In P1, I gave some background of personal experience and a plan for dividing this theme into various logical sub-topics – hence:
In P2 we’ll have a look at: CHOOSING a Suitable and Secure LOCATION, and the TIMING of placing baits.
<The owner of this old farm was into heavy equipment, so it was no longer in use as a farm. But a neighbour had permission to put his cattle here for pasture, and we had to deal with that one season. But the property was divided into several fields and pastures by tree lines and natural bush. In addition there were four resident horses. A partner and I started hunting here in 2006 and with the exception of one year I hunted this property until 2015 – often alone and sometimes with a partner. As recorded by my trail cam, in 2015 I counted eleven distinct bears that were attending this single bait. A couple were nocturnal, two were sows with cubs, and others a mixture of some young bears with a few large ones. I shot a good bear in early October – it could have been the one in this pic. The camera was about 10 yards behind the bait, attached to a sturdy tree that was part of a thick bush and woodlot, from which the bears emerged. My tree stand was to the right at 85 yards in a line of trees that separated two fields. For orientation, this is the west side of the same field hunted early on, on the east side with tree stands to the south in the line of trees separating fields to the south and north of that tree line. At times (hunting alone) my stand was on the south side of that tree line, facing south, where I also shot a very good young 6-footer.
CHOOSING a SUITABLE and SECURE LOCATION
As in any successful business, it’s “location, location, location”! Among the most important items for business success are: reliable and excellent service, unvarying quality, successful marketing of those features, reputation and LOCATION! The best restaurant in Ontario didn’t get it’s reputation in the middle of “NOWHERE”! First, there must be people, lots of ’em! And it must be attractive and VISIBLE to “lots of people”. It can have the best gourmet food at a decent price with the best service possible, but if it’s located in the middle of a big city slum… who will go there that has the $$$ to afford it’s gourmet dishes! Give it less than a month and it’ll look like the rest of the slum!
I pass by a restaurant going and coming from my hunts in Haliburton Highlands. Just about every year it has changed hands… on occasion I’ve seen a car parked there; it’s in the middle of nowhere! I’ve never stopped because I’m moving along at about 100 km! It’s outward appearance has changed from time to time; new coats of paint, new signs, etc. The only way it could ever succeed in that location (on a highway to lake cottages for Torontonians) would be unusually fine gourmet dishes, an attractive flashing sign 1/2 mile in advance, Internet marketing and prayer!
And prayer isn’t a bad idea either in choosing a suitable and secure location for baiting bear for hunting purposes. The obvious locations are on either private or public lands. I’ve hunted both. From 1988 til 2004 it was all Crown Land (public) with one exception, then from 2005 to 2016 it was private property with one exception. Since then I’ve hunted Crown Land, when possible due to the Covid-19 thing and some physical reconditioning. In all, I’ve missed a couple of years, but I hunted both the spring and fall bear seasons until the spring season was closed or I’d taken a bear in the spring. So all together, I’m safe in saying I’ve hunted black bear during thirty-five seasons, the vast majority having been in the use of the baiting method, the first eight of which I hired the same outfitter-guide in NE Ontario close to the borders of Algonquin Park. That’s where and how I learned the baiting game. Those experiences were nearly evenly divided between hunting Crown Land and private property – 19 on Crown Land and 16 on private. What are the advantages and negatives of each, if any?
CROWN LAND (Available to residents without cost but with certain stipulations. Also to non-residents with a hired guide or outfitter.)
<My favourite site on Crown Land, used for many years and several bears.
Positives: 1) Less restrictions – options are greater. Searching for the best locations (will be discussed later) is possible years in advance for both residents and outfitters.
2) Natural surroundings that put bears at ease.
3) The surrounding area can be searched at any time for bear sign.
4) Natural products, such a branches, deadfalls and rocks can be employed for blind building materials.
5) Locating a stand or blind can be optimized for prevailing winds and sun location during the latter hours of daylight and as it sets behind trees or landscape. Also a second or even third blind can be built in varying locations with the bait still in view. That can confuse bears and take advantage of prevailing drafts or wind.
6) The more remote it is the more secure it will be.
Negatives:
1) Accessible by anyone travelling in the area, such as other hunters, hikers, fishermen, or even anyone looking to cause havoc. For those reasons I’ve never used a trail cam on Crown Land, and only once my ladder stand.
2) Finding a good, secure location away from easily travelled routes may be problematic in the retrieving of a downed bear.
PRIVATE LAND
Positives:
1) The most secure as usually fences can be locked and any unauthorised persons kept out.
