Bears - hounds,bait, or calling??

Coyote Ugly

New member
Bear hunting opened hear in Idaho last Sunday. Is anyone out there chasing them with hounds or baiting them? I am setting up baits tomorrow if the snow isn't too deep.

I am going to try something this year. Normally, we have bears hitting our baits but they go nocturnal and we never see them. I know that these bears are laying close to the bait during the day. This sounds like a perfect scenario to use a call to coax them out.

Anyone ever tried that or have any ideas about it....?? RRM.
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[This message has been edited by Coyote Ugly (edited 04-21-2001).]
 
Robert,

Nice looking bear. That bear baiting is a blast. Lots of work, and takes lots of gasoline but it is worth it. I baited hard for 10 years and then had two kids and now I just don't have enough time to bait bears. I usually spend a week or so doing the spot and stalk thing now. I want to give calling a whirl here in a couple of weeks when I go.

Those nocturnal bears can give a guy fits. It seems like when they start coming at night they know something is up. Have you ever used any of those cheap trailtimers. We used them to find out what time bears were showing up and what day. I noticed when I was baiting that if a bear had to cross much open ground to get to the bait they usually came later in the evening. I had better luck getting them to show if there was plenty of cover to make them feel at ease coming into the bait during good daylight. I also had much better luck setting up baits as far away from any human intrusion as possible. It was lots of work to get bait a mile off the road but it paid off with bears coming in early in the evening. Is there water reasonably close by? Having a water source within a 1/4 of a mile or so always seemed to help me. I think on the bait diet makes bears need more water than when they graze on vegetation.

I never did try calling off a bait. Like you said lots of times the bears are most likely within hearing distance. Good luck to you. I hope ya get a big one.

Lonny

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Coyote ugly,

I don't claim to be any kind of expert at this or anything, but I have called in some bears over the years. Killed one of them, too. Call each stand for at least an hour. The bear I shot was close by for about 40 minutes before exposing himself. The last stand of the day will probably be the best one so call until it is too dark to see.

Any critter in distress sound can work. I have had them come in while cow calling for elk, fawn distress sounds work well, and the one I killed I called in with a lohman jackrabbit model.

Be sure to post us a picture.
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Daryl
 
Daryl's advice for calling bears is pretty sound stuff and pretty much tells it like it really is.

Follow it and be sure to post a photo of the results. Good luck...
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[This message has been edited by AzWill (edited 04-27-2001).]
 
A couple years back when baiting was still legal here, most of my buddies who were into it did what Lonny described. They would rig up one of those cheap trail timers and get the visit pattern down then show up a little early. If they go nocturnal I guess it won't do you much good. But as Lonny also said, by putting your bait in a location with a little cover, the bear is going to feel more secure and be more inclined to respond during the day. I have only called and killed one bear. Also called one by accident out of season. So I am certainly no expert in this area. Daryls post sounds like very good advice as Awill said. I try to give them an hour per stand. Timberking calls a lot of bear. He uses the Feather Flex fawn decoy and fawn distress cries off a Foxpro I believe. Just give them plenty of time. He has had great success with this method. Don't know if he posts here or not. He has some good pics. Ya out there TK?

Later, Curt
 
Pic test... Hope you don't mind me using your pic again Timberking. Just wanted to try out a different photo hosting site. Plus I just like seeing your bear pic posted every 6 months. Ha!
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Here it goes...
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