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Post by tuketu on Aug 18, 2016 8:39:27 GMT -4
Ah Come On Skeeter ...The suspense is Killing Me !
Whacha got? Whatcha got ? Whacha Got?
tuk
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Post by skeeter on Aug 18, 2016 12:20:55 GMT -4
Tuk What the heck you even started the post for me? Skeeter 2016? pretty nervy!
Anyway I did not get up Tuesday as planned - torrential rains predicted. soooo I went up WED (yesterday). It was a long day. Left at 5am - got through Toronto traffic - and was in the woods around 9:30.
All 5 baits were started on July 27. Each bait consisted of a roller barrel (this is a primer/teaser/activator barrel for us). The roller barrel is non-discriminatory and bear of any size have access. Just like the methods used by almost every bear baiter out there. Our suspended barrels we also 3/4 filled at this time. Once out target bear shows up the roller barrel is never baited again! Only a bear (big) that can access the SKEETER BEAR VENDOR (suspended barrel) is going to get fed. All the rest can go elsewhere (maybe on your bait - don't care - just leave).
So here's the rundown from my notes after 3 weeks.
Bait #1 (unnamed) roller barrel empty. 2 or 3 different smaller bears started on the roller from July 28th onward. Aug 10 Mr. Big showed up. smaller bear activity began to lessen and Mr. Big's activity increased. definitely a shooter. The SBV had about 1/3 bait left. We filled SBV right to the top! We will return in 2 weeks time.
Bait #2 PAT this is a new bait at this site. The old PAT bait got vandalized last year so we moved it 1.3 miles away. There was small bear action with a few yearlings and a small sow and 2 cubs. The roller barrel was empty. The SBV was basically untouched. We topped off the SBV since we were there anyway.
Bait #3 MARK - roller empty and SBV empty. A couple borderline shooter males (325 to 350ish) and a monster. SBV was filled right up.
Bait #4 SKEETER - roller empty and SBV empty. a few smaller bears started in the first week and then the big one showed up. SBV filled up.
Bait #5 SCOTTY - roller empty and SBV empty. smaller bears at first and now another trophy on this one too! SBV filled.
Soooo ... 3 weeks in and I'm happy with the results. The modifications we made (trial and error) are working. We're sitting on 4 shooter bears at 4 sites. AND when I say shooters I mean 425+ . we don't bother with the 300lbers. they're just meat bears! I know this sounds like I'm nuts but once you see these animals and know they exist it kinda gets in your blood. We've been working on our presentation for years hoping to get these results. These results in NO WAY mean that these bears will be killed. Bears like this are smarter then all of us combined BUT at least we have a chance and the thrill to sit at a spot that has something like this frequenting sure makes a great hunt. It's all or nothing but I feel like I'm truly really hunting. This year we're up there for 2 weeks huntin YOWZA!
Anyway we will continue to track and monitor activity and record everything that happens. Bait volumes and consumption levels and re-baiting frequency is what we're trying to truly understand. We're trying to get as much mileage from our bait as possible. Baiting IS NOT cheap.
Sooo TUK how's your SBV coming along. I see from a few posts back that you're using multiple barrels and feeding the whole neighborhood. I though we had this conversation already grasshopper!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2016 20:03:11 GMT -4
Thanks Skeeter, very interesting. 46 yrs ago I had to pay Good $ for every unit of college education & didn't learn as much as I'm beginning to get at this forum. Eventually, do we get a sheepskin...er bearskin?
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Post by tuketu on Aug 18, 2016 22:15:57 GMT -4
Hey Skeeter ... Sorry for being so Ballzy , but when we didn't hear from you on Wednesday I got a bit worried !
Sounds like you have some major action happening !
300 lbs meat bears ? Around here ...Hell Yeh ! I must confess I'm a trophy hunter, inasmuch as any bear with the longbow is a trophy.
As the days drag on while sitting on stand my expectations of what is acceptable as a meat bear seem to get somewhat compromised. I have passed on opportunities on lesser bears and been left eating tag soup ... In hindsight I wouldn't change a thing. We all have our own limits we set as to whether to take an animal or not, and I have no regrets on the decisions I've made. As you know ... a sucessful season doesn't always mean putting meat in the freezer.
