BullOx, what area are you hunting?

. Not True, 150#'s of different bait in 6 five gallon buckets skip 2, bait the third day IS Enough.

That is a really loaded question with a ton of variables depending on so many things from terrain and habitat to seasons, to time of year, to types of baits available and on and on. Many people think you can throw out a pile of donuts and shoot a bear the next day, and that has happened, but as you have learned, it's a lot more complicated than that. Get a subscription to Bear Hunting magazine, watch my bear hunting strategy videos on youtube (search "bowhunting road") and if you want to, get my book and video. Loads and loads of info in both of those to help you fine tune your strategy.

A real hunter doesn't need to prebait for bear.

I'm raising the BS flag.

Last fall my out-of-pocket bait costs alone were right around $500. Then there was gas on top of that. The farthest bait from my house was less than 20 miles.

Listen to Bernie. Bear baiting IF DONE RIGHT, is a pile of work most of the time, and decent bait is not cheap. We all know that one guy that says he gets his bear easy by just dumping a pile of salmon guts at the end of a two track 2 days before season opens. Heck, I have some places that usually have a bear or two hitting within 2-3 days, but I found those places by setting baits season after season for decades. I first tossed bear bait in 1975, so that was a bit ago and a bunch of "test baits". Each year is different too. Last fall, the bait I killed my bear on had 10+ bear feeding on it. The year before, when my All Purpose Boy had a permit, he set up the same exact stump.......and never had a single bear touch the bait!
BullOx, what county do you hunt, and which season?

On the years I do get to hunt I hunt the Gwinn unit, but I'm not hunting this year

I " may" have to chime in later

^ LOL >>> I read your posts before about baiting and you are the master of all baiters. Give the man some of your expertise advice on baiting we are all ears bucksnbeers. LOL

"Bucksnbears". Good laugh eh Snowy? Your belittling one of the best black bear men alive. His personal number of killed bears is incredible and if you add up the bears his clients took back when he guided you would be shocked. No black bear guide in this state has ever been as successful with client kill numbers. I know, I was guiding in the same area back in those days.

Two years ago we posted pics here of the beast we ran down with a three day tracking job. No bait. I just spent a couple days with him checking out prospects for this fall, he already has three picked out that look to be bigger. The tracking will be on again, h'll get it done. Sit back in your chair, talk smart, while some of us go out and get it done. Maybe make yourself a little bait pile next to your chair so you can pretend your a bear man.



Osky

Well Osky, thanks for the kudos.
Snowy... Well

To the OP, there is one given in bear hunting....there is no best answer to your question. There are years when you can dang near take a crap and bears will come in and there are years when the bestest of the best baits will yield minimal activity.
High quality NATURAL foods will Trump the best donouts.
I aint makeing a dime nowdays bringing friends/ relatives or those I chose to come up n hunt. I do it for fun and that's why the " bear baiting" thing gets me Abit annoyed.
There is no magic bait\ method. I've spent YEARS trying to pinpoint the perfect spot\ bait only to learn there is no such thing.
Year to year can change 100%
I'm lucky to hunt in an area with a decent amount of bear but there are still some years when things are tough.
Natural foods are seasonal so if you have the time, things can go from dead to " balls to the walls" overnight.
Edited to add.. sorry bullox, I did not address your questions.
I quit years ago baiting weeks ahead of time. Now it's days. 2 wind switches should let every bear within smelling range( whatever) that is let em know goodies are available.

I'm no expert but around here we are completely covered up in black bears,if you put out some bait for the deer usually the first night you'll have bear in the bait, but when the acorns begin to drop they don't come in as frequent. So if you have a dense population as we do and not a lot of natural food it doesn't take long

In my limited experience.............once a bear finds a meal, he will stay with it every day until it's gone. Re-bait accordingly.

In michigan, there's a date you can start baiting. Start then. I've had a bear hit a new bait 10 minutes after I left. Really nice bear too. Hit three days in a row during daylight. A guy I work with found out I was baiting my property for bear. Had to check it out. Took his bear hound to my bait for a walk. Never saw another bear on camera. Bait Sat untouched for 3 months. Bears are like people. Some are smarter than others. In michigan I wouldn't hunt bear anymore. Did twice and I'm done. Both times I got pushed out a the woods by hound runners. They'd start off my baits on private ground.

bucksnbeers >>>> interesting thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge with baiting. For someone that said he wouldn't bait even if he could legally bait is an expert. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

Exactly, don't let it run out. Also don't go in and bait at random times. Keep the bears knowing your schedule. Throw BS flags all you want Osky, what works for me, might not be your experience.

It's unreal how early many Wi bear hunters start baiting. They must think it's worthwhile, I guess. But too often I end up hearing them say the bear quit coming about the time season started. That, or someone horned in on their area. Finding an unpressured area can effect your hunt a lot.

LOL! No it’s not. Unless you like hauling in a few handfuls of bait every 3 days.
Why do Americans bait bears with 5 gallon pails?

I had a bait pile when I was stationed at KI Sawyer in the 70's/early 80's. It was on the back side of the EOD range where we blew up stuff. I would go to the chow hall on base and collect the left over scraps of bacon, French toast, pancakes, etc and dump them every morning. I started this about a month before season. About two weeks into baiting, I noticed that a bear would walk into the dump site when I got about 50 yards away leaving the area. Opening day was an easy kill, except I was going to use my T/C 50 cal hawken muzzle loader. It was raining and when I pulled the trigger, it went "pop". The bear stood up, looked around, then went back to eating. I got back to my vehicle where I pulled out a co-workers S&W model 29. I made my way back to the bait site and put one in the bruisers heart. It wasn't the biggest bear in the woods, but it sure was the tastiest.