Making sense of bear scents

16 years ago
By Bill Graves  

    With bear hunting season opening in less than 30 days, the next four weeks will be a world wind of baiting activities by regional outfitters, area guides and a trainload of individual sportsmen. Anyone who thinks the sky-high price of gas is going to curtail hunters from baiting needs to reconsider. Although a few guys will drop out, the majority will hang in there by selecting sites closer to home rather than driving to the deep woods, and more baits crowded into fewer acres really escalates competition.
    While choice of bait may be what keeps a bear coming back for more goodies, it’s attractant scents that bring bruin to the bait site initially. Old timers still swear by anise scent and a solution concocted from beaver castors, a strong scent gland, spread on the ground, tree bark or leaves near a bait bucket. Any breeze will carry these smells long distances through the woods drawing bear passing far away to change their intended route to investigate what might be an easy food source.
    Another option to draw in distant bear is to do a honey burn, a simple but effective attractant since black bear love honey. Using a can of sterno or small Coleman stove, heat a cup of pure honey in an old frying pan. Apply heat slowly, but steadily, until the honey begins to boil, then smoke as it starts to burn. The thick sweet smelling smoke will rise, catch in the wind, and dissipate over the forest.
    The honey smoke will also coat the leaves and fir boughs as it settles, giving off its attractive scent for well over a week if there’s no heavy rain. Once the honey burns down to a blackened pancake and stops emitting smoke, flip the hot honey flapjack onto bare ground near the bait barrel and leave it since it too will keep putting out a sweet odor for days.
    Over the last five years, I’ve drifted away from those older scent sources to a new product created by Brad Hering of Lake Mills, Wisconsin called Bear Scents. Brad figured out a method of suspending food smells in a spray emulsion that can be spritzed on trees, bushes and the ground. These attractant liquids are very strong, long lasting and even work as a human cover scent when hunting season begins.
    My proven favorite is bacon scent, but blueberry, strawberry, shellfish, honey and anise are a few other sure fire Bear Scents of over 15 flavors available. Another innovative scent source created by Hering is a 25-pound ball infused with a particular scent that is suspended high from a tree branch. Wind floats the succulent odor throughout the woods and light rain or very warm weather causes the scent ball to drip and effuse more scent. Once a bear or two locates your bait barrel the Bear Scent ball can be taken down, enclosed in plastic wrap or wrapped in a plastic bag and stored in a freezer for use next season.
    Other Bear Scent products include a thick flavored gel that can be smeared on trees or stumps near a bait site. The gel is fairly weather impervious and emits the odor of choice for several days, or until a bear licks it up.
    A container of dry powder, hickory smoke happens to be my top selection, is another method of dispersing Bear Scent attractant. I often wait until I’m in my stand settling in to hunt, and then sprinkle the powder into the air allowing even the slightest breeze to spread the alluring smell about the area.
    The Buck Bomb is another style and dispersal method of sending out scent over a lot of territory from one target location. Despite the name, derived since this product was originally intended to attract whitetail deer, there are now scent bombs for mule deer, elk, moose and of course, bear. There are currently four flavors of Bear Bomb, each for a one time use dispersal.
    Each Bear Bomb can has a special nozzle to emit a continuous scented fog into the air until the container is empty. Set the can near a bait site, start the flow and let Mother Nature blow the attractive scent all around a large territory and settle on trees and leaves. Any passing bear will come to investigate and then find a smorgasbord of tasty bait goodies waiting.
    Buck Scents and Bear Bomb scent products are available in a variety of smells at Ben’s Trading Post on Main Street in Presque Isle. For more in-depth information check www.bearscents.com or www.buckbomb.com on line or call Ben LeBlanc at his store. Prices are very reasonable considering the effectiveness and ease of use of these proven bruin attractants.
    As a backup plan, after I disperse any scent product I spread used cooking grease obtained from local restaurants on the ground under the bait bucket or barrel. Once a bear comes to the bait site and walks in the grease, it then tracks the flavorful grease through the woods. When another bear crosses the first bruin’s trail and sniffs out the fragrant grease scent, that  bear will often back track to the bait site. With any luck and enough grease trails it’s possible to attract several bear to one location.
    Whether you’re an avid hunter or perhaps want to just watch or photograph black bear, it’s time to start baiting. Remember, use the wind and a sweet smelling attractant scent as a starting point, a bear’s sharp smelling nose will do the rest.