I am going to both agree, and disagree about hunting and baiting...
When you watch the famous Iowa hunting shows for BIG bucks.. 90% are over bait.. Not necessarily Feed or bait poured in ONE spot, but more likely a food plot. Beets etc along the edges of fields.....
I have taken my share of deer. I have taken TWO VERY nice bucks. I had the ten pointer mounted, the nine pointer I didnt have mounted.. I will never shoot anything smaller than the largest buck I have to my name. So the next one HAS to be bigger.. Bigger is not always easy to judge when that charge of adrenalin hits your heart.. BOTH of my big bucks were taken from the ground, spotted while I was moving. MOST of the does I have taken were taken from the ground.. I have settled into my share of tree stands, and taken does from them.
Eating a buck is not all that great, but they do make good jerky. I prefer a nice young doe.
I have hunted bear, I did it on foot. I hunted bear for 17 years in Maine.. In 17 Years of hunting, I SAW one bear.. correction.. I saw the hind end of one bear heading away from me as fast as he could go..
I have never set a stand to hunt bear, i have never hunted bear with a dog.. However... If you WISH to kill a bear in the continental US, your best chance of doing so is with dogs. Next is the baited stand. IF neither of these methods were used, a LOT of bears would be destroyed in the cities and towns. I have moved back to Iowa, and will likely never have the opportunity in my lifetime to shoot a bear, and I do not regret that.
As I get older, I do still like to hunt deer.. In Maine.. Deer hunting was not all that much fun.. it took a LOT of time and effort... In Iowa.. it is more like planking rats at the town dump with a .22.. Even so... a heated stand I could climb into and shoot from is starting to sound VERY nice.. It would sure make putting three or four does in the freezer a LOT more comfortable on my aging bones..... My wife on the other hand.... No, I will get a call...
"Hey, I got one down at 5 corners bottom how soon can you be here?"
"But... But.. I just started my own hunt!"
"Oh you'll be fine, Hurry up and get over here, I want to walk along the........ OOOH! I see another one!" BLAM! "Bring your tag!"