So you've killed a bear, wolf or coyote ...now what?

H4831 said:
There is a strange history to human consumption of bear meat.
In the meat hunting for survival days of the great depression when people virtually lived on wild meat, it was very rare to see any family eating bear meat.
They all liked the fat from a bear for cooking, especially for pastry, as well as bear fat for conditioning leather boots. But the meat wouldn't even be brought home.
This was basically the same for the native Indians of the day.
Old habits die hard and to this day I won't eat bear meat. I have certainly shot bears. I even had a nice spring shot brown made into a half head rug by a professional taxidermist.
Since abut 1980 in BC, meat from game animals, including bear, had to be brought home to the place of residence. Then, the law ends right there! It does not say you have to eat the meat.
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Well said Bruce. I can recall my Grandfather saying he had no use for killing a bear. He surely wasn't going to eat one. He only ever shot two that I can recall. One that was doing some damage to the cottage and one that was walking through the cottage yard that a friend of his just had to have to bring back to the US to have a rug made. Myself, I tried bear meat twice from two different bears and both times found it rancid tasting. Never again. I like the SK regs. Shoot it, harvest the hide and leave the carcass to the Magpies and Coyotes.
 
I keep the hindquarters and backstraps of blackbears after skinning them, haul them home and give them to whoever wants them. Most get distributed by my brother who knows a few families who can't afford to be picky. The ones we shoot are grain fed, and they don't taste like much of anything.The rest gets recycled by running it through birds and other bears
 
H4831 said:
There is a strange history to human consumption of bear meat.
In the meat hunting for survival days of the great depression when people virtually lived on wild meat, it was very rare to see any family eating bear meat.
They all liked the fat from a bear for cooking, especially for pastry, as well as bear fat for conditioning leather boots. But the meat wouldn't even be brought home.
This was basically the same for the native Indians of the day.
Old habits die hard and to this day I won't eat bear meat. I have certainly shot bears. I even had a nice spring shot brown made into a half head rug by a professional taxidermist.
Since abut 1980 in BC, meat from game animals, including bear, had to be brought home to the place of residence. Then, the law ends right there! It does not say you have to eat the meat.
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Bruce,

that is really interesting to read about that.

Not in Canada but in old Europe the habit of eating bears came mostly due to the great depression at least what my grand father told me.

Phil
 
the spank said:
Well said Bruce. I can recall my Grandfather saying he had no use for killing a bear. He surely wasn't going to eat one. He only ever shot two that I can recall. One that was doing some damage to the cottage and one that was walking through the cottage yard that a friend of his just had to have to bring back to the US to have a rug made. Myself, I tried bear meat twice from two different bears and both times found it rancid tasting. Never again. I like the SK regs. Shoot it, harvest the hide and leave the carcass to the Magpies and Coyotes.
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Hmmm, very odd that you had 2 unpleasant experiences. I have eaten numerous bears I've killed and never had one that tasted off, rancid, or gamey. As a matter of fact, several people tried it at my place (knowing ahead of time what they were tasting), and all loved it, although the thought of it bothered a few. As far as diet goes, hogs have pretty much the same diets.
 
in BC it is illegal to kill wildlife (with the exception of grizzly bear, cougar or a fur bearing animal other than a black bear) and fail to remove from the carcass the edible portions of the four quarters and loins to the person’s normal dwelling place or to a meat cutter or the owner or operator of a cold storage plant...

so you can add BC to your list
 
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legi0n said:
in BC it is illegal to kill wildlife (with the exception of grizzly bear, cougar or a fur bearing animal other than a black bear) and fail to remove from the carcass the edible portions of the four quarters and loins to the person’s normal dwelling place or to a meat cutter or the owner or operator of a cold storage plant...

so you can add BC to your list
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Not really.
As you quoted, the meat (of all game animals) must be taken to the persons normal dwelling place, or a meat cutters, etc., but that is the extent of the law. Nothing states that the meat must be consumed by humans.
In reality there is a fair bit of wild meat that finds its way back to the bush!
 
H4831 said:
Not really.
As you quoted, the meat (of all game animals) must be taken to the persons normal dwelling place, or a meat cutters, etc., but that is the extent of the law. Nothing states that the meat must be consumed by humans.
In reality there is a fair bit of wild meat that finds its way back to the bush!
Click to expand...

