I was watching some videos this morning while having my early morning coffee. A great way to get motivated early in the morning. As I was scanning through Youtube I came across a video from Riverside Guide Service that brought back a few great memories of a trapline I shared with a girlfriend’s father back in 1973. Seems like a life time ago.

Heck I haven’t thought about that trapline in longest time. No, I haven’t thought about Debbie either dear.

Even though I was a bit wild back then I kept it under control while I was around Debbie’s dad Bruce. He was a big man and could have picked me up and tore me a new one real quick. Instead he took a real liking to me. Well I will admit that I worked hard and didn’t complain, I think that helped.

Deb’s mom and dad asked if we would like to move into their cottage, which was a little ways behind their house on the edge of a really niche pond. We thought about it for about 30 seconds and then moved right in.

We had it pretty good living there. Living so close to home we had no need to cook as there was always place settings at the table for us.

Bruce was full of songs and jokes and was a lot of fun to be around.

One gorgeous Saturday morning at the breakfast table Bruce asked me if I would like to join him on his daily run around his trapline. I was a bit of a hunter and fisher so I was more than happy to go with him and experience something my ancestors did to survive.

To make a long story a bit shorter Bruce asked if I would become a partner with him on the trapline for 50%. Because I already had a good job I would have to get up even earlier to monitor the traps daily but I was up for it.

I had a lot of fun, learned a lot about trapping and eventually quit my job to work with Bruce full time planting trees for clients. But back to the trapping story…

Bruce used to trap a beaver damn for years until some hunters went in and just for the fun of it they shot and killed all the beavers. Bruce thought that more beavers would move in but a year or two went by and nothing so he stopped going up in that area.

We didn’t actually go up in where that damn was but later I walked up in there on my own to see. I love to fish beaver damns and wanted to see what it was like.

To my surprise there were beaver signs everywhere. More beavers had indeed moved in. Of course I could hardly wait to finish the run so I could tell Bruce. When I told him he insisted that we hop in the canoe and head up there to see.

Before we left he grabbed what he needed to set a trap and we were on our way. I am sure I saw a tear in his eyes when we got there and sure enough there were beaver.

He showed me how to tie the wire to a cinder block and kink the wire in the right place to hold the beaver under the water when it got trapped, because they instinctively dive when paninced.

I went back there every day and nothing for about a week. It probably took that long for my scent to wear off the area. Anyways I went to the damn one day and there was a big beaver sitting there looking at me and it wasn’t dead like it should have been, just really ticked.

I don’t usually slack off but after days of not getting anything I walked up in there without my rifle and sure enough that was the day there was a trapped beaver that wasn’t drowned.

It had tangled in the chain and couldn’t even dive so I looked around for a weapon. I picked up a good size tree branch and hit the poor scared beaver as hard as I could and then then pinned it under the water for what I thought was a really long time.

I dragged it’s lifeless body out of the water, put the beaver over my back holding it by the hind legs and started back to the canoe.

Well I about half way back to the canoe when I thought it moved and before I was 100% sure it really let me know it wasn’t dead. If I hadn’t wore my girlfriend’s buckskin jacket that day I am sure I would have some scares on my back and perhaps my butt.

I think that was the scariest moment of my short life. Needless to say I immediately let go and jumped forward. Well that beaver got the better of me that day and lived to tell all his friends back at the damn and I never left my rifle in the canoe again.

Here in New Brunswick baiting of black bears is allowed. Follow a few pointers about black bear baiting and you will have a much more productive black bear hunt.

I personally prefer to stalk my prey the ole fashion way but not all hunters have the time or patience to be trekking here and there looking for their trophy. A bear baiting site draws the bear to the hunter who is most likely sitting up in a tree stand waiting and watching for just the right black bear.

For me personally baiting is more like going to a stocked fish pond to fish for trout. It’s just not as memorable. That is my personal feeling but I do understand that when black bear hunters are taking and paying for a trip to another country they want to be certain they bag a black bear and don’t go home empty handed.

Bear baiting is a great way to get the bear close enough for beginners to have a great opportunity to bag their first black bear. They can do the stalking thing another year. One great experience at a time. Although baiting is no guarantee that you will get your bear.

If you think that baiting is easy that’s only because you have experience or someone else set up the bait site. If a bait site is not setup correctly the black bear will not only NOT show up they will sit on the sidelines and actually laugh at you behind your back.

So here is a short list of what you need to know to setup a black bear bait site for an effective hunt.

It makes sense to know something about black bears and the places they call home.

1. Black bears may need glasses but they more than compensate for their poor vision by having an awesome sniffer. This may have you thinking that it will all the easier because they will smell the bait site and come running but the truth is if they detect any odors, like you, they will not come near your bait site.

Keeping the entire bait site area and surrounding area clear of non-natural smells will increase your chances of seeing and bagging a nice black bear. The longer your bait site is around and kept free of human odor the more bears you will likely encounter, from a distance of course.

2. Maybe this should have been first, location is so important. Logically you wouldn’t put a bear bait site in a place bears don’t travel. So you need to take the time to learn where the paths are the black bear in your neck of the woods take to find food.

Know what a black bear eats, follow their trails and see which paths take you to the food bears like.

I do a lot of fishing in New Brunswick, especially for Atlantic salmon. I see a lot of black bears which I take note of and mark the locations in my journal for future reference.

3. Black bear hunting season opens in mid May so it’s wise to start baiting a couple of weeks before the season opens so you or your clients aren’t waiting for the bears to find it.

4. What to entice your black bears with.

To start with black bears will eat just about anything to survive but they do tend to have a sweet tooth so get out to your local donut shop and get some of those day old donuts, but save them for the bears eh. Talking with other black bear hunting guides I can say that most agree that the stronger smelling the bait the better.

My wife makes cookies that no one can eat so I stock up on those because the bears aren’t quite so picky as I am about my cookies. Okay I made that part up but they do like cookies. I used to know a farmer that would get waffer cookies by the 45 gallon drum, all the broken ones from a factory that was not far from his farm. He was always willing to give a burlap bag or two each spring. His pigs didn’t seem to mind.

You can also use meat so if you have any spare carcasses lying around give them a try.

4a. Be sure to eliminate your odor and don’t forget your boots, even your foot prints have an odor. Ever walked in the house with dog do-do on your boots. Okay then.

5. Actually setting up your bait site.

Something I had not even thought about until I saw something wasn’t working and that was the direction the bears would approach the bait station. If it’s not right you won’t get the best view for your shot. To fix this it was a simple as putting logs and branches around the three sides I didn’t want the bears approaching from.

Most bait sites or stations I have seen in New Brunswick use a 45 gallon barrel they cut in half and dock to a tree to keep it there. Otherwise the bears are dragging it all over the area.

Here are a couple of short videos showing a black bear bait site, one using a bait barrel, the other is not using a barrel.

Here is video that shows you just how long a black bear will stay at a bait site if you’re quiet and don’t stink like a human.