Michigan Bear hunting adventure

CrimsonArrow

CrimsonArrow

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Feb 21, 2011
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Minnesota
I don’t claim to be a skilled bear baiter, but the last time I did, the biggest bear I had on camera went gaga for the black oil sunflower seeds. I had a couple options on my bait pile, but he cleaned up the sunflower seeds every time
 
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go_deep

go_deep

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marcusvdk said:
Thanks man appreciate all the pointers. Yeah got to figure out where to get some fryer Grease my work does rotisserie chicken but won't let me take any of that stuff home 😒. Did good on the bait was just over 100 bucks and im pretty sure im set for the season minus the grease now. Ive been saving grease and things from cooking at home as a worse case need.
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Call every bar/restaurant around, most will just give you fry grease for free.
 
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dan maule

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Jan 3, 2015
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Upper Michigan
CrimsonArrow said:
I don’t claim to be a skilled bear baiter, but the last time I did, the biggest bear I had on camera went gaga for the black oil sunflower seeds. I had a couple options on my bait pile, but he cleaned up the sunflower seeds every time
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Black oil sunflower seeds are the best thing that I have found. Not that bears are fussy but they will keep coming back for the black oil sunflower.
 
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dan maule

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Upper Michigan
marcusvdk said:
Thanks man appreciate all the pointers. Yeah got to figure out where to get some fryer Grease my work does rotisserie chicken but won't let me take any of that stuff home 😒. Did good on the bait was just over 100 bucks and im pretty sure im set for the season minus the grease now. Ive been saving grease and things from cooking at home as a worse case need.
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Fryer grease has gotten hard to get, 20 years ago I could get all that I wanted, I think a lot of it now gets recycled to biodiesel.
 
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JimP

JimP

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dan maule said:
Fryer grease has gotten hard to get, 20 years ago I could get all that I wanted, I think a lot of it now gets recycled to biodiesel.
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That's exactly what is happening. Even 10-15 years ago you could find all that you wanted then the bio-diesel industry found out that they can set a large collection tank outside of the restaurants and pick it up once a month, they even pay the restaurants for it.

There may be a few mom and pop fast food joints around that are not in their program but they would be very few.
 
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go_deep

go_deep

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I know several guys back in Wisconsin that bait every year, once you tell the manager/owner that you're using it to run a bear bait site, they have zero issues getting all the fry oil they want. You won't need that much for a few baits you can only run for a month before season, 5 gallons per site will likely be enough. Just don't dump it on the bait, put it around the bait site to scent it up.
I'd go lite on the corn too, they like corn, but more when it's in the milk stage.

Have fun!
 
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RICMIC

RICMIC

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Have a deep fried turkey cookout at home and use that grease for your bait site after 2 or 3 times. I let it cool, strain it, then put it in the freezer for the next time. If you do get a bear, then make sure you render the fat instead of throwing it out, as it is some of the best cooking and baking grease out there. By the way Marcus....stay out of those rice krispies treats. Good luck
 
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marcusvdk

marcusvdk

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RICMIC said:
Have a deep fried turkey cookout at home and use that grease for your bait site after 2 or 3 times. I let it cool, strain it, then put it in the freezer for the next time. If you do get a bear, then make sure you render the fat instead of throwing it out, as it is some of the best cooking and baking grease out there. By the way Marcus....stay out of those rice krispies treats. Good luck
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No worries there lol the bait is all label not for human consumption for some reason lol
 
marcusvdk

marcusvdk

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go_deep said:
Looks good! Double check michigan regs if you can use meat. I know a lot of states allow deep fry grease, but not actual meat. If you can get your hangs on a couple gallons of fry grease that works good to throw up in the trees around your bait to scent it up, then when a bear does come in it drags the gear scent back out with them.
Good luck!
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Looked at the regulations qnd the first bait they list is to use meat so im good there. Reading the regulations it seems they really push the meat and bakery products (minus chocolate)
 
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dan maule

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marcusvdk said:
Looked at the regulations qnd the first bait they list is to use meat so im good there. Reading the regulations it seems they really push the meat and bakery products (minus chocolate)
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If I remember correctly you are not allowed to bait corn, grain or apples until September 1st or when ever the date is that you can start baiting deer. I would not use a lot of meet until you have a bear hitting the bait on a consistent basis.
 
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go_deep

go_deep

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marcusvdk said:
Looked at the regulations qnd the first bait they list is to use meat so im good there. Reading the regulations it seems they really push the meat and bakery products (minus chocolate)
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Good deal. Never baited in Michigan just didn't know, theres a good amount of state that way that don't allow meat. Dan brings up a good point, if you put meat in your bait and it sits a few days it could go rancid and then nothing will touch it. Think cooked grease would be great, to bad your work won't let you take the chicken grease. One bait mix that works well out here is cheap dog food with powdered sugar on it.
 
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marcusvdk

marcusvdk

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dan maule said:
If I remember correctly you are not allowed to bait corn, grain or apples until September 1st or when ever the date is that you can start baiting deer. I would not use a lot of meet until you have a bear hitting the bait on a consistent basis.
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Correct on the corn dan
 
marcusvdk

marcusvdk

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go_deep said:
Good deal. Never baited in Michigan just didn't know, theres a good amount of state that way that don't allow meat. Dan brings up a good point, if you put meat in your bait and it sits a few days it could go rancid and then nothing will touch it. Think cooked grease would be great, to bad your work won't let you take the chicken grease. One bait mix that works well out here is cheap dog food with powdered sugar on it.
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Was wondering if cooking the meat scrape in to a broth would work if I cant get greese got a few places ill talk to here in town for grease yet
 
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go_deep

go_deep

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marcusvdk said:
Was wondering if cooking the meat scrape in to a broth would work if I cant get greese got a few places ill talk to here in town for grease yet
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If you can't find any grease its worth a try, could put some liquid smoke in it, bacon grease, meat scraps. Maybe try a small batch first.
 
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dan maule

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Some folks haul a small pan and propane cooker out to their bait site an fry up a pound or two of bacon right there. They’ll leave the grease and bacon there, they claim it works well because the odor clings to the surrounding trees. I have never done it but it probably works.
 
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JimP

JimP

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dan maule said:
Some folks haul a small pan and propane cooker out to their bait site an fry up a pound or two of bacon right there. They’ll leave the grease and bacon there, they claim it works well because the odor clings to the surrounding trees. I have never done it but it probably works.
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That's sacrilege leaving the bacon for the bear and not eating it yourself.
 
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marcusvdk

marcusvdk

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Ive been saving the grease from cooking at home so I can use some of that. Its definitely a learning process getting lots of good pointers from you guys is helping
 
marcusvdk

marcusvdk

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Been taking 5 gallon empty buckets home to use for bait carrying. Well My manager at work is a big hunter been talking to him. Today he comes up and goes the store GM is on vacation........ok.........he says I know of nothing if a 2 gallon bucket with chicken greese ends up in your 5 gallon bucket your taking home. So I got 2 gallons of chicken greese at home now I put in the freezer to use later in the season and keep it from going bad. Was very nice to know I'll have at least a little of some to work with
 
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go_deep

go_deep

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marcusvdk said:
Been taking 5 gallon empty buckets home to use for bait carrying. Well My manager at work is a big hunter been talking to him. Today he comes up and goes the store GM is on vacation........ok.........he says I know of nothing if a 2 gallon bucket with chicken greese ends up in your 5 gallon bucket your taking home. So I got 2 gallons of chicken greese at home now I put in the freezer to use later in the season and keep it from going bad. Was very nice to know I'll have at least a little of some to work with
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Thanks great!
 
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