Anise oil has long been used by bear hunters for bringing in hungry bruins. Unlike sexual attractants, this scent works during spring and fall hunts. These anise sticks will drift one of a bear's favorite scents for long distances. Per 6.
Don't waste your money on these useless items. I hunted Minnesota Black bear season for 7 days. I did not see anything even though we were hunting over bait. I used these smoke sticks 4 of the seven days with no luck. I did have a person shoot a bear about 100 yards from where I was hunting. Seemed like if they worked like the box stated the bear would have came into to my area. I Talked with this hunter and he shoots a bear every year and he said that stuff is just non-sense. I tend to agree with him.
First time I lit the sticks, I wasn't in my treestand for more than 45 minutes when a small black dot appeared about 200 yards away. It got bigger and soon there was a 250 pound black bear standing on his back feet sniffing the air. He was within 20 yards of the bucket which was set up behind me. One shot from my Remington .300 Winchester Magnum! I bought camo duct tape, covered the bucket and drilled several 1" holes around the top portion of the bucket.
I placed 3 of the 6 sticks in a camoflaged bucket in 2 seperate locations known for black bear and where I have actually seen a large black bear with no reaction. I didn't feel that the scent was strong enough to attract a bear to a certain location. I wouldn't buy again. I've used the bear bomb and the code blue bear magnet and I would only buy the code blue bear magnet in the future.