I am not going to say which RM office I was in fall before last but the lady behind the counter selling me my RM map was telling me how her and her husband and a couple of their neighbours always fill out their whitetail tags to feed their dogs with for the year. She said they didn't care much for venison themselves but that the dogs love it and do well on it. I am sure I had a stunned look on my face but she never asked about it?! Just shows you that you never know who does what with harvested game.
 
Bear I keep the hide, skull and meat. The meat is delicious and a joy to have overflowing the freezer.

Canines I just keep the hides and put up for auction. I'd never eat a dog as I find as your skinning the blood smells very acidic/acrid. Lynx I might try if I had a freshly caught specimen. The last one I got I was tempted to trim off a little of the meat as it had no strong odour and looked somewhat chicken like. Gotta remember to stop skinning on an empty stomach.
 
If it's not a problem bear, why kill an edible animal and let it go to waste? Most people would rightly condemn someone that shoots a deer or moose and takes just the rack.
 
legi0n said:
any requirement that the meat is consumed by humans would be unenforceable
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not here ....

Waste of Meat or Fur
It is unlawful to waste the meat from a game bird, small game animal or big game
animal, other than a bear, wolf, coyote, wolverine or furbearing animal. If a small
game animal or game bird is delivered to a taxidermist to be mounted, the waste
of meat provisions of the
Wildlife Act
do not apply.
Meat is considered to be wasted when part of an animal that is reasonably suitable
for human consumption is:
X
X
fed to dogs or other domestic animals,
X
X
abandoned,
X
X
destroyed or allowed to spoil,
X
X
used for bait, or
X
X
left in the field without being properly dressed and cared for to prevent
the meat from being scavenged or spoiled.
Meat includes the neck and rib meat, the two front quarters down to the lower leg joint,
the two hind quarters down to the hock, the backstraps and the tenderloins. It does not
include the head, hide or viscera.
Successful hunters are required to take all of the meat from the kill site to the departure
point (the place where it will be transported from the field) before taking the horns or
antlers of the animal to that point. If all the meat is to be transported at once, horns
or antlers may be taken with that meat, or horns or antlers may be taken with the last
load of meat.
Any meat left behind once the horns or antlers are removed from
the kill site is considered abandoned.
It is unlawful to allow the hide or pelt of a bear, coyote, wolverine or wolf to be wasted.

General Regulations


Conservation Officers continue to find evidence of meat
wastage when conducting field inspections.
Each year charges are laid for this offence and, on conviction, Yukon courts
have imposed significant penalties on offenders. The maximum penalty for
a first offence is $50,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 12 months.

h t t p ://www.env.gov.yk.ca/hunting-fishing-trapping/documents/hunting_regs_15-16.pdf

see page 24.
 
bearkilr said:
Define edible. Is it the ones the law says we have to eat? Is killing a bear for the hide a waste? Is all trapping a waste then?
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I find that bear meat is at least the equal of any other game meat, and to me, letting a bear carcass go to waste and taking just the hide is like shooting a a moose, deer or elk for just the rack. Trapping is not a waste, IMHO. I've eaten snared rabbit, beaver and even moose, and the meat is extremely gamey, I guess because it hasn't been bled out. But that's just me. As long as the law and your own views allow you to do it, I can't judge.
 
bearkilr said:
Define edible. Is it the ones the law says we have to eat? Is killing a bear for the hide a waste? Is all trapping a waste then?
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These differing perspectives on the edibility of black bears is largely regional... those in Ontario and Quebec know the black bear as a valued game animal and worthy tablefare. Our wildlife laws ensconce this perspective... the further west you go the more the attitudes shift toward black bears as and it seems that the provincial/territorial laws reflect those attitudes.
 
hoytcanon said:
These differing perspectives on the edibility of black bears is largely regional... those in Ontario and Quebec know the black bear as a valued game animal and worthy tablefare. Our wildlife laws ensconce this perspective... the further west you go the more the attitudes shift toward black bears as and it seems that the provincial/territorial laws reflect those attitudes.
Click to expand...

Isn't BC the farthest province west? ;)
 
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