Hunters debate the validity of baiting black bears (or any game for that matter) all the time. Baiting often raises questions of sportsmanship or fair chase, but it might not be as black and white of an issue as hunters sometimes make it. I’ve only hunted over bait a few times—for deer and pigs in Texas—and I wasn’t a fan. While I had my own opinions about baiting bears, I thought it might be different from deer and pigs. So, I gave it a try.
Up until now, my bear hunting experience was limited to spot-and-stalk hunting in the mountains of Montana and on the beaches of Southeast Alaska. So, I went to Manitoba in the spring of ‘25 to see what all the fuss was about. Here are a few things I learned during my first baited bear hunt.
There’s A Strategy to Baiting
Craig MacCarthy, owner and main guide of North Mountain Adventures, prefers to start with only oats when he sets a bait pile. Bears don’t digest oats well. They actually run right through them. I can attest; the area surrounding these bait sites is a mat of bear shit that looks like you could make oatmeal out of it.
Craig’s thinking is that if they pass the oats quickly, without gaining many calories or feeling full, the bears will return more often. Once the hunters show up, he then sweetens the bait with corn and pastries to make the baiting sites more appealing. It’s not exactly a one-and-done ordeal, despite what most people might assume.
Not All Bait Works the Same
It makes sense, right? If I were to bait you, apple pie might outperform pizza, and beer might beat out apple pie. When it comes to Manitoban black bears, nothing compares to a beaver carcass.
Compared to the barrel full of corn and oats soaked in used fryer grease and topped with pastries and birthday cake, the beaver carcass in the tree right next to the bait pile drew the bears in first every time. They didn’t even bother with the barrel until the beaver was gone. We hung the beaver out of reach one night. The bears messed with the rope and tree until they got the beaver, never once glancing at the bait barrel.
Bears Are Noisy
I’ve heard a few bear noises over the years. Maybe a huff or a slight grunt, but nothing like what I heard in the Manitoban jungle surrounding that bait barrel. That’s probably due to the nature of baiting compared to spot-and-stalk hunting. The close proximity of a baited bear lets you in on the nuances of the bear vocabulary. Many of the sounds were more like vibrations, and there were a lot of them. It was wild.
Bears Can Be Tricky Targets at Last Light
You’d think that a 400-pound bear at 12 yards would be an easy target, and it can be. But, in low-light conditions, aiming at a completely dark object becomes tricky.
It’s all just black; there is no shoulder crease, no ribs, no color changes. Settling your pin on the middle of the middle (this is how any bear expert describes the aiming point on a bear) becomes hard because your entire sight picture is just black fur. It’s like having your scope turned up to twelve power on a deer at 50 yards; all you see is brown hair.
You can remedy this with a bit of patience. Instead of letting an arrow fly and hoping for the best, take a second to look at the bear with both eyes away from the peep sight. Once you make note of that middle of the middle, it should be easier to locate through your peep. Just make sure you don’t hug too close to the shoulder.
You Might Feel Like A Trigger Man
Even though I helped Craig fill a few barrels of bait, I had little to do with the rest of the hunt. I didn’t pick the location, nor did I set a stand. Maybe this is just part of any guided hunt. The guide does the hunting, and the client does the killing.
If that’s what you want from a hunt, then you won’t have any problem with this strategy. Even though I played a minimal role in this hunt, I learned a lot and will probably be a better baiter in the future. Still, I missed the feeling of my own hard work paying off with an earned shot opportunity.
Black Bears Are Delicious
Black bears are good to eat. I already knew that, but I was reminded of that fact with over a hundred pounds of meat and lard, which I turned into oil. Now that I have one bear hide and one big bear skull, I don’t have much use for another. What I do have a use for is more bear meat. I would 100% kill another bear and only keep the meat. It’s that good.
Was this hunt easier than most hunts I go on? The answer is a resounding yes, but that doesn’t necessarily lessen the experience. I am better off having experienced this hunt. Is it a hunt that I’ll do every year going forward? Probably not. But, would I like to do it every three years? Definitely yes!
Click here to watch my Manitoba black bear hunt now.
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