time and that was 1995 when I hunted 5 days before seeing the 1st bear. It seemed if it could go wrong, it did. About 10 minutes before we saw a glimps of the bear , a big tree fell and crashed right behind us. I was grateful it did not hit us cause we could have been killed very easily. I am somewhat sure this is why the bear paced back and forth 10 min. after the tree crashed. Nothing went right on this hunt. One hunt , I looked at my bolt action to find the bolt half opened. The last day , 1 hr before close I remembered I forgot to put a round in the chamber. The day we decided not to hunt , ( the second day) We went fishing . We come back to camp and my son decided to check the trail cam in the yard . We look through to find a nice bear on the cam while we were fishing. We walked all over that yard back and forth to the river . We think it may have come around cause we grill steaks a lot, and my son caught an 18 3/4 " smallmouth and we kept it. He tossed it in the woods about 30 yds from the trail cam. It is very strange that a bear would come in the yard with all our scent at 10:40 AM to boot. Very strange bear hunt. It is sad that I am 59 now and may very well be my last bear hunt in Wisconsin. My son gets a tag next year if he wants to . I did catch a 39" musky while jigging for smallmouth however, and my son caught is biggest smallmouth . We did catch quite a few smallmouth in the river though. I still think this stand is a very good spot, however, as we all know, you can think you have the best spot in the area and it just does not pan out. I did have more bear activity I ever had though.


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