marshmallows and bears

smitty · Apr 7, 2013

I'm going to try my hand at baiting for the first time this year. I've hunted over bait in Canada before, but I don't have the luxury of beaver carcasses and 25 year old bait sites.

I'm going with a basis of crushed corn and fryer oil, with some sow in heat sent sticks. I'm guessing the bears will get tired of the corn after awhile, I've heard peanut butter is a nice treat for them, but again, I don't have access to large amounts of Jiffy.

I'm thinking about marshmallows sprinkled on the ground. I know bears like sweets, so hopefully this works.

Any other ideas? I've gotta pack in my bait, so it's gotta be as portable as possible.

Thanks.

rmanwill · Apr 7, 2013

You have a good start. Add dry dog food and jelly mix at your site and mix it all together. Both are very packable.

lang · Apr 8, 2013

LAST EDITED ON Apr-08-13 AT 08:46AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Apr-08-13 AT 08:46?AM (MST)

What you use isn't very important. Just keep in mind you have to #1 get them there, #2 fill them up, #3 bring them back. Tough to beat bread if packing very far and if you can get expired stuff. We usually use sweet feed for our base feed these days. It lasts longer than dog food, and still easy to pack. For scent we hang something ripe in a cloth sack between trees, usually meat/grease combo that's sat in the sun in a garbage bag a couple of days before hanging. Marshmallows are fun just cause you can line them up and they will pick them up with their claws one at a time.

UGAhunter · Apr 8, 2013

Where you hunting Smitty? Did you draw a Utah tag or are you heading north to the land of opportunity (Idaho)? If your packing in a ways, popcorn is light, smells good, and keeps em hungry. I could probably help you with some bagels and bread if you could use it, let me know.

Ivan

smitty · Apr 9, 2013

I'm headed to idaho Ivan. I don't even bother putting in for Utah. Maybe I should? Yeah, let me know on the bagels and stuff, sounds like bread is a nice treat for them.

lang · Apr 9, 2013

Popcorns great if you have a barrel for it for it otherwise crows clean you out real quick.

greatbasin · Apr 10, 2013

I've used marshmallows sprinkled all around on the ground to get a bear to turn into a good shooting position.

HayZeus · Apr 11, 2013

Bear crack works great and it takes them a little longer to clean it up. It also smells for a long time.

FullCryHounds · Apr 19, 2013

Try spraying down your popcorn with heavily sweeted cool aid. Best of both worlds. If you're using a barrel, hang some chains over the hole to keep the ravens from cleaning you out. They will jump right in the hole if they can.