Hello Folks,

I have a fairly decent Trail cam, and I just pulled it from the woods, with really no results. My thought was that maybe my location was correct ( high mountaneous area with a history of sightings) but the bait used ( a salt lick) was not appropriate for the target ( Squatch). Your feedback on where to place them ( both from a geographical standpoint and a specific location on a tree), and what bait to use, is greatly appreciated... So I ask for your thoughts openly...

Thanks,

If you put out a salt lick and didn't at least get a ton of deer photos you're doing something wrong.

The math with game cam's is location+positioning+time=success.

Baiting can be a great way to increase success, but if you aren't applying the three basic principals it will only help so much (if at all).

If you are going to bait ask yourself how the target animal will find the bait. If game is sparse (or you can't locate a well used game trail or watering hole) use a bait that will have an odor sufficient enough to draw in animals from a distance. If game is already frequenting the area then consider the foods that are in season for that time and that are being used by the animals in the area. When possible, defer to food items that would occur naturally in the area or that are at least a close equivalent.

Deer aren't nearly as abundant as they are in Georgia, or anywhere else east of the Mississippi, and I think this is why I didn't get anything on film. The camera did take a shot while out there, but whatever was there to trigger it had moved through before the image was captured. I have heard that dry corn kernels are good, what do you think?

Feed corn is frequently used at bait stations here in Florida. It works great.

Great, keep the advice coming everyone!

You put out a salty treat for BF in the middle of the desert?

Try Gatorade next. I think he is going to be thirsty after the salty treat.

Bait for my trailcams? hmmm... think I need a new partner. Last one didn't last that long.

Once again the Arizona = Desert Stereotypes continue to plague this board. Believe it or not, we even own a relatively modern invention called the automobile, which allows us to travel freely to different portions of the state. I went up north to set up this trail cam, in an area full of pine trees and lush undergrowth. This is an area in which sightings have occured in the past, and is lightly populated and even less visited. I am not asking for advice as to where to set up the cam geographically speaking, but rather, with which bait to use in conjunction with the cam itself. Also open to discussion are different techniques in disguising the cam, or positioning the cam relative to the bait.

Thanks again for allowing me the opportunity to explain for the Umpteenth time, that Arizona has quite a bit of Squatch like forest in it for us to explore.

Damndirtyape, what did you mean by your comment? I don't quite follow

We've tried baiting near our game camera with different types of things. First, we tried baiting with things that are native to the area, but used them when they weren't in season. For example, blackberries. I kept some in the freezer from last summer then used them to bait late last fall. We've tried the same thing with persimmons and pears.

Then we tried baiting with things that are not native to the area. Oranges, grapefruit, limes, lemons, kiwi and other fruits that don't naturally grow here. We didn't have any luck getting our target on film, but something took all the non-native items while the native items, even though out of season were barely touched.

What does all this mean? Well, it means that something in our woods loves oranges and grapefruit but doesn't care for blackberries and pears apparently.

Like Bitter Monk said, "The math with game cam's is location+positioning+time=success.". You just have to keep trying til you get it right, no matter what type of game you're after.

eldonkey,

I'm not sure how this might work, but my sister in law always has a quail block out behind her place in North Scottsdale (near Carefree). She has pics of everything coming in for the block including coyotes and javelina. If there were any deer in the neighborhood, I think they'd be there too!

Alan

Thanks Zonie, sounds like a winner, where might one by such an item, and roughly, what are the costs?

Guess that statement is specific to the area. Theres no shortage where I am, or turkies either. The challenge for me would be to use bait that would maybe not attract deer or turkeys, although bears abound as well. Placing the bait at a certain height would be a good way of getting around that. Sorry, just thinking out loud.

While we are on the subject, does anyone have any advice as to camo-ing your camera so as not to make it visible to either animals, or other humams? The thought is always running in the back of my head that someone will happen upon my camera and decide to walk off with it... Also, any input on how often this happens would be good too...

I'd be curious what would happen if you used fish as an attractant. There's a trick I learned years ago for attracting catfish. You get a can of tuna or two, poke a few holes in the can, and toss it in the water, then fish over it, it works great. Wonder if a similar thing would work with the Sasquatch? Of course you'd be hanging it in a tree and not throwing it in the water.

