Bear Scent Spray

[Acathine_]

Not too sure if you can call bears, so the alternative would be bear scent spray. What do you think about it being added to the game? I think that it would revolutionize bear hunting, and in my eyes, that's a good thing.

Acathine_

[HooCairs]

Do bear callers exist in real life? Anyway in the game bears are baited.

http://thehunter.wikia.com/wiki/Bait

[SloNeZ]

Bear calls do in fact exist in real life, and we already have one in game: The predator call.
But it was decided long ago that this call would not attract bears simply to force the sale of bait and barrels. This was before the bait was available for GM. This is also why the in game bears tend to act more like high strung rabbits than actual bears making it unlikely to harvest a good one without either a long range shot( most likely in the butt) or of course, a bait barrel. The problem with that is I've never seen a competition winning bear at either of my barrels, never, although other people have had success at theirs.

The bait barrel system in my opinion is archaic, needlessly prohibitive since it takes a week(an actual week) before the attraction level is 100% and extremely punitive since as soon as a bear is shot within a large circle around the barrel the customer is penalized by the attraction level dropping to either 25% or 0% depending on the attraction level at the time.
Then it's back to waiting and filling the barrel again until another bear is shot. Wash rinse repeat.
Now the best way to attract bears is in fact by baiting, this is true since they have an uncanny sense of smell. But they also tend to investigate sounds like a wounded rabbit crying, which is what a predator call mimics.
But for me at least the whole bait system feels more like a punishment than an asset in it's current configuration and I usually just let them run out of bait or pull them up completely since tents can't be placed within 400 meters of one.

I think it's unfortunate to prohibit the predator call from working for bears since it would only attract the bears, if any, within the call's radius which is smaller than the radius of a barrel. So the call and the bait barrels could be used independently or together.
The barrel does have the advantage of spawning bears in the area of the barrel if I recall but it gets very frustrating to see a decent sized bear somewhere else on the map walking away with no earthly means of turning, stopping, or attracting the bear back for a potential bow shot.

As far as a scent spray for bears; I wouldn't mind it although I probably wouldn't use it if the call would work on bears. I think a dead animal should attract bears just as well as a spray would but some would argue that it would make barrels useless.

This post may draw the usual backlash when this subject comes up and that's okay. Some people think the bait system is fine and the call shouldn't work on bears, but other people want the ability to draw a bear's attention when one is encountered, not just after waiting the appropriated time for a barrel to start attracting them.
As of late the people of Expansive Worlds have really been making an effort to listen to their customer base(Thank you) so maybe after the more important bugs and other things are ironed out they will consider revisiting this topic.
Until then new players should follow the link Hoo provided and learn about bait barrel use if they want to actually attract bears.

[InstinctiveArcher]

Calling bears is done more out west than around where I hunt. I've heard that it's very exciting, but also a bit dangerous because when the Bears come in, they're stalking whatever it was that they heard.

[SloNeZ]

Calling bears is done more out west than around where I hunt. I've heard that it's very exciting, but also a bit dangerous because when the Bears come in, they're stalking whatever it was that they heard.

Yea they are expecting a live meal so their behavior could be aggressive since they are already planning to make a kill if the opportunity presents itself. I think that would add to the experience rather than detract from it. I'm really tired of seeing the in game bears running away all the time. They should also have a tendency to stalk or challenge the hunter or ambush if they choose to but that's more a subject for overall behavior.
Electronic predator calls are also used for bears in certain areas.
I'd rather pay a chunk of EM on a remotely triggered electronic bear call than waste weeks feeding a barrel any day. But that's just my opinion. It would be great though if the current predator call was finally adapted to attract bears, at least the blacks and browns. Polar bears hunt mostly seals by scent although they will take any opportunity they can when food is scarce. Maybe a small portable can or bag of seal bait for them? Just a thought.

[Acathine_]

Do bear callers exist in real life? Anyway in the game bears are baited.

http://thehunter.wikia.com/wiki/Bait

I think that the appropriate caller would be a fawn in distress, or a doe in distress. Seems like a good addition to the game. Scent spray might be good too.

The situation is similar to that of wild boar and feral hog at the moment. There is both a caller and a baiting mechanism.

Acathine_,

[RogerYar]

The bait barrel system in my opinion is archaic, needlessly prohibitive since it takes a week(an actual week) before the attraction level is 100% and extremely punitive since as soon as a bear is shot within a large circle around the barrel the customer is penalized by the attraction level dropping to either 25% or 0% depending on the attraction level at the time.

1) the attraction level dropping to 35%. for three days increases to 100%
2) the attraction level dropping after the end of the hunt. attractiveness level does not change in the current hunting
3) on each barrel I kill 5 - 7 bears during two hours ingame time and turn to the other barrel.

[BCKidd]

"Blood Scent" would be a big seller for EW. Especially for the Grizzly on Timbergold, since baiting can't be used there, which I'm grateful for. I think calling them or luring them with scent spray or predator caller makes for a better challenge then shooting bears at a barrel. That to me is kind of like shooting 'fish in a barrel' as the ol' adage goes. Peace.

BCKidd.