bear hunting on a budget

Not to suggest folks come looking to me for advice haha but I have had about 6-7 bear hunters message me about maybe not bear hunting because of lack of bait. They can handle the heat. They can handle the horse flies. But without bait....a bear bait is worthless. The majority of these hunters just want a decent bear for the freezer. They have good bear areas ( where isnt now a days ) . A couple have said they might not even bother because buying pricey bait just is counter productive to having bear meat in the freezer. I think the solution is to not bait for 8 weeks prior to the opener. A bunch of times we bait early - draw in a core group of bruins and feed them all summer. We pass a few in the early days of the season and then when we want to hunt deer or other game , we take one we have passed several times already. So, taking that into consideration...if you are primarily a meat hunter ( and who doesnt love bear meat) with no good bait source this year, at least an affordable one, I would suggest not even starting a bait ( with pricey purchased bait) until a week before the season. Fill it with dog food or something from a feed store and add a copious amount of stink. Within a week you should have a hit. Again, if I was a meat hunter on a limited budget with no access to large cheap supply of bait .... I'd opt to check my cam, and target the best legal bear I have on cam within that week and go in on the opener and take him. Easy peasy... under a couple weeks worth of work...maybe 3 trips into site and that ( with a smidgeon of luck) could/should provide a freezer of bear meat without breaking the bank. Bear hunting on a small budget is very doable. And I think the population in NS does need hunters tagging bears this fall. I'd hate to see hunters not participate because they think they need to run a bait for weeks/months ( guilty as charged personally lol) before the opener in order to get a great supply of meat and help manage the numbers. If bear populations were falling....I'd likely (secretly)have a part of me be glad hunter number or bear harvest was down ( cant help it) but thats not the case. So dont let the thought of scarce or pricey bait keep you out of your bear stand this fall. Do it on the cheap.....but do it. If hunters can't help control the bear population....the powers that be will find alternatives. None of them are appealing. Hunters taking them them and utilizing them to the fullest is the best solution. Hunters have for years been the leaders in conservation. I hope the bait scarcity does not change this.