By the way, before everyone gets outraged by the catfish baiting thing. I always tie a rope to the can so I can remove it when I leave, and I always practice catch and release.

eldonkey in responce to your question get a cuddeback game cam they have password lock and any hunter that knows them know that they would be useless to them. They run fromm $200.00 to $400.00. And as far as camo don't bother based on my experience in the field and my opinion that BF can detect the ir which upon testing has a 5 degree temp diif compaired to the air around it, it is a narrow beam. but this is my opinion. I and many hunters that i have asked believe that would explain game cam pics that have no image except the area they are posted and maybe BF is testing those. but again i will stress that is my opinion. At the present time we are attempting to set up a security system in place of game cams that has no ir but does have heat sensors. we just need to figure out a good power source for the set-up that will not be nousy. and then it is open season. thank you and have a good day.

Got a great idea (get them regularly), why not string a rope across his suspected trail or path? Then place the camera about 10-15 feet away and go for a great faceplant shot. Be extremely cautious when retrieving camera, though, because messing with sasquatch could have its consequences. :thumbandpinkywayup: Just assuming that sasquatch is a primate, it would seem to have some of our weaknesses: thoughtlessness, anger, etc. It would seem plausible he would fall for such a simple yet shrude trap. Hang your salt lick away from the path, to create a little curiosity. My assumption that he is primate is based on the fact that I saw a footprint.

From the reports I've received & read on other sites for WV., I'd suggest placing the cam on a tree (A conifer if possible) near a river or stream with fish & other aquatic life in it that is also near oak or nut bearing trees & use fish, pine nuts, & other nuts as bait. Do you have more than one trail cam?

You could try picking out the tree you want to put your cam on. Then take a close up shot of a section of the trunk & then using a medium with adhesive backing to print out the photo on (cropping away everything but the tree trunk of course) to make your own customized camo tape to cover the cam with. I know it's alot of bother. But it would probably be a much closer match than just going to Cabelas or wherever & buying a roll of camo tape off the shelf.

I'm now of the opinion that sasquatch probably utilizes road kill for food and whatever else. A camera posted high over a road that has a high deer, moose, elk roadkill. Even monitoring freeway cams would probably be very effective. [The stink some people report is probably due to sasquatch being sprayed by one of them d... skunks!]

Hello folks,

Thank you for your continued contributions on this topic. I have taken in all of the info, and will be applying it out in the field very soon. I currently own just 1 basic trail cam, but this "Cuddleback" brand seems to be the way to go if you can afford them.... I may invest in one down the road, but I believe my next purchase will be the same Cam that I have now, which seems to work well enough... Keep the info coming!!!

Thanks,

Eldonkey

See here.

Read here.

From what I've seen, pancakes with syrup. That's the ticket ! ! !

Really though...from what I've seen, baiting is something that will attract anything that eats. From where I am, So. Oregon, a trail cam on an "natural" (possibly) food area will give pics of EVERYTHING that eats that food. I've seen some "sign" that I can't attribute to any "known" animal, but I couldn't have baited it any better than nature. If I'd have baited it I'd have gotten every scavenger or opportunistic animal known to the pacific northwest.

My suggestion is to find a location you think is prime and just put up a camera. You can't figure out what will eat what will eat what. If it is "prime" country check it every two weeks, or based on the film or number of pics it takes every month and hope it picks up something odd.

That's the goal, along with those not "known".

Not that it would matter. A photo just ain't gonna' cut it.

That's already well established.

Hey,
I new to the forums but I'd thought that I would share some information that I just learned that is used for luring predators and prey into range. The use of decoys is widely used for game and I would suggest using one here. There are a number of keys to using these. First, motion greatly increases the lifelike look or the decoys. Even toilet paper taped to the decoy that flutters can be very effective. So you want to bring the animal in using it's defensive senses as you offerense. By adding scent, such as doe urine or an apple scent, with the addition on movement, you can greatly increase your chances of gettign a good pic. Everything you do compliments the animals survival instincts. First is smells something and follows it up, possibly making ever small circles till it reaches the source. Then when it gets near, the decoy suppliments the scent it is slready smelling, and the movement finalizes what the animal alreadys belives. If you could add a sound that would make it even better too. I am thinking about trying to hang a piece of tin foil with scent and possible peanut butter. Maybe that would drive the curiosity up, but it's an experiment. You always want to have something to suppliment you bait or attactant in order the make the animal really believe what it smells. In addition, it is important to wear cover scent, let the clothes you are using stay out side for at LEAST 24 hrs before setting your trailcamera up. SOme people smoke there cothes for additional cover. Also...wear rubber boots b/c they won't carry scent like leather boots do. Oh yea, and wash with scent free soar and spray your boots with something like fox urine. With this scent stuff you either have to go all in or not at all, and with bigfoots my guess would be you have to be very serious about scents, baiting and decoy. Hope this wasn't to long....enjoy.
As for camoing your camera I would suggest something like Kush Marine paint. Here are some links so you can see what people have done. Also liquid nails works just as well. I will post those sites ASAP.

