Bear hunt on the San Juan or Lasal advice please

jessewilliams

Member
Messages
6
Hi all. Long time lurker, and I don't remember my old username or password. I have 10 points for bear, and I think that I'll draw a bear tag. I put in for San Juan as my first choice, and the Lasal mountains for my second choice. The hunt that I put in for is bait, and weapon.

I have a lot of experience bow hunting on the Manti and on the Pine Valley unit for deer.

I'd like some advice on how to set up a bear bait. I don't know what to do or even where to start. You tube has been helpful with how to set up a bait station.

Are any of you willing to help with pointing me in the general direction of where to set up a bait station on the San Juan mountains? Thanks in advance.
 
If you draw a tag, go down when the dog hunt is going and see where they are hunting. Find a good canyon with water and set a bait. I really doubt there are many spots down there that don't have bears near by. Use some stinky stuff to get their attention. I like rotting carp and a sock filled with oatmeal that has Anise oil pored on it hung up high in a tree so the wind carries the scent. Then add the bait. pretty much anything will work. I make a huge batch of homemade syrup to pour over everything to sweeten it up. I also like fry grease poured all over everything. The bears get the oil on their paws and make scent trails leading back to the bait. I like to make a fence out of logs in a V shape. I put the bait in the point of the V so that i can control where the bear goes to eat.
 
I killed a bear on this same hunt last year and it was one of the funnest hunts I've ever done. You can pick just about any given canyon, stream, pond etc and there will be bears to bait. Just make sure you're at least 200-300 yards off the road or they'll only come in at night. I had my bait out for 2 weeks before the hunt and killed my bear opening day. I used 50 lbs bags of pig feed for the bulk of the bait and mixed in cake and popcorn (making sure to mix it well so they can't just pick through the hog pellets and pick out the good stuff) and poured used fry grease over the bait. I had 8 different bears hitting the bait daily. Good luck and keep us updated!
 
I also burned honey, sardines and koolaid mix in an old pan until the smoke turned black to really get a long distance scent out there. Fun fun hunt
 
They also love suckers.

66566stc0037.jpg
 
Thanks for the tips guys. I'm really excited to get over there and hunt. I'll know within a couple weeks if I get to hunt or not.

Was there one side of the mountain that was better than the other? Or are there truly that many bears on the mountain?

Thanks,
Jesse
 
There is a staggering amount of bears here. I've lived here for 7 years and I've seen over 20 bears per year all 7 years just out glassing and hiking. I actually kept count a few years back and ended up glassing 36 bears in one year. But elk ridge has a lot more accessible country. The abajo side has very few roads and I doubt you want to pack that much bait very far
 
>Where did you get your used
>fry grease from?

I got it from a local burger joint. Some of them actually wouldn't give it to me because they had some recycling company that takes it but just ask around and you'll find someone that wants to get rid of it.
 
I'm planning to purchase a few trail cams. Has anyone had any luck with the Stealth cams? They seem to be fairly inexpensive and the pictures I've seen online look clear. I'd take any guidance on trail cams (within budgetary reasons obviously) that I can get.

The picture of that chocolate colored bear is awesome!!
 
You better hope your draw in the next couple of years.With there new spot and stalk hunt,better known as drive around and shoot from the truck tag.There is 45 tags for this hunt and in a few years they will kill all the sows from the road and people will call this a great hunt.As far as trail cams go they have come a long ways the last few years they are all pretty good.Good luck I hope you draw
 
>You better hope your draw in
>the next couple of years.With
>there new spot and stalk
>hunt,better known as drive around
>and shoot from the truck
>tag.There is 45 tags for
>this hunt and in a
>few years they will kill
>all the sows from the
>road and people will call
>this a great hunt.As far
>as trail cams go they
>have come a long ways
>the last few years they
>are all pretty good.Good luck
>I hope you draw


I wouldn't worry about the spot and stalk hunt. It's a very low success rate hunt. The time of year makes it a very difficult hunt. There's always less than 5 bears taken and sometimes only 1 out of 45-50 tags.
 
The last time I was at Juan two years ago, there was a dead cow 200 yards off the road near Bear's Ears. Every time we came past the spot there was at least one bear eating on the cow, and sometimes two. Years ago, I found a dead cow at Juan that had just died giving birth to a calf. Two days later, there was nothing left but a few bones and a lot of bear tracks.

If you can find a dead cow with any meat left on it, you're in business.
 
Thanks Bugleb. I'm making a trip to the San Juan around the 1st of May. Hopefully, some of the snow has melted off. I'll make sure that I keep my eyes out for anything dead.
 

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos
Back
Top Bottom