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Post by mack11 on May 20, 2016 15:04:25 GMT -4
For those who use barrels what do you prefer and why. I could see metal being able to stand up to the bears more and maybe the noise of them could attract more bears but I find the plastic easier to work with and a lot lighter to move in. Love to hear others input.
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Post by tuketu on May 21, 2016 14:41:05 GMT -4
Hey Mack11 ...you're right on both counts.
I've used both and still do. A couple of things you may want to consider is that, whatever you're using, you're going to want it to be easy to fill. That's why I prefer the steel drums with the cover and ring that bolts on. I do have one heavy plastic barrel I use with half the top cut out . I've rigged it so that I can chain a steel lid to it .
The type of bait you will be using will also help determine how big the access hole should be. you don't want a huge hole for small bait. you're going to want them to work for it. With too large a hole your bait will disappear quickly. Myself using bread , pastries , apples an 8" hole is plenty big. If you're using grains and corn a 3" hole is plenty big. The bears will roll the barrel and get a little bit at a time ... these are what the guys call shaker barrels.
Here's some of my shaker barrels which I've adapted so that I can vary the bait from large to small by changing the access hole. I welded some hinges to the top of these barrels along with some bolts so I can tighten done the tops with wingnuts.
 Here's my barrels in action. Notice the bolt on rings for the lids. The barrel to the left that faces you has the hole cut just a tad too big.  Plastic barrel with steel lid.  I just love throwing this picture in. This bear really caught onto the idea of a Shaker barrel.  One last piece of advice is to tether your barrels with light chains ... or you'll have to go looking for them every time you bait. tuk d 1
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Post by mack11 on May 21, 2016 14:59:20 GMT -4
My bait will be bread have about 400 old loaves in the freezer, have 100+ pounds of popcorn kernels to pop some old Timmie's doughnuts and some dog food. Also have about 10 5gallon buckets of fryer oil. I have one drum (plastic) with a 6" hole cut that I will use with the popcorn and dog food. Will cut a bit bigger hole in the metal for the bread and pastries.
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Post by skeeter on May 21, 2016 16:29:18 GMT -4
mack
metal barrels are the way to go. they're weldable. fixable. biodegradable. stronger. noisier.
since you're new to this you could save yourself a lot of headaches if you took advice from some of the old timers here. The best barrel for you IMO is a roller barrel. a single 2" hole is ALL YOU NEED. trust us. From your bait list I would mix 1/2 barrel tims/dog food with 1/2 barrel of bread. Use one squeeze bottle of chocolate or caramel or maple syrup drizzled over the bread. You could add a packet of jello powder. THAT'S IT! Pour your grease up on the trunks of trees - works as a call lure and attractant. Only do trees on the opposite side of the bait away from your treestand. NOT in front of the barrel. IMO do not pour the grease into your bait! it will go rancid and is not necessary.
remember to add a few rocks to your barrel to pulverize and blend your bait.
don't outthink yourself here and try to understand that MORE is not better.
keep us posted and good luck!
skeeter
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Post by tuketu on May 22, 2016 9:01:09 GMT -4
Great advice skeeter !
The only problem I've encountered with the small hole is that even tho I've added decent sized rough stones the bread and sweets still had a tendency to clump and not get out of the barrel.
Another thought to share ... My black plastic barrel is extra heavy duty, a lot of the blue and white barrels are of a thinner build and the bears can easily collapse them. Color can be an issue as well ... the Blue and White barrels do stand out in the woods and make it easy for other hunters to spot.
You'll be surprised how quickly your barrel(s) will be emptied, that's why I went to 3 barrels. This load will last me about 3 days ...if I'm lucky!
Both Skeeter and Pipepusher use the elevated barrel method in an attempt to discourage younger,smaller bears from taking all the bait. By elevating the barrel on a tree the smaller bears cannot reach and are only left with any crumbs that larger bears may leave behind.
And HEY ! ...Who you callin' Old Timer ?
tuk
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Post by skeeter on May 22, 2016 9:31:19 GMT -4
Great advice skeeter !
The only problem I've encountered with the small hole is that even tho I've added decent sized rough stones the bread ans sweets had a tenency to still clump and not get out of the barrel.
d 1 really?