I thought that at one time as well. I asked one researcher about it and he said it smelled like a certain part of the female anatomy that had never been washed. While I am sure that would smell quite bad, I doubt it would smell like a skunk.

I agree that staking out a natural food source is the way to go. I do not like the idea of using smells to attract a Sasquatch. Smells are just as likely to attract a mangy bear with a penchant for doing handstands. Personally if I used any 'bait' at all, it would be something that would appeal to thier curiosity. Assuming Sasquatch is an ape, I am sure they would be very curious. Maybe something that made a strange sound. Or better yet a wounded animal sound. Even a small mirror hanging on a string would be a great curiosity attractant.

Just a thought here but I dont think the mirror idea would be a good one because most animals ( maybe even BF) might shy away from shiny objects that are un natural to the area.

I would still go with the bait idea but put the bait either in some type of container or prehaps 8-10 feet off the ground- it would still be a magnet to every hungry animal but at least the smaller ones wouldnt be able to get at it- plus, maybe their presence wiuld even further the cause by adding their scents as well ( kinda like a buffet)

.... Sasnatch?

Sorry folks..... That was not very nice.........Lord I apologize for that right there and be with the starving pygmies down there in New Guinea there, Amen!

I applaud you sir.


dav

Not as bad an idea as you may think. When I was trapping a buddy of mine would use maple syrup and chopped up hot dogs as bait. He never used urine or any other scents, and he always trapped gray foxes. Ever notice how most animals will be your friends for life if they think you have sugar cubes in your pocket? Most dogs even like marshmallows. I think honey or something else sweet. I wouldn’t try the pancake thing, but the maple syrup spread high up a tree, say nose level (of a Sas), could be interesting.

I think most animals would shy away from the mirror but that BF would be curious about it. A while back there was a large group of people believing that BF was an alien because of the number of sightings of BF coinciding with UFO reports. It was always my cointention that they were just as curious about the strange lights as we are.

i feel that a blood type bait(some type of liver) suspended about 8 ft. above a fresh raked soil patch about 12 ft. square would be worth a shot.

I don't think using any kind of bait/device to attract bigfoot based on their "curiosity" because they are "probably some kind of ape" is going to work. These are not some kind of creature that you can study in a zoo or pick up notes on in a documentary. There is very little comparisons between bigfoot and apes to justify treating them like the apes that we know about.

Do I believe they are curious. You betcha. But, from my experience, their cautiousness about anything new in the woods overrides their curiosity. Will they come and look at "it". I believe so, but touching "it" is not likely to happen.

Hanging food that they are not familiar with is not likely to provide any results. And placing food that they are familiar with may take more time that you have to observe.

Autumn Williams hangs raw meat without any results, yet bigfoot has been known to take a deer carcass left out in the woods. Hanging meat is foreign to them. A deer carcass lying on the ground is not.

Then you have to worry about leaving some form a bait that other animals will come and take.

And of course, planting bait in front of a game camera will almost certainly negate getting a photo of one.

Me thinks your researcher needs to find some better women to hang out with..

Have you tryed car batteries with an inverter?




OH GOD, you just didn't say that did you.... I am really sorry ladies, that was just gross...

I was curious about the possibility of BF eating skunk for two reasons. One, because of the reported smell associated with BF. And secondly because skunks do not have any natural predators except one type of owl. You would think that a small animal with such a varied diet and few natural predators would have HUGE numbers. Yet skunks seem to be fairly rare. I was not expecting the answer I got. Of course the guy said he got that impression over the smell of bedding sites he had investigated.

Thanks for the great feedback guys...

My plan is to put in for the Elk hunt in the North and Eastern parts of Arizona (High BF potential). If I get an Elk, I will take the meat... but leave the carcass near a tree.... a tree with my game cam aimed right at it. I figure this way if anything is gonna hit the carcass, we will get it on film... I will keep you posted... as the cam currently is doing its dirty work in the snow country of Arizona overlooking a small watering hole....

I think if you found a good source of water with a good supply of edible plants around it, that would be a good place to set your camera. Also set it high enough so that you don't just get deer and BF knees.

If you found a good enough area baiting wouldn't be necessary. But if you do bait, I would use a plastic spoon hanging 8 feet up from a branch covered in peanut butter. Good smell that isn't too strong and high in protein that is lacking in a mostly vegetarian diet.

