Keep in mind that we don't bait bears to feed them.  The purpose of this feeder is to hold bears in the area of your stand or blind and keep them coming back.  Make the bears work at obtaining smaller amounts of food so it does not become necessary to refresh the bait every day.  Before the season opens, refreshing the bait every one or two weeks is about as much time as I can invest.  Bear feeding can be tedious, time consuming and expensive after tallying up your effort, time away and the cost of gas and bait.  In order to hold bears at your stand or blind you must have a constant supply of food, otherwise they will find some where else to go.  Use this feeder by itself or in conjunction with other baiting methods (45 gallon drums, suspended beaver/fish carcases...etc.).  If you fail to suspend the pail high enough or too close to a tree, bears will undoubtedly get hold of it and tear it down.  Therefore get the pail high enough off the ground (low enough so that they can swat the dowel) and far enough away from  trees so they cannot climb and reach for it.  The weight of your feed filled bucket will seriously deflect the line from which you suspend it.  Wire rope (clothesline wire) will not stretch and is probably best suited for suspending the pail.  For added security, instead of suspending the pail from its handle, drilling holes completely through the upper sides of the pail and running the wire through these holes will prevent it from being torn down.  You have to be able to refill the pail and or unplug it, so ensure that the pail slides freely along the wire rope.  You can push or pull the pail to the nearest tree using a tree limb or a rope hung from it.

Oats, popcorn, dry dog food or any other bait (mix in molasses/syrup/cooking oil) that will not run too freely or plug the opening, should work using this pail feeder.

Bear baiting is not legal in some Provinces and States.  Consult your game regulations.