I've gone down to 2" hole after trying every size between 2" to 8" anything bigger then 3" and the cubs get in up to their armpits and they'll clean you out. I put in donuts, bagel, buns, and those 10" long chibota buns. My barrel is usually emptied within a week 10 days at the most. BUT you need a bear that's big enough to roll the barrel. Smaller bears will struggle and that may be the reason yours are not empty. BUT they will still work the barrel. They're bears and as long as there's food and they get something they're happy. heck they flip rocks all day just to eat bugs and salamanders. So I guess my answer to you is do you want to see your barrels empty feeding the wrong bears? doing so only increases the amount of bait you need and the work that goes with it. Bigger holes only encourage the bear to pull all the bait out and get selective. There's a reason why there's so much bait scattered on the ground. Scattered bait is varmint/raven heaven. Again a lot of wasted bait not to mention 2,000 pictures of birds on the cameras. Also, if all the bait gets pulled out of the 8" hole then why even bother with a barrel - might as well just dump it on the ground.
Tuk something to think about. if you only have so much bait and effort for 5 bait sites and you're getting the wrong bears. maybe the smaller holed barrels using less bait will allow you to put in 8 baits, cover more area for the same investment of time/effort/bait. and hopefully get the right bear.
I used to love to brag about how many different bears I had on a bait BUT if wore me down and the biggest lesson from that was we rarely got BIG bears on those spots.
bears are solitary animals by nature and do not herd up. Older bears have had more time to become even more solitary. A bait site with numerous bears IS NOT a natural occurrence in their world - sows cubs yearlings actually put off an older, lazier, slower, fatter, boar. Like an old man he just doesn't need the headaches or bullshyt. He will move on - seeking food, peace and quiet.
BUT in hindsight any bait-site of any configuration that has bears is working - RIGHT! You as the hunter, need to think things through and figure out what results you'd like to see.
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Post by tuketu on May 22, 2016 14:05:21 GMT -4
Thing is Skeeter I'm only running one bait for myself. And yeh you're right, a lot of bears eat a lot of bait, but when you live only about 20 km from your bait site that helps a lot. I'm a little ...ok ...a lot apprehensive to try something new when what I'm doing is working. I do have a small number of shooter bears and have passed on them waiting out the big boy I have on the tcam.
And yes ... I would certainly have to agree with your observations regarding the social dynamics of bears.
Bear hunting for me is more than just about scoring on a big bruin, I really enjoy watching them interact when at or near the bait site. It also shows me the diversity of the bear population. Don't get me wrong if a big bear presents an opportunity ...I'm all over it, but I'm quite content to harvest a 200 - 250 lb bear.
There's no question bear baiting is labour intensive and can be hard on the wallet, but I enjoy it.
It's about the tranquility of spending the day in the woods, sitting in my treestand , the smell of the forest, a light breeze as it sways my perch ...geez I think I need a nap!
Certainly gives me something to think about over the next few months Skeeter.
tuk
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Post by skeeter on May 23, 2016 8:12:29 GMT -4
Thing is Skeeter I'm only running one bait for myself. --live only about 20 km from your bait site that helps a lot. I'm a little ...ok ...a lot apprehensive to try something new when what I'm doing is working. I do have a small number of shooter bears and have passed on them waiting out the big boy I have on the tcam.
And yes ... I would certainly have to agree with your observations regarding the social dynamics of bears.
tuk
d 1
tuk
you're lucky to live so close.
I can probably say with 95% certainty that if I lived close to my bear woods - I would probably never have gone down the paths I have.
Some of the crap I've done has been from desperation! Like most hunters - after getting numerous bears I began to dream of bigger bears - OK - call it an obsession! BUT it has been raised to a new level - a curse!
Last year when we talked you were just about ready to give 'er up. The bait volumes and effort was wearing you out. And you live close!
try driving 4 hours one way and baiting 4 to 8 sites - all with multiple bears! The only reason I didn't have more was because the truck and trailer were maxed out! All this was carried in with backpacks. It always seemed uphill! One season with me and the boys had leg muscles like bullfrogs.
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Post by mack11 on May 23, 2016 11:50:46 GMT -4
Curious Skeeter as to why so many bait sites?