How do you know that their diet is mostly vegetarian? Have you observed one of them eating?

If these creatures are omnivores, they will eat what is available. In some areas of activity, meat may be more plentiful than vegetation.

We have had that discussion on other threads before. There are more herbivores than carnivores because vegitarian diets are easier to get. The larger the animal it becomes more important to get the easier food. Omnivores eat meat, but eat mostly vegitarian. It simply stands to reason that BF would ahve a diet similar to bears. Bears do eat meat but thier diets are 95% vegitarian. Even a little research will show you that.

In my research area, the creatures will eat corn out of the deer feeders. They also will eat deer and coyote, even when there is plenty of corn in the feeders.

I am an omnivore and I will take steak over a pretty salad any day. Vegetation may be the easier food, but I am not so sure it is the preferred food.



I haven't found anything in my research to make that type of comparison. The only bears that might be remotely close to my area of research is a black bear. I have no doubt that a black bear will eat meat if it can find it on a dead animal, or a small animal, like a rabbit, but I don't believe they hunt other large animals for food like bigfoot do. And black bears are listed as carnivores, even though their main source of food is vegetation.

Using people as a comparison doesn't make sense. We have much larger choices in what we eat because we do not have to go get it ourselves. There isn't much evidence that BF is a better hunter than bears are, though they probably are. Most omnivores eat mostly vegitarian, then insects, then meat. Meat is generally a rare treat. Apes are the same way. I have never heard of gorillas eating meat. But chimps do hunt in packs occaisionally, though their diet is similar to a bear's in vegitation, insect, meat ratios.

Though I would also prefer steak over a salad. It is obvious with the health problems that affect most people the world over that we eat far more meat than we should for our physiology. Obesity, cholesterol, and many heart conditions are directly related to meat consumption and overly processed carbohydrates. Unlike humans, animals generally know what they need to stay healthy. They will eat very unusual items simply because thier normal diets are lacking in something they need and avoid things that will make them sick.

No offense to either of you, but I would not waste any time arguing over the possible diet of a creature that we still cannot definitively proove exists.. Once we bring back ample proof, then by all means, id entertain theories that BF's moonlight as large hairy late night patrons at the local Chili's, but until then, I don't see the point....

The point being that if we can make a good enough guess as to what a BF might eat, and find an area rich in these sources of food, it would be a good place to look for one because one is likely to visit that area at some point. Bears know where food can be found, I cannot see how a BF wouldn't as well.

To an extent, using other animals diets can be helpful, but you cannot firmly take a stance on whether Bigfoot is an omnivore, or "it" is an carnivore, or even if "it" is a full blown herbivore, if you cannot first prove that "it" even exists....

I understand where you are coming from, and it is important to think of resources at our disposal in the way of bait attractants, but I just wouldn't feel right in my own self as saying that BF is definitively one or the other, because quite frankly we are still in the "proving" stage of this creatures supposed existence....

Keep the info rolling though, this thread has given good insight with regard to the trail cams and their uses...

I agree with you there, eldonkey. There is no sense speculating on the behavioral/dietary habits of an animal that we have little to no understanding of. What I assume would be the easiest to do would be to cover all bases. If you find an area of suspected activity, place several different kinds of bait in areas, at heights that most ground-dwelling animals could not readily reach, and see what gets eaten, then monitor accordingly.

I do not think the way I do about food sources to try and figure out bait for a BF. Bait may be fine for deer and such, but I think BF would be smart enough to consider a strange substance suspicious. I am sure many things have been used as bait over the past hundred years or so, but still no BF.

We know a lot about know apes and thier diets, so we CAN assume what a BF's diet would be like. We know we are missing some key parts of the other apes' diets and can make good assumptions on how a BF would compensate for this lack. There are many things we really can strongly assume about BF's diet. If you do not know what those possibilities might be, I suggest you do a little research of your own instead of trying to shoot down what other people have done simply because you cannot see the possibilities.

Eldonkey makes a valid point, and I would expect nothing less from someone that has never had a bigfoot encounter.

However, there are some folks that have. And those of us that research in an area of proven activity have a little better understanding of what a bigfoot would eat and how they would go about getting that food source.

When you see one of these creatures eat corn out of a deer feeder, then you "know" they will eat corn, especially out of a deer feeder. Just one example, of course.

Hanging bananas in a tree, just because other great apes are known to eat them, will probably only get you a bunch of rotten bananas hanging in a tree.

I don't make assumptions about something I don't know about. I leave that for the bigfoot "experts".