2) Authorization by the land owner should be written and signed with agreed upon terms and conditions. Even if it’s a verbal agreement with a friend who will defend your presence on his property, it’s still wise to have it in written form. This provides security in a number of ways in case you are stopped by a CO for questioning your presence on private land, or another unknown hunter shows up there. He can be challenged to show his authorization by the property owner.
3) The private land should be a proven haven for black bears and/or other wildlife. Usually this is a remote, undeveloped piece of property bordering a water source, or farm land with a large woodlot and water source adjacent to remote Crown Land, or nearby.
4) Crops and/or some animals raised for profit, such as cattle and sheep, attract preditors including bears, and most farm owners are more than happy to have some hunters on their land who can care for that problem – if for one reason or another they can’t do it themselves.
5) If the hunter(s) is respectful of both property and owner, and is successful in harvesting a bear, he will be welcomed back!
6) Removable ladder stands and trail cams can be used without fear of them being meddled with or stolen – usually!
** In this regard, a hunter who is observant of a fence down and fixes it, or calls attention of the situation to the owner, or is helpful in other ways, will be gladly welcomed should other hunts on that property be available, such as for deer!
Negatives:
1) Some inconveniences such as gates, locks, fences, and remembering details of the agreement/contract, and any other implications therein.
2) Family members showing up unexpectedly or inconveniently at crucial moments of the hunt.
3) Domestic animals interfering with the bait setup! There were four hobby horses on the property we did bear hunts on for eight years. And YES, they got into the bait barrel – though sometimes it provided extra entertainment and was hilarious! And one of the four – the black one – got killed by an aggressive bear we were hunting!
The TIMING of BAITING
This has reference to WHEN to start the baiting process for a particular hunt, and how OFTEN thereafter.
A lot depends on the season, location and when the hunter schedules his/her hunt. We’ll discuss more of this when we talk about SOLO hunts vs. with an OUTFITTER or PARTNERS.
Assuming for the moment that it’s a DIY hunt, as I did for several years, the spring season commenced the middle of April, so I was out scouting by April 1st. The problem with that was, while at my home the snow and ice were usually gone, one hour further north there was still snow and ice in the timber of Crown Land, and many bears hadn’t yet emerged from their dens! So what was the big hurry? Actually, my first hunt was with an outfitter the 2nd week of May and it was hot! But here I’m speaking of my 1st original spring season, without an outfitter, and a few others following until I learned that baiting could wait until the snow and ice were gone! After a few seasons – both spring and fall – the spring season was shut down by our Premier who was intimidated by a wealthy industrialist who threatened to expose him as a “baby bear killer”! So, I was left with the fall hunt only, which proved to be sort of a blessing in disquise! I missed the nasty and infamous “black flies” of May, and didn’t have to rush anything! The fall season began Sept. 1st and I started baiting the middle of August, and did so for many subsequent years, even after the Spring Bear Hunt was restored.
As a general rule, I’d say, have the scouting done several months to a year in advance, and start the baiting process a few weeks prior to opening day if you intend to start then. If your hunt is later than opening day, then still plan on a baiting start at least a couple of weeks prior, and a full month in advance would be better still. There are several variables of course: the weather and natural food sources for bears (don’t try to draw them away from that, but bait nearby), etc. Too early in the spring can mean extreme cold and wet conditions, depending on where you live and hunt. Yes, we’ve experienced that too! That’s another reason I came to prefer a September-October hunt; better weather and no bad bugs and mosquitos.
How often during the hunt? And that depends also on a number of factors: A DIY hunt is usual because of logistics and economics. So it’s not a commercial operation that often is seen on YouTube or in a magazine production. The whole idea of a “Do-It-Yourself” is efficiency and simplicity. No huge dollars invested. A few smaller containers or a single barrel job will suffice (see pics). If I’m alone, and the site is within an hours drive, I check it twice weekly and that tells me everything I need or want to know: I then hunt over “fresh” bait (may be smelly – it needs to be) taking some with me on each visit.
< You can see where bears were coming for a visit and food (at 2 o’clock in the pic). They make and follow their own trails, and other bears will follow that too. I had just refreshed the site with stuff from home. Yep, a couple of bears got shot there. This was our first location for baiting on that old farm mentioned above. I chose it based on my eight seasons experience with the outfitter, Norm Easto, in NE Ontario.
<I could back right up to the bait site. Note the bear trail coming in at the bottom of the pic. This was the same private land. The bait was situated about 80 yards further north on the same side of the same field – about a year or two later. I wasn’t using a trail cam at the time.
<And this was my stand location.
Til the next: Black Bear Hunting over Bait – P3
Shalom: And a blessed Christmas time and a happy-healthy 2023!
BOB MITCHELL
Lovin' The Big Bang 