So where do I begin lol I use to frequent the fishing boards alot, a couple years ago. But i have two little ones now and had slow my fishing frequency and posting lol. In that time I decided to get my hunting course and PAL and have never looked back. Tried a little deer hunting last fall with little success.
Moving on to 2020 I had big plans, obviously like everyone, until covid hit. Luckily I was able to get permission on couple farm fields behind my house to hunt turkey. Well, I'm essential worker and when I was at work the Tom I had been tracking either got smashed by a yote or a trespassing hunter (which is a problem where I am), either way feathers were everywhere on a evening i went scouting and the normally vocal tom was gone lol
Moving on to present day lol I've decided to go hole hog and attempt the spring bear hunt solo as I dont have a mentor at this point. So last weekend I headed for some crown land I had scoped out anticipating crown land camping might open soon if not I'll have to drive quite a bit to get this done.
Well my e-scouting paid off with a dandy spot with lots of sign and scat from bears. So that weekend I had setup a bait barrel and trail cam to see what's around. 3 days after leaving I had a bear find the bait and return every other night. I only know this as I checked the cams this weekend and topped up the bait station.
So I have a couple questions now for the experienced bear hunter. How have you guys personally gotten bears to show up during the day when baiting? , and how do you guys deal with the bug swarms and field dressing in the spring?
Anyways I'll attach some pics for you guys to get a visual of what I'm dealing with, thanks for any advice and also for reading this long of a post.