Here was my bait. I tried to have a more natural foods by feeding lots of nuts and grains. I figured the nuts and corn type stuff would hold up well if the bait got rained on. We just covered the bait with oak logs.
Primary baits were:
-trail mix (fed the most of this- nuts, fruits, a few marshmellows, a little chocolate- THE PERFECT BAIT)
-70% granola 30% shelled corn. (I poured some cheap syrup on this in a tote and mixed it up, then sprinkled a little sugar- taste like apple crisp topping)
-ear corn from my crop production fields (sprinkled with a tad of molasses powder) - a great bait to make them work hard to get the reward and weatherproof
-4 loaves of bread made into sandwiches with cream cheese and buttercream frosting in the center (This was the first thing my bears ate every time)
Secondary treats:
-2lb of fruit snacks per day
-smoked and salted pork roast
-cheapo hotdogs
-a few cheap ham steaks
-bacon grease
-Northwoods Gold Rush (honey scented). Mixed this up with some old peanut oil fish fryer grease. Sprayed all over the ground and into the trees, etc.... I could smell this from 50 yards away. They destroyed the grass around my bait tearing it out and eating it. Sprayed it way up in the trees. Smell must have carried for miles cause my bait got crushed
-14lb butter cream frosting (sandwiches, smeared on logs and tree next to bait)
-40lb cream cheese (sandwiches)
-apples
They went nuts for this bait. If I do it again I will cut out all the meat. No need for it. Baiting was very fun. I had a couple very close encounters with my bears. Opening day I came over the hill pails in hand and there was a bear 30 yards away sitting on my bait. It might be the one on my wall. Mine old girl was completely powerless to resist the bait. She came strolling down the ridge and the bait drew her in like a giant magnet. Was cool as hell to watch happen.
