It's a legal form of hunting. Most bear hunting I've seen is either with bait or dogs chasing them and treeing them. If you're baiting, then you either use rotten meat or sweets. Were it me, I'd much rather hunt over sweets than rotten meat when it's hotter than hell. Same for the Canadian bear hunters. Most places up there use bait, too.
To go sit in the woods and wait for a bear to aimlessly wander by in the endless north country is a losing proposition. It's tough enough over bait, since they are often noctural when it's hot. Believe me, hunting over bait is no guarantee you'll shoot a bear.
And no, I've never hunted bears, and never really wanted to. I like whitetails, rabbits and squirrels. But that's just my preferences. I do know several guys who hunt bear on a yearly basis and they don't do all that well, bait notwithstanding. It's definitely not a sure thing, or like shooting something in pen.
I also know a guy who makes a living selling bear bait. He recycles baked goods, cereals, candy and barrel molassas. Some of the "up north" lodges buy an 18-wheeler full of the recycled foodstuffs for their bear bait season.
Everyone who is all up in arms over using bait to attract a bear, are these the same people who lower a bare hook into the water and wait for a fish to hit it?
I see zero difference in putting some bait out to attract the animals and all these guys who plant "food plots" to attract game, or people who sit on a game trail and ambush an animal as it's going to or from a food source. My tree stand is on an access trail that deer take to an acorn ridge to feed each morning and evening. So I'm "baiting" with the acorns, it's just that Nature grows and distributes the bait for me. So call me lazy. It's all "bait" folks.
