Laying a scent trail-Spring bear..

[Santiam338]

I am going to try and take a bear again this year with the recurve.At least during the month of April...After that the feed comes on and the bears scatter some....I tried a few years back using predator calls but no success..

I got a ridge I found last year with a old grass road...The bears are using it heavy at first grass last year and I am thinking on placing a treestand this March so it will be ready..

But now I got to thinking...It says placing a scent on ones body is not baiting and is legal...So now I think a couple scent pads on the bottom of my boots the last 1/4 mile or so in to the treestand may help some..

I read this as legal,but know of no one that has tried it...

What to use as a scent???

Thoughts??

[KingSlew]

Vanilla extract, rotten fish, rotten eggs, rotten meat, anything that puts out a good stink.

Check out: bearscents

[TEC]

Was the book's name 'Grizzly' that the old hunter was dragging the un-sliced slab of bacon behind him?

[sliverpicker]

Blackberry jam smeared all over your underwear. Fruit of the Loom!!!

[NeverGuess]

Get one of your buddies to take one for the team.

He can sit on the road, and let you cover him with any of the previously posted scents.

[Bait Bucket]

Originally Posted by Santiam338

.So now I think a couple scent pads on the bottom of my boots the last 1/4 mile or so in to the treestand may help some..

Wouldn't you have to keep the stinky pads on while you hunt? If ever you took them off, doesn't the pads then become "bait?"

[Hornhunter]

I have always been told to use anise oil that works the best I have heard. Have you ever heard of anyone being sucessfull on the sw tag using predator calls? A friend of mines brother was hunting out of Lorane and was using the wayne carlton call and called in three at the same time they shot 2 of the 3 and one of them almost had a 21 inch skull i think it is no 4 or 5 in the state once the new oregon record book comes out. That is the only time I know of sucess using calls on coastal bears has worked

[Basshound]

I would tie a small piece of string on you boot laces about a foot long. At the end of that tie a small piece of felt. Coat that with molasses or somthing of that nature. You MUST keep it attached to you at all times to be legal. Also you can use other scents like dirt or pine or juniper to help mask your scent.

[Wheels]

I believe the scent must be applied to the clothing of a person.........
and must remain there.......otherwise, it would be considered baiting.

Otherwise, people would sit in their stand with a rope attached to the bait barrel. Wheels.

Bill: Don't take my word for it but I believe the scent pads on your boots would be legal however, a scent drag (on a rope behind you) would not be legal.

Good luck in '09. Wheels.

[stlhdr1]

Anise Oil is one of the best scents I've heard of.... Extremely potent and not to bad to deal with...

Keith

[Don Becker]

It seems to me that a strict interpretation could make some of your ideas troublesome (page 35 of the 2009 regulations - bold/enlarged emphasis added). By strict interpretation, I think the scent pads could even get you into trouble. That's simply the way I see it. Don

BLACK BEAR  CONTROLLED
TAG SALE DEADLINE: The day before the hunt begins.
CONTROLLED HUNT APPLICATION PROCEDURES: Please read pages 11-13.
All spring black bear hunts are controlled hunts where the number of hunters is limited and tags are awarded
through a public drawing, except the new limited SW Oregon first-come, first-served spring black bear hunt.
BAG LIMIT: One black bear, except that it is unlawful to take cubs less than one year old or sows with cubs
less than one year old.
HUNT AREA: Entire wildlife management unit unless indicated by an asterisk(*). Please refer to HUNT
DESCRIPTIONS BELOW.
REGULATIONS: Using bait to attract black bear and using dogs to locate and tree black bear is prohibited.
Applying a scent or attractant to one’s body or clothing while worn, is not baiting.

[TEC]

I guess no one read the book Grizzly back in the 70's, I don't think it was in the movie, but things did not end well for the hunter dragging the bacon. I have no idea if bacon would work in the real world, but this thread just reminded me of that book.

[gottafish]

Originally Posted by Santiam338

I am going to try and take a bear again this year with the recurve.At least during the month of April...After that the feed comes on and the bears scatter some....I tried a few years back using predator calls but no success..

I got a ridge I found last year with a old grass road...The bears are using it heavy at first grass last year and I am thinking on placing a treestand this March so it will be ready..

But now I got to thinking...It says placing a scent on ones body is not baiting and is legal...So now I think a couple scent pads on the bottom of my boots the last 1/4 mile or so in to the treestand may help some..