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Post by tuketu on May 23, 2016 12:39:19 GMT -4
Honestly Skeeter if I had to do what you and Pipepusher do I don't think I'd be bear hunting.It certainly explains your obsession with bait barrels, but I know you're really onto something great.
For me to get bait I was getting up at 4:30 am every morning and driving to pick up half bag of sweets, and driving about 180 kms round trip every three or four days for bread ... so yeh doing that for about three months starts to wear thin.
I concur with Mack11 ... Why so many sites ? Are you Guiding?
tuk
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Post by skeeter on May 24, 2016 9:55:48 GMT -4
NO! I'm not guiding! Maybe I should be?
Anyway Mark and I and our sons make us a group of 4. We currently bait 5 sites. My rule to any group is 2 baits per hunter! This is to guarantee at least one good bait per hunter. A dead bait or two and a couple baits with sows & cubs will sure whittle down the number of HUNTABLE baits. How do you feel when you're the 4th guy in a group and you lost the card cut. Sitting on a bait with sows/cubs (toupee's) /and yearlings (toilet seat covers).
I break my own rules because I'm trying to prove out my theories.
Lot's of failures but the successes are coming. If I can reduce bait consumption then maybe we'll toss in a 6th bait. If there's room on the truck and I'm going anyway then why not. The more area we can cover the more chances we have at getting in - Mr. Right.
tuk
all my bait gathering is within 2 miles of my house. Yours is quite the trip. But my bait-site runs are 4 hours one way. So I guess we're in the same boat. Bait is not free and bait conservation should be a priority. Even if a guy is buying bait - dog food - sweets, etc. Why buy twice as much??? And the effort required to get it all in there!
This is what I tell Mark all the time - "We're getting too old to cover up stupidity with effort." ' I'm lucky to have Mark as a hunting partner. He buys into what we're trying to do. accepts the constant changes/tweaks to the system. He shares all the costs for experiments etc etc. And he is just as determined and driven as me to make this work.
We hunted a LONG time just like everybody else and got the same results as everybody else.  toilet seat covers! now we're seeing bedspreads! much better! 
here's a new bait-site we put in may 12. brand new - we moved Pat's bait 1 km away because of conflicts and vandalism with some campers.
tree wrap is on, barrel hoist is done, roller/teaser barrel off to the left. (also for bear sizing) we only bait the roller once to get the site active.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2016 12:11:30 GMT -4
Hanging on every word gentlemen. Having no baiting exposure, almost every sentence presents a new morsel to chew on. The college of the woods, keep it coming!
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Post by mack11 on Jun 9, 2016 17:53:53 GMT -4
So hanging the stink bucket and placing a camera out Saturday. Had some old deer steaks in the bottom of the freezer I must have missed so I threw them in a bucket with a 10lb bag of old freezer brunt shrimp and a bag of old fish fillets. Covered up about half way with water put the lid on and duct taped the lid on. Used about 50 feet of tape I would guess and the smell is just oozing out of the bucket. Had it in the back of my truck for the past 3 weeks and people in parking lots are starting to look with disgust when I drive by and they get a whiff. Will take this out along with an old roadkill beaver I picked up on my way home from work the other day. Hopefully the smell will draw them in because I can't take it in my truck any more. One bonus is I am hunting 10 minutes from my house and there has been several bear sightings around the last couple days. Should I put a barrel out now and leave it empty for the bears to get used to or do they get skiddish of new things like some animals?
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Post by tuketu on Jun 10, 2016 12:24:44 GMT -4
Stink bucket is all you need right now if your just testing the waters for bears . I wouldn't worry about the bears being shy of the barrel ... once you put food in it they won't waste any time getting it out.
I'd be more concerned about someone finding your spot and pirating or piggybacking off your hard work come this fall. For now the less obvious your site is the better. I even go so far as to use black or green stink buckets so they are less visible to passerby's ! They also heat up quicker in the sun to get the stink brewin'.
tuk
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Post by mack11 on Jun 10, 2016 17:45:29 GMT -4
I'm not to worried about others using it. On a friends land where no one will be. I have scouted this area and hunted it a bit before for deer and never have I seen a single person or even sign of them. Should be good for a while. Last spot was shady and people were just walking in and looking I don't know how many "visitors" I had on my camera.
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toilet seat covers! now we're seeing bedspreads! much better! 
