Baiting and Bear Denning

[Rusty]

Each year hunters have lots of bear activity that suddenly dries up just before the season opens.  Could hunters be part of the reason for this disappearance?  Now granted, this is around the time that bears naturally begin to go into their dens.  But could we be speeding up the process with baiting?

 

The amount of body fat that a bear has is one of the factors that impacts when it goes to the den.  Could the sudden appearance of massive amounts of bait just before the season opens speed up the build up of body fat, causing the bears to den up earlier?

 

 

[smoking gun]

Very possible along with inconsistent weather.hey man we have 4 seasons in one week in jersey gotta love it.

[Glasswater Outdoors]

It is in my opinion 100 percent the hunters fault. Many of the guys I know begin to over pressure bears the two weeks before the season. Most everyone underestimates the bears level of intelligence. When you are hunting a 2 year old bear you have to treat him as a 6 year old whitetail in level of smartness. Two weeks before the season is when everyone is in everyday checking cams and dumping truckloads of food on the ground. Ask yourself how many monster mature whitetails are killed in day light hours over corn piles? The answer is very few. Everyone sees them at night and it is no different for the bears. Last year for the weeks prior to the season I baited heavy. I was in 4 days a week dropping a minimum of 150 pounds of doughnuts every chance I could get. As the season got closer and closer I would start to cut back on the trips in and the food left. 2 Weeks before the season my bears went nocturnal. I adapted and started going in at 10pm to kick them off the bait and make my food drops at night. Within 3 days of doing this almost every pic was in daylight hours. They no longer felt safe in the dark and knew quiet time was in the daylight hours. I stopped hanging cams with a week to go and dropped my baiting down to once that week. Once a bruin has had food in one spot for a month or two he doesn't forget it. He will constantly come back to check it and he will come back more frequently which means daylight visits. Once the season starts go back to feeding a small amount every morning on your way in. 

Also as the days get shorter and colder you know that denning season is approaching. The main goal of a bear is to get his fill to go to sleep. DO NOT aid that behavior with high  carb high calorie foods. Think about what happens when you eat a hearty meal during the holidays. First thing you want to do is loosen the belt and lay on the couch and take a nap. bears are no different.  Also getting away from other hunters is key. increased pressure knocks them off their patterns very quickly. Last season I hunted Monday thru Thursday before I connected on the one I wanted. In that time frame I saw 12 bears during daylight hours with 8 of which were definitely different ones. This was all on public land.  

[Haskell_Hunter]

(Puts nerd hat on). Statistically speaking, I don't thing the amount of bait would create a significant enough impact on the overall bear population. Maybe in a very small amount of the population, but not overall. It could affect the larger bear population as they defend feeding spots, but smaller bears would hit the site as the larger bears begin to den.

 

IMHO, I think it's more the influx of the giant orange army that pushes bears into more remote areas and away from bait that causes them to disappear. Nothing wants to be in the woods during 6-day, and hundreds of stomping feet in the morning will clear them out of the forests.

 

That's my unscientific theory.

[LittleM]

No.  At least where I hunt.  There is this year, and has been over the previous five, been a significant amount of standing corn, which bears use as s significant food source.  Add to this the bird feeders and garbage day and there has always been the same amount and type of available food sources.  I usually use these "natural" baits to help get them to an area where I could easily shoot them and it worked the first three years.  The last two years, as you indicated, the activity has "dried up".  I think that is a function of being "out baited" with better stuff (i.e. cookies and other goodies) beginning the two weeks before six-day and then thru six-day.  Funny thing is - after six-day, the same bears that "dried up" are back on the natural food sources - soon as six-day is over and the baiting ceases.

 

Add to that what Haskell said and there you have it.

Edited November 17, 2015 by LittleM

[rgw]

great now your saying I need to bait at 10 @ night.I might have to hire some kid in front of krowsers to do that for me

[_X7]

 

Ask yourself how many monster mature whitetails are killed in day light hours over corn piles? The answer is very few.

with the exception of those trained to come to the bait pile from June to the first weeks of EAB. Some call it "patterning: deer.

[Bearcrazy]

It's a good thought but it doesn't explain why I lose bears the week before season and they return a week or two after season.

[smoking gun]

It's a good thought but it doesn't explain why I lose bears the week before season and they return a week or two after season.

pressure I believe.theres a bear I've been hunting for 3 yrs straight activity is good until that muzzy come sin then they go into nocturnal phase plus it seems every year shotgun opener is windy icicle rainy nasty slop

[Rusty]

No.  At least where I hunt.  There is this year, and has been over the previous five, been a significant amount of standing corn, which bears use as s significant food source.  

 

That's a good point.