I read this as legal,but know of no one that has tried it...

What to use as a scent???

Thoughts??

Aint that like fly fishin with a night crawler on a hook? LOL Im With Sliverpicker

[Santiam338]

Applying a scent or attractant to one’s body or clothing while worn, is not baiting.

Thats the same as I read and I interpeted to mean a scent or attractant on your body was OK...Thats what started me thinking on a scent trail while walking in to my tree stand location...

25 yards is long range for me and maybe a scent trail would help encourage a bear to come my way and not the other...I seriously doubt I would get bears trailing along like a hound dog,but maybe change a bears mind on which way he walks the road...

Either way, I plan on sitting a tree along a particular ridge road I know about...Last year you had to be careful where you put your foot there was so much sign on the road....

By the way Orion,

I ain't skeered of no bear...

[Orion]

Ok, maybe cooked bacon is the ticket. At least you have snacks once you get to your stand!

[Joe]

The whole debate about what is baiting is a little irritating to me. The ballot measure that banned bait and hounds didn't say anything about using scents that I can recall. Who decided to interpret scent as bait and why?? Bait is something that is consumed by an animal if you ask me. It is bad enough we have laws forced on us by animal rights groups, I see no reason to expand on those laws like this. OSP surely has more important things to worry about than if I want to attach a piece of bacon to my cloths and drag it into my tree stand!

On a lighter note.....good luck Santiam! I will be sittin' in a tree with my bow come April once again too. This will be the year.....

[KingSlew]

Making scent trails is a standard practice up north. They spray trails leading in to bait stations with scent attractant. The strategy is to get bears that are coming in to bait to spread the scent wider in the hopes of attracting more bears. As long as it remains attached to your clothing (boots are clothing last time I checked) you should be OK. Scent is not bait. Funny thing, commercial scent attractants warn against getting scent on your clothing. I'll ask my ODFW bio buddies tomorrow, but I don't see a legal problem with it. ODFW regulates hunting methods, not OSP, they just enforce them. Good luck Bill!

[14thewall]

Try putting an obstruction in the road forcing the bear closer to you they will most likely take the path of least resistance.

[Abalone]

This is directly from Ballot measure 18.

This measure would prohibit the use of bait to attract black bears or to take black bears. "Bait" is defined in the measure as any material placed for the purpose of attracting or attempting to attract bears. The measure would also prohibit the use of a dog or dogs to hunt black bears or cougars. The measure contains two exceptions to these prohibitions.


For a complete explaination of the law go here: http://www.arkonline.com/meas18.html


Predator calls do work on bears.

[anschutz1913]

Just throw some steaks in your back pocket!

[okie man]

tape a couple cans of sardines in oil to your boots when you walk in and you'll get every bear in the area on your trail. the biologist in arkansas use sardines for their bear studies because they work so well.

[DogZilla15]

I would think a predator call could be considered baiting if it is used to "attract" bears. Is there anything that states attracting is restricted to smell? We can argue the fine print and innuendos till the cows come home and it doesn't mean a thing. Bait is intended to be consumed and any other interpretation is a real stretch of the law. I doubt there is an OSP officer who would write anyone a citation for how they smell or who can get down on all fours and track you to your stand.

[KingSlew]

Page 36, 2009 big game regs.

"Applying a scent or attractant to one's body or clothing is not baiting."

[meat hunter]

Take a small back pack size cook stove, a small frying pan and a pound of bacon into the tree or ground blind with you. Cook one strip at a time and spend about 2 hours enjoying your breakfast. I haven't tried this yet but I have had two bears come in to chorizos on the bbq while picnicing with the family.

MH

[DogZilla15]

MH:

Someone told me to cook honey all the way down till it burns. I like the bacon idea better....yum....

[stillwater97]

So,

As long as it is attached to your clothing, its legit. What about this?

How about tying a string to your boot about 5 feet long and tie a cloth soaked in bacon grease and doing a drag line. Then, when you get to your stand, take it off and put it in a zip loc bag. Seems like a less- smelly way to go.

I remember bow hunting late season one year down in S. Oregon. I used this technique to make an erstus scent line to bring in rutting blacktails. imagine my surprise when a bear followed it in!

I was on the ground in a make shift blind. I didn't have a tag for bear, and lemme tell you that I don't know who was more surprised. me or the bear!