Can't wait to see some pics of what a real trophy bear looks like !
tuk
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p.s. ... My SBV is still a work in progress.
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Post by skeeter on Aug 18, 2016 22:57:09 GMT -4
thanks sideswipe
but there's a reason I'm on sites like this. I too learn from the efforts of others! old saying .. Only a fool knows everything.
Anyway I got to where I am from desperation. If I didn't think outside the box I may have given up years ago and just went to outfitters for my hunts. For every ounce of knowledge I have cost me lbs and lbs of failures.
Bear baiting is not difficult. put out bait - bears will come. hundreds of baiting methods out there - they all work! Nothing makes a guy a bear expert faster then success - getting bears in and shooting a few! I guess that applies to me too, somewhat. I figured out after a few years that there isn't a magical bear bait. There isn't a magical lure. In reality bears will eat anything that has caloric value and will put weight on them. Best advice I ever got was "don't try to fool them, just feed them."
It took a long while before I realized bait was not MY answer but the presentation.
I sure wish it wasn't so because there's a whole industry out there selling the greatest and best bear baits and lures. Can't sell presentation!
Another big , huge actually, game changer for me was trying to figure out the needs of a big bear or in other words think like a big bear and present the bait to him in a different "presentation". anyway more on this later. gotta get my beauty sleep.
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Post by skeeter on Aug 24, 2016 15:41:21 GMT -4
Anyway back to the task at hand.
since our 1st bait check was 3 weeks we put the cameras in pic mode - 3 shot burst - I HATE IT!
and we left them in pic mode till our next return in 2 weeks.
I will be changing to video. pics suck! zero information. I will never do it again. solar panels are up so battery life is not a concern.
a lot of our pics are horrible - from all 5 cameras. maybe my SD card is to too fast with the data transfer. (class10) don't know but those cards worked great on last fall on any/all videos I have ever gotten.
anyway here's the results on 5 baits.
marks bait
Scotty's bait
skeeter's bait
pat's bait
sappy bait
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Post by tuketu on Aug 24, 2016 21:23:53 GMT -4
Wow Skeeter ... You've got some good bears there !
They look like a whole different species ...Ursus Giganticus !
Looks like its the start of a great season for ya !
When's your next trip in to rebait.
tuk
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Post by skeeter on Aug 24, 2016 23:47:25 GMT -4
I think next week on Tuesday. It will be 1 day short of 2 weeks.
Then we'll be in the following Tuesday for our hunt.
I sure hope this timing / spacing works out. I would usually go weekly for the preceding 3 weeks.
So like every year we try something different.
I will confer with my partner Mark this weekend to see what the game plan is.
auto feeder - do nothing - or maybe install our new swing door.
I sure hope we can keep the big ones we have happy. and of course get Pats bait connected with a bigger bear.
One thing for sure - video mode across the board!
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Post by mack11 on Aug 30, 2016 10:01:00 GMT -4
Whats the reasoning with the metal around the tree at the bottom. Is it so the bears cant climb the tree? Never seen that before seems like a good idea if I am correct. Really new to this bear hunting seems interesting.
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Post by skeeter on Aug 30, 2016 11:30:50 GMT -4
mack you are correct. raising the barrels gives us the ability to wean off almost all land based varmints. hanging the barrels above 44" also eliminates most of the smaller cubs. yearlings are another matter. they have enough size to climb up the tree and have enough dexterity and agility to reach out with one paw embedded in the tree and reach under/around to the hole. They get minimal amounts BUT they still steal bait. wrapping the tree foils those little buggers too! ultimately by raising the barrel higher you can control what size bears you're feeding. those holes are 70" off the ground. out of the reach of 95% of the sows. IMO sows, cubs, yearlings etc etc cause too much traffic and too much commotion at a bait site. BIG bears are solitary by nature and don't even need a bait site with all that free food. they can get along just fine out there. But if they can find their own quiet spot with free food - they will come. So you can put the work into barrels and lifting devices in the garage and use minimal amounts of bait and feed your target bear OR you can work your azz off gathering bait, feeding the masses and sitting there for years on end hoping to get a big bear. Sometimes it happens. It happens just enough to keep guys just doing what they've always done. then most fall into the MAGIC bear bait additives/concoctions. witches brews of sweets, powders, scents..etc etc ...
every guy that has ever baited bears has not done anything wrong. they all get action. you just need to figure out what kind of action you really want.
