Bear pics

[Iowa1]

I realize this is a whitetail site but I did this last year and everyone seemed to be okay with it. The bears are hitting the baits well and the season opens this Friday. Some of these pics are what you do not necessarily want to see at the baits. One is a sow with three yearling cubs and a different sow with two yearling cubs coming to the same bait. The one with the sow and little cubs is a different bait altogether. The big bear is a real monster but he has not shown himself during shooting hours yet.

And of course you have the ever-present coons.

 

[Shon]

Cool Pics. I'd love to go up to MN and hunt a bear. Are tags pricey?

Shon

 

[DOR]

196$ for NR

 

[NWBuck]

$196 used to get you 2 tags, but I think it's back to 1 now. One of those "must do" hunts in every bowhunters lifetime

NWBuck

 

[blake]

Great photos, thanks for sharing them.

I have got to try one of those blackie hunts soon. I have been wanting to go for many years, I just need to do it.

 

[DOUBLE LUNG]

I would love to put the hurt on a bear sometime in my life. It may be something that I have to check into for next year.

 

[Iowa1]

They only allowed two bears for just one year if I remember correctly, I think it was 2001. Minnesota is trying to trim the bear population down and has experimented with some different things. Most people are not as addicted to this as I am and once they shoot a bear they kinda lose interest, especially when a shoulder mount is $700-$800 and a rug is even more. It takes a HUGE amount of work and time to take care of the baits every day, and no small amount of cost. You have to be set up for it (I have six large deep freezes) and it's almost impossible to find bait for free. The meat is really good but few people know how to fix it properly and it is not as well regarded as it should be.

Still, there is a lot of competition out there and success rates are not that high.

For me, I just can't wait to get out and check the baits each day and look at what the trail cams have on them.

 

[Ghost]

That's cool and thanks for sharing the pictures!

 

[NWBuck]

Iowa 1,

They did issue two tags in 2001 because we went that year. Didn't really matter for us as we filled the first tags on night 1 and didn't see another bear the rest of the week. We found a guy out by Hastings who sold 50 gallon drums of crushed cookies...much like vanilla wafers. It worked well when mixed with a few other ingredients, and was reasonably priced. Much easier than chasing bait all summer.

We debated on whether to put trail cameras over active baits, but didn't, fearing it might keep bears away after awhile. Have you noticed any of this? Good luck Friday...sounds like weather is going to be cooler over the weekend, so that should certainly help

NWBuck

 

[Iowa1]

I would be interested in the crushed cookies if I could track down where to get them. This year I have been using chocolate covered cherries a lot. I got 1000 pounds of them but it looks like I am only going to use about half. The chocolate seems to go a long way and they will only eat so much of it. I also use dog food, sunflower seeds and meat scraps. They really like the tallow and suet but you have to make sure you don't put it out until the bears are coming in every day or the meat will spoil and you will ruin your bait with maggots.

I used to have a large grocery store that would give me all their outdated pastries (that's why I have all the freezers) but they quit doiing it when they got a new bakery manager. I really miss them they worked really well.

I try to keep 4-6 baits going and that takes a lot of bait.