Black bear hunting w/o Bait on private land

7mmRambo · #1 06-07-2021, 12:55 PM

Hey all, I recently moved from city live to rural property (been years of dreaming!), and my cams have seen lots of action, most recently, Black Bear. Property is a mix of mostly dense and sparsely spread trees, and our outbuildings are very close the the treeline, sitting on under 2 acres cleared the rest of the 70ish is treed. Having just moved here within the last month or so, a Black Bear hunt was not on my mind, but the cam action has got me curious. I have a 4 and 2 year old, so I'm not fond/comfortable with the idea of baiting. Although I have always spoke about it, I have never hunted Black Bear before, or attempted to (time, logistics). If I continue spotting this bear on my cams, which tactic would you use? a blind near the cam ? Or walk the property and attempt spot and stalk?

On another note, is it normal for Bear to to sniff cams? I only caught this bear twice on 2 different cams, and both times, he was sniffing the cam. One cam was closer to our home, the other was further away in the back 40, both off of a pre-existing quad trail that goes around the property that I recently cleared to make it accessible.

Desert Eagle · #2 06-07-2021, 01:13 PM

Everything you touch or has been in your home/vehicle/hand, etc. picks up scent. This scent is what the bears are smelling. Normally on a trail cam it is the strap that gathers the smell, but they can actually smell the plastic case on trail cams also.

7mmRambo · #3 06-07-2021, 02:00 PM

Shows how sensitive their scent is, and how curious bears can be. All the other game have walked by and not given it a second thought if they did catch the human scent. Just thought it was pretty wild that it hit both cameras for a sniff. Time will tell whether he uses our property as a path, I'm yet to find any bear scat in the limited time that I've had to explore. Is it safe to assume a lot of successful bear hunters are either using bait, or have some vantage point in the areas that they are looking. Main purpose of this thread is to see if folks have hunted relatively flat, treed areas for black bear, and what methods they've used. I live and work on property, so I have some time to set things up and try things out!

catnthehat · #4 06-07-2021, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7mmRambo

Shows how sensitive their scent is, and how curious bears can be. All the other game have walked by and not given it a second thought if they did catch the human scent. Just thought it was pretty wild that it hit both cameras for a sniff. Time will tell whether he uses our property as a path, I'm yet to find any bear scat in the limited time that I've had to explore. Is it safe to assume a lot of successful bear hunters are either using bait, or have some vantage point in the areas that they are looking. Main purpose of this thread is to see if folks have hunted relatively flat, treed areas for black bear, and what methods they've used. I live and work on property, so I have some time to set things up and try things out!

I killed numerous bears still hunting,, spotting and stalking, and calling bear the baiting laws changed.
I killed them with a long bow, traditionally muzzle loaders, and shotguns as well as modern rifles.
Cat

Smoky buck · #5 06-07-2021, 02:34 PM

My response would be basically the same as catinthehat’s except my muzzle loader is a modern inline and I have sat in ambush too

Tons of bears taken without bait every year go try your luck. At the worst you learn something about bears and are more knowledgeable for future attempts

RobTurbo · #6 06-07-2021, 02:50 PM

Is the bear passing the camera in the day or at night?

I'm a fan of tree stands for bears but did take one from a blind 2 years ago. He smelled me a few seconds before I shot him. Luckily for me he didn't bolt. This is why the tree stand is in my mind just a little better.

7mmRambo · #7 06-07-2021, 04:53 PM

I suppose you're right smoky, just get out there an try something!I guess If I'm still hunting same rules apply, hunt against the wind and try my luck. My though right now is that I can put a camera at any crossing on property and it will catch deer for instance, but that's not the same for bear, so I'm assuming blind hunt wouldn't be as effective if its not on bait? Are bears creatures of nature i.e. if I find a trail that they've been on, are they likely to use it again or be nearby as its a route used to their den or water source? Or are they more roamers and blazing trails as they go.

First camera about 640am, second camera about 720am.

