BigGameHoundsmen.com

My family and i own (days bear bait) so we talk to a lot of bear hunters.We hade a guy come today. And tell us were he hunts there is a guide that is runing dogs off his bait.Not only that he saw him walking out off his bait one day.He was cheking to see if the bait was hit before he let the dogs loose.Now thats not right.Now this guy wonts to get a bunch of hunters together and put a bill in for a new law so you cant run dogs till after stand hunting is over.Has anyone hade this happen before to then



bear baiter

it happens more than you think, and a good old fashion woopin will cure it

Bear Baiter: I can tell you that up in Maine that is an ongoing problem. In our area Brownville we are surrounded by Commercial forests. They are regulated by the North Maine Woods Assoc. the commercial guides and everyone else is entitled to lease their bait allocations from them every year . Some of the guides use the exact same spot year after year . I do not have a problem with anyone chasing bears with their own bait sites .What I see is the private guys coming into the area with Less than Quality hounds that find where the bait site are ,which are generally on skidder or tote roads .Then walk their best hound in to see if they will sound off if so then releasing 3 more hounds.To me it is like STEALING from a competitor. Yes I have turned a few of these guys into the warden service. Our hound season generally overlaps the last 2 weeks of the bait hunting .It just is NOT the right thing to do to an outfitter.However If we are rigging and get 1/2 mile past a known bait site I have no problem letting the hounds go.We are not commercial outfitters but we do all have to get along

carefull what you wish for in regulation. Here in michigan the bait hunters complained and the next thing you know we can't run dogs 2 different week + periods. (but we did get an extra week in early July training season-whoopy to hot)
my point being much better to work it out and be ethical amongst ourselves (all hunters) than to give the anti's ammo. remember the anti's will take whatever they can get away from hunting. look at california and all the lion problems they have now that you can't hunt them.
big bite

No matter what you do there are alway's going to be slob's that don't play by the rule's.People that run off of other people's bait's are the same lazy bum's that would steal any thing you leave unlocked.They don't care about your bait's,the season's or anything else thier going to do whatever they want anyway,they'll just run off them at night and say they're coon hunting.Thier like a disease,you can fight them but you'll never get rid of them.JMO

Trail cameras are great for finding out whats going on at your bait site.I have many many times cold trailed from one bait to another.Sometimes they were my own baits, other times someone elses that I didnt even know were there.It happens. Different story if someone is walking in and checking the bait first though ! I agree, thats like stealing.
Many times in Maine my dogs would strike from the rig, I'd let them down, away they would go. As I was standing around the truck listening I would notice a trail going into the woods.Walk down it a ways and there was a bait site.Nothing you can do about that is there?

My primary hunting method over the past 35 years or so has been rigging and walk hunting my dogs. Here in Michigan, in the area I live the national forest and commercial forest land is literally saturated with bear baits the first half of the bear season. Nobody has private property rights on this public land. If they are not woods-wise enough to get back into the woods where it is not frequented by a lot of other users...too bad. I am not so damn desperate that I have to seek out bear baits. But we often get a bad rap because our dogs strike bear scent where they find it...and there are times when a cold-nosed dog will trail a half mile and often much farther, ending up passing through some nimrod's bait site. If they want exclusive use they need to find a place on private property.

I'm not aware of bait-sitters having priority over anybody else in the bear woods. Real sick of the constant whining by a bunch of individuals that are only interested in bear about one week out of the year...until they flutter off into some other form of bait sitting like deer hunting.

well said! i agree 100%.wine wine wine give them some cheese.nothing like rig to tree

i would guess that there are a lot of people that do just plainly walk into someone else's bait to run. BUT i would also guess that there are a lot of people the do not bait, but rig hunt areas that have been baited.. rig dogs are going to smell bear, the innocent houndsman cuts loose, then gets reemed for running off his bait. we... get off your lazy you know what and walk more then 50yds to set up a bait site if you think there will be hounds in the area.

DAVE: SEEMS LIKE YOU LIKE THE RIGGING!!!! IF YOU ARE PATIENT, THERE WILL BE MORE WHERE SHE CAME FROM!!

I just started running dogs this year and run off my baits and a freinds baits most of are baits are about 400-500 yards in the woods.No one but us will run them.now we know there are other hound hunters around but becouse are baits are so far in we do not worry about them.If guys do not like hound hunters than they should not be lazy like most of them are and walk a little.Then they dont have to worry about dogs.

I agree with you guys that people shouldn't get wound up if a dog winds up at their bait. It could have picked up the track at numerous points along the way. They don't own the land, the track or the critter.

I will say it is a pretty piss poor hound guy or hunter who purposely ships his dogs into another's bait. If someone's dogs are constantly ending up at the same bait/spot, it's probably not because every critter track goes there. It's because he's too damn lazy to do his own work. A lot of work/training goes in to hunting bear. Too much to do for someone else.

Seen an old rig dog once that could find every bait he went by. He did it enough for all us to be aware of it. We discussed it, alot. Best we could figure out he knew what smells were associated with a bait location, human, bait and bears. He took me to unhit & hit baits, more than once. Got me caught on a trail cam. He took me to it, we looked around and I led him away. Without a doubt the best dog I've ever been around. Never owned him just got to hunt with him.

Seen this a time or two as well but lost or kicked out dogs will find the closest bait everytime. Looking for a ride. Harmless however it looks suspicious. The owner of the bait automatically assumes you run his bait. Doesn't even need to see you or the dog, just the tracks. First dogger he sees close by done it.

I hunt where baiting and hound season runs together and get tired of baiters thinking they own a mountain because they have a bucket of chum out. I rig hunt and look for tracks and when I find one or get a srtike I am going to turn loose period. I look at it like this I bought a hunting license that is good for the state and when I point my pickup up a road that is where I am going to hunt.

After reading this thread im glad we cant bait here in Vermont.Ill stick with my rig dog

Where you been Jason ?