I was on another board and the topic of horse meat for bear bait came up. I suggested half in jest that a fellow could buy a cheap horse and lead it to the bait area and then shoot it, leaving it for bait. It's been done before any way a guy said you can't do that because it's not accompanied by a bill of lading and therefore is un-inspected??? Has anyone heard of this? Doesn't sound right to me....but it might be something I haven't heard about.

thanks

the chef

I just found the regulations. It states that on
only animals that have been slaughtered for human food in an approved manner can be used for bait.....news to me!!

So I guess that means we can't use the 5 year old game at the bottom of the freezer for bait.

I wonder about sitting over a dead cow that dies in the field, to shoot coyotes or bear.

strange rule if you ask me, although I understand the reasons.

the chef

Here in Wis. are baiting regs are stiff no meat at all nothing that contains meat or meat by products. Most people use donuts cookies ect. I brought a 55 gal barrel of cholate coverd cookies for 35 dollars that mixed with sunflower seeds or corn makes for cheap bait. the bears would clean up ever seed.

I've always found it interesting how many Outfitters have "one of my best horses" die in the middle of a Grizzly area just before the season starts.

quote:

Originally posted by calgarychef1:
strange rule if you ask me, although I understand the reasons.

Please, enlighten me...

Frans

Hello;
I think the idea is to keep diseased carcasses from being used as bait and spreading any disease in the wild. Of course you can use meat from the other end of the human food chain. I used to have pretty good connections with one of the local grocery store owners and got lots of processed meats, whose "best before" date had expired. Some real gourmet items. Of course, there seems to be a real market for beaver carcasses and I'm sure they're not slaughtered in an inspected plant. I've also known trappers who get road killed carcasses for bait, so maybe there are different standards for them. Not to worry Frans, all our bait will be government approved except that pesky dam building, pasture destroying, nuisance beaver.

The Conservation Officers do not take kindly to road kill for bear bait.Hard to tell if its road kill or poached for bait.The same goes for that 5 year old game at the bottom of your freezer.You might want to read the wildlife regs for your area and focus on "wasting game".
In Sk. it might be up to the judge to determine
if your leaving "edible game in the field".I know that alot of guys have switched to oats and molasses.The beavers work well first thing in the spring to draw them in. I have also used cooking oil from restuarants,its like bear candy.

I've used cooking oil...it works well. First I deep fried 50 lbs of bacon in it and made bacon bits for the restaurant. You should have smelled that stuff wooee!! I've used plain bacon fat too and made candles out of it, that works well too. Just pour the fat into a can and put a rag in for a wick. Then put it into a large pail so nothing gets set on fire. The thing that really keeps them around though is mosasses mixed with oat bran and smeared all over the surrounding trees. It's like a candy buffet for a kid.

I have had success with a variety of baits including restaurant fryer grease on old bread and donuts, molasses, and cake frosting. I have used burnt honey and concentrated anise as initial attractants. However, where legal, meat scraps always seem to work the best (or at least that is the first thing eaten.) If possible, I suspend some of the meat in a porous sack up in the air above the bear's reach allowing the grease that is rendered out to drip on the ground. Based on the tracks the bears seem to go crazy over this arrangement.

Calgarychef 1

Honestly (as an American) I don't want an argument with a Canadian -but some 15 years ago and more, I was carrying bait pails (I had my bear and was just enjoying my time in the woods) to bear stands -and the bait always was cow beef and never stank. Just my thoughts.

I'm confused where the argument idea comes from?? Maybe you could explain.

As far as meat goes, I pick up prefrozen bags (about6-8lbs) of butcher trimmings from a local place to use for bait. It mostly contains about 60-70% beef fat and has worked very well for me and is much cleaner to handle. We put frozen or slightly froze meat into our baits so that it is still fresh when the bears get there. So many people try to tell me that bears prefer rotten meat, but when asked the question of how they know, they turn out to have never hunted bear over bait before so I think I'll stick with my system.

If you cannot get hold of any doughnuts or cookies for sweet bait try this. Get the realy cheap bread from the day old shops and break up one loaf of bread and drizzle pancake syrup over it and sprinkle a mixture of cinnimon and vinnela pudding mix powder over it. A little goes a long way and the bears love it. Just try to find a way to keep the raccoons and rodents out of it because they all want it.

quote:

Get the realy cheap bread from the day old shops and break up one loaf of bread and drizzle pancake syrup over it

This is the favorite bait (he uses just sugar water as opposed to actual pancake syrup) of my brother who hunts around White River, Ontario. He said that the issue there is not getting the bear to bait, as they seem to locate it the first day, but providing enough bait to keep them coming back.

I just had a brainstorm the other day. Oats mixed with molasses. Should work like a damn. Anyone ever try it?
Grizz

Even if it did not work on bear it should be pretty good for wild horses....

I haven't use oats but corn and sun flower seeds mixed with feed molass the lick up every last little bit.