Should I Be Concerned

Broadside_Shot · May 16, 2012

I have been baiting bears now for 3 weeks. I have 4 bears hitting one of my baits. They have all been coming in during the night. I took a chance and sat in my blind Saturday night and luck would have it. The Chocolate bear from the trail camera came in at 7:30 p.m. I tried to get him but my arrow clanked my rest and he whirled and took off before the shot. Dang!!!

My question though is I went and restocked bait three days later and all the bears were hitting again so it didn't scare him much but the very last photos I had were 4 different hounds sniffing around my bait for about 20 minutes.

Will the bears be gone or will they still come in?

UGAhunter · May 16, 2012

I'm sure they'll be back. Last spring I inadvertently chased, and killed a bear with hounds out of an area where someone else was baiting (we did not know they were baiting there). The baiter later emailed me and said there were no bears for hitting his bait for 2-3 days after I killed my bear. But the bears showed up again and he harvested one a week later.

My worry if I were you would be that the hound hunters may return to the area. That would suck to have them run through your bait site while you were sitting in the stand. Is your bait close enough to the road that hounds could strike it while driving by? If not they probably trailed a bear that crossed a road on its way to dinner at your bait.

Broadside_Shot · May 16, 2012

I thought is was far enough from the road. From where I hike into it, it is 1 1/4 miles from the nearest road. 2 hours is the quickest I can hike into it, stock it and hike out. I set it in a canyon where I thought all the natural breezes shouldn't take the smell toward the road. But I don't know this is only my first time hunting bears. I hope it doesn't ruin my chances. I have put more effort into this hunt than any other I have been on.

Ike · May 16, 2012

A good boar might make a three to five mile loop and cross several roads before it comes back to your bait. Another issue is if that bait is up wind from a road on the morning thermals, if it is you'll have more trouble cause my hounds will rig a bear half a mile up canyon on the breeze, sometimes they'll make it to the track and sometimes not. I always tell baiters go as far as you can away from the road and then go a little further. By the end of May a trophy boar is probably traveling and checking for females miles beyond his normal or earlier spring walks.

brettguymon · May 17, 2012

They will be back as long as there is something there to eat.

Silentstalker · May 17, 2012

Keep the faith man. The hunt is never over till the license expires!

Broadside_Shot · May 21, 2012

I sure hope that all houndsman aren't represented by the two that I met this weekend. I think my two bait stations are ruined. The bears have just up and left or decided that the food just wasn't to there liking i guess. Very frustrating

Smiley · May 21, 2012

I have been able to run baits more than once a day with hounds . Not always the case but frequent enough. If the bears have not come back it is not because of the dogs.

Broadside_Shot · May 21, 2012

The one station hasn't been hit since tuesday. Before that I had one bear living on it for 9 days all night long. I have been back three times and found hounds in the canyons acting like birds dogs running up every canyon around with no sign of the houndsman.

The other bait has had dogs come through every morning for the last 5 days, bears would come in at night after being chased all days but there visits have become less frequent each day until the last day only one bear came in for two minutes at 4:30 in the morning only to be ran at the crack of daylight by the dogs again.

swbuckmaster · May 23, 2012

Sounds like you need to catch a few of these mutts and hold them for awhile. By the sounds of it I would say a hounds man is running the dogs off your bait pile every day.

I know where his bait piles are because ive packed a fair share of it. Its not in an area where a hound is going to get a good sniff in the morning from a road without the hounds man knowing there is a pile in the area. My guess is he has seen you packing in bait and knows he can run the dogs off of it and just play stupid when confronted.

Sucks to have a good pile and a one shot chance and have someone ruin it training there dogs off of it.