advice for a NY bear hunt

[Adkhunter1590]

I did mine with a sterno burner. The stuff in the can burnt off long before the sterno had died out. We had a DEC officer stop at our camp that trip and we showed him our burn cans and everything we planned on putting in them. He didn’t mention anything about the 1.5 oz rule (I already knew about it and was waiting for him to say we had more than 1.5) but all he said was that what we had looked like the bears would be loving that smell.

We didn’t leave the cans out overnight so no one could say it was as close to baiting as we could get. Make sure you bring a big ziploc for it, my buddy forgot his and his pack still stinks like fried honey anchovies lol.

[CapDistPatriot]

9 minutes ago, Adkhunter1590 said:

I did mine with a sterno burner. The stuff in the can burnt off long before the sterno had died out. We had a DEC officer stop at our camp that trip and we showed him our burn cans and everything we planned on putting in them. He didn’t mention anything about the 1.5 oz rule (I already knew about it and was waiting for him to say we had more than 1.5) but all he said was that what we had looked like the bears would be loving that smell.

We didn’t leave the cans out overnight so no one could say it was as close to baiting as we could get. Make sure you bring a big ziploc for it, my buddy forgot his and his pack still stinks like fried honey anchovies lol.

What did you put in your can?

[Adkhunter1590]

What did you put in your can?

Honey, anchovies, cool aid mix pack. Second day we added bacon grease left over from breakfast. My buddy put some apple slices in his can. I think you can put just about anything in there.

[Five Seasons]

2 hours ago, Adkhunter1590 said:

I did mine with a sterno burner. The stuff in the can burnt off long before the sterno had died out. We had a DEC officer stop at our camp that trip and we showed him our burn cans and everything we planned on putting in them. He didn’t mention anything about the 1.5 oz rule (I already knew about it and was waiting for him to say we had more than 1.5) but all he said was that what we had looked like the bears would be loving that smell.

We didn’t leave the cans out overnight so no one could say it was as close to baiting as we could get. Make sure you bring a big ziploc for it, my buddy forgot his and his pack still stinks like fried honey anchovies lol.

also use this setup. I have an empty paint can to hang from a bow holder about 6' off the ground. In the paint can I have a small bush beans can with a sterno. taped to the top i have a large empty bush bean can filled with goodness. I can then just light the sterno and let it puff (really cool how it puffs). You actually don't want to put too much in as it will overflow the honey and create a mess. I'll post pics this spring as I need to make a new one.

i still think it's risky, but not illegal. Open to interpretation. the argument being that something boiling on fire and not left in the woods while not boiling isn't "edible" and therefore not food bait. I also think many dec officers run into actual baiting and understand how hard bear hunting without any form of bait can be, so maybe they're lenient. 

Edited May 17, 2019 by Belo