The goal here is create an oasis to feed only your target sized bears. all the rest can fade back into the bush and go somewhere else. They will find another hunters baitsite and he can deal with them. good riddens. other baiters in the area are actually doing me a favor!
non target bear costing me money and aggravation!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2016 19:01:41 GMT -4
Who says there's nothing new under the sun? Appears to be proving a thought-out approach. Building a better "mousetrap".
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Post by mack11 on Sept 1, 2016 10:43:05 GMT -4
When hanging them up Luke that. Did you use a normal barrel on the ground to bring them in and see what size bears or did you just start hanging barrels. That is a very very good idea would like to try it but I'm just new to this so I'm not to sure what size bears are around. Getting some alright sized bears at my site but no monsters. Getting lots of little ones but as you say they just eat all the bait. Very interested in this setup.
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Post by tuketu on Oct 26, 2016 8:12:47 GMT -4
Skeeter oh Skeeter
My, where can he be
He went to go hunting
Bears from his tree
Hours he drove
To bring them some feed
His reward was fine pictures
Of big bears indeed
Last that we heard
He had left with some mates
We haven't heard word
And fear of his fate
Skeeter oh Skeeter
Please tell us your home
And not in a pile
Of poop full of bones !
tuk
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Post by skeeter on Oct 27, 2016 0:29:49 GMT -4
HAH! you're a riot tuk! I was on a 3 week moose hunt. We did manage to get one small bull and seen one other small bull. 3 additional moose were heard. I never heard or seen anything. Not even fresh tracks! Moose numbers are down across Ontario and we worked hard for the one we got. I did put out a wolf bait and had a 100lb pretty female on it daily all by herself. I have tons of videos of her. I was holding out for a larger male. Last year we had a pack of 4 on the bait. Bears? I had a shot on a BIG bugger but didn't get him. He came in silent right at last light and by the time he was positioned right it was even darker. As I settled down on him he looked right at me and as I squeezed the release he lunged to run off! I knew I hit him by the sound. The light nock did not light up! He levelled the forest as he ran off. I was confident I got him good and the pass through arrow showed good blood. Next morning we GPS tracked him almost 700 yds before he bedded down. There we found a blood soaked dinner platter sized clump of leaves and 2 big piles of bear crap.  ? not a trace from there to go on. This was Saturday. I was depressed from that point on. I hunted for #2 on the hit list but we never crossed paths. On Friday when we took down tree stands etc, my game cam showed that Mr BIG was back all throughout Thursday night??? WTF??!!! I have no idea where I hit him! When I shoot him next year I will report back after the autopsy. Mark had a big one walk right towards him, stop about 15 yds out facing him and he kept looking behind where he came from. Then he just exploded and ran toward and past Mark and kept going. Something spook him but whatever it was it didn't show up. Patrick passed twice early in the hunt on a nice 350+ bear because there was a monster using the bait also. He said there is no glory shooting anything other then the big one. Stupid kid! Day 3 and the monster busted him circling around out of range. He had a great story and that's all he's got till next year. HAH! On a positive note our SYSTEM appears to be working and I've got tons of videos to further enhance the archives of BEAR School. There will be a few minor tweeks to the system and I'll fill ya in later after I get settled into deer and get some of the honey-do list whittled down. |
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? not a trace from there to go on. This was Saturday. I was depressed from that point on. I hunted for #2 on the hit list but we never crossed paths. On Friday when we took down tree stands etc, my game cam showed that Mr BIG was back all throughout Thursday night??? WTF??!!! I have no idea where I hit him! When I shoot him next year I will report back after the autopsy.