Smoky buck · #8 06-07-2021, 05:12 PM

They are habitual when it comes to a food source even if it’s a natural food source. Is it possible to hunt bear from a blind or ambush yes but my opinion is stake out the feeding area not trails if you are going to try it. Myself I prefer picking a spot watching the feeding area with the wind in my favor and go with spot & stalk no blind

Bears are easy to stalk just keep the wind in your favor. They are more forgiving then deer when it comes to their eyes and ears but if the wind is wrong they will bust you easier

7mmRambo · #9 06-07-2021, 05:55 PM

Thanks Smoky, good food for thought. Ill have to find some potential feeding areas and move cameras around. Anyway that's definitely an example of something I can work with, I really just had no starting point.

ramonmark · #10 06-07-2021, 06:06 PM

I'd do what others are saying. Just put a tree stand or popup blind over the trail camera. Get there before his schedule. I have a buddy who's done this a few times with success. He'll bring a can of pop with him, drink the pop on location and drop the can in the middle of the trail where you want him to stop. He'll stop to sniff and play with it giving you ample time to make your shot. I've thought of this lots when walking a trail in the back country. When I spot empties on the trail up ahead I have to fight myself to not state at it. It's almost hypnotic.

NCC · #11 06-07-2021, 06:07 PM

Agree with the others about just getting out and spot and stalk. When the wind is right, you can get right up on them. I've also had them come to elk calls. Could try fawn or calf distress calls.

FWIW, when I lived in the Peace Country we baited within a mile of our house every spring and a couple of falls, and never had a problem bear in 15 years. Some of the baits would have 5-10 bears of various ages hitting them.

7mmRambo · #12 06-07-2021, 06:28 PM

Awesome feedback all around! Thanks all.

@ramonmark pop can, really!? Well If he keeps hitting that location, I'm surely going to try that one out at some point, I might make it a 2L just to make sure !!

Battle Rat · #13 06-07-2021, 06:31 PM

Definately don't need a bait to consistently kill bears.
You should probably put your cameras in a metal box before they chew them up though.

7mmRambo · #14 06-07-2021, 06:41 PM

New to the cam game, good to knew that bears chewing cams is a thing. Noted.

7mmRambo · #15 06-07-2021, 06:42 PM

New to the cam game, good to know that bears chewing cams is a thing. Noted.

ramonmark · #16 06-08-2021, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7mmRambo

Awesome feedback all around! Thanks all.

@ramonmark pop can, really!? Well If he keeps hitting that location, I'm surely going to try that one out at some point, I might make it a 2L just to make sure !!

It makes sense. If he's sniffing your camera cause it's new to him the popcan isn't much different. It's just a decoy to keep his attention off you, and hopefully have him stop to investigate. I've dropped arrows from my stand by accident and had bears come into the bait stand, walk right by the bait just to stop and sniff my arrow.

freeride · #17 06-08-2021, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7mmRambo

New to the cam game, good to know that bears chewing cams is a thing. Noted.

There are "bear proof" containers for some trail cams. I have a lot with claw marks and tooth marks on them, even a padlock with teeth marks where he was tugging on it and the cam was spinning around the tree. Bears will try to eat anything and everything out there.

7mmRambo · #18 06-09-2021, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramonmark

It makes sense. If he's sniffing your camera cause it's new to him the popcan isn't much different. It's just a decoy to keep his attention off you, and hopefully have him stop to investigate. I've dropped arrows from my stand by accident and had bears come into the bait stand, walk right by the bait just to stop and sniff my arrow.

Haha. Very interesting. By the sounds of it, as Smoky mentioned earlier, best just to get out there, and start slowly understanding Bear behaviour/habits whilst keeping in mind tips and suggestions from this thread.

7mmRambo · #19 06-09-2021, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeride

There are "bear proof" containers for some trail cams. I have a lot with claw marks and tooth marks on them, even a padlock with teeth marks where he was tugging on it and the cam was spinning around the tree. Bears will try to eat anything and everything out there.

Yikes, i might be able to build a container of some sort with some of the steel i have laying around, unless they are cheap and solid enough that its worth buying, ill take a look.