Black bear question

AB3006

AB3006

Member
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Has anyone in the Calgary area killed their spring bear yet?

Asking, because I have not hunted bear before, and I'am interested in joining a hunt in the 2026 spring season. However, I wanted to try some, before I go out and kill an animal which I then won't like the taste of.

I wouldn't mind buying or bartering for a small piece of a typical roast off of a CGNner to experiment in a culinary fashion.

Alternatively, is there a supplier in somewhere that sells bear meat?

OK. Go ahead and laugh now.
 
Buying/bartering in wild game is illegal I do believe.
At least it is in BC anyways, try a local rod and gun game banquet as meat is donated to the club to share amongst the member to tell stories, swap lies and a good enoug reason to celebrate a successful season and drink beer too of course.
They are usually in the fall and are fund raisers for the club ...not the meat , but games and auctions both silent and active bidding.
Fall bear meat is best and there is a reason they are called 'Bush Pigs' ( said with fondness) in my circle of hunting friends .
Rob
 
AB3006 said:
Has anyone in the Calgary area killed their spring bear yet?

Asking, because I have not hunted bear before, and I'am interested in joining a hunt in the 2026 spring season. However, I wanted to try some, before I go out and kill an animal which I then won't like the taste of.

I wouldn't mind buying or bartering for a small piece of a typical roast off of a CGNner to experiment in a culinary fashion.

Alternatively, is there a supplier in somewhere that sells bear meat?

OK. Go ahead and laugh now.
Click to expand...
Try to remember the dirtiest pussy you have ever licked, and that's what a wormy, greasy, stinky bear roast would taste like.

Enjoy my friend!...........:)
 
Thunderhog said:
Try to remember the dirtiest pussy you have ever licked, and that's what a wormy, greasy, stinky bear roast would taste like.

Enjoy my friend!...........:)
Click to expand...

BS... half a century of eating bear and holding wild game dinners, has proven the quality of bear meat. Without the labels on the dishes, the bear meat is usually the winner.... over venison for sure and often even over elk and moose. Spring bear is lean meat, fall bear requires extra care in removing fat from between the muscle groups. The bum rap, comes from poorly cared for meat or the bias in peoples heads when they eat it.
 
FishHog said:
Bear meat is my favourite and the only wild game my wife will eat. People who don't like bear either got a bad one, or don't have a clue what they are doing with handling or cooking
Click to expand...
Really!

Well as a former taxidermist in my early twenties, and as a guide for five years, all I've ever seen in a Okanagan or Kootenay black bear is worms, worms, oh and did I mention more worms. BC bears are like the inside of a liberal.......:(

Stinky, wormy, greasy, and smelly..........:)

Alberta bears may differ, but BC inland bears are gross. Yes I tried it, didn't like it.

For those who love it, fill your boots, it's not for me. We would not eat an animal full of worms. I have skinned well over 500 black bears in my lifetime, I think I remember two of them that did not have worms.

You guys do you and enjoy. It's not on my menu.
 
Last edited:
Thunderhog said:
Really!

Well as a former taxidermist in my early twenties, and as a guide for five years, all I've ever seen in a Okanagan or Kootenay black bears is worms, worms, oh and did I mention more worms. BC bears are like the inside of a liberal.......:(

Stinky, wormy, greasy, and smelly..........:)

Alberta bears may differ, but BC inland bears are gross. Yes I tried it, didn't like it.

For those who love it, fill your boots, it's not for me. We would not eat an animal full of worms. I have skinned well over 500 black bears in my lifetime, I think I remember two of them that did not have worms.

You guys do you and enjoy. It's not on my menu.
Click to expand...

You have a strange situation out there, because I have skinned over 500 bears too and only one had worms and it was an intestinal tape worm... odd.
I have eaten thousands of pounds of bear in my life, I have 300 pounds of bear burger and sausage in my freezer right now. When I went on the carnivore diet, I ate a pound and a half a day, every day for months... felt like a million bucks.
 
hoytcanon said:
You have a strange situation out there, because I have skinned over 500 bears too and only one had worms and it was an intestinal tape worm... odd.
I have eaten thousands of pounds of bear in my life, I have 300 pounds of bear burger and sausage in my freezer right now. When I went on the carnivore diet, I ate a pound and a half a day, every day for months... felt like a million bucks.
Click to expand...
Although I believe you, the bears I have handled are absolutely gross to say the least.

I have seen intestinal tape worms as well. But these are not the worms I am referring to.

These worms are in the meat, just under the hide in the skin sinew, and pretty much throughout the animal.

They are whitish in color, thin, long, are gross, and are in the hundreds and hundreds of them.

I have seen similar worms in porcupines as well. All throughout the animal.........:(

Any animal that has worms in it, on it, or coming out of it's @ss is a no go for me.

Other people might like the extra protein, but not for us.

On another note, I do remember an ole' timer from Prince George telling me of a moose he once cut up, and while tying of his roasts that long, white worms came squiggling out both sides. I'm not sure if this story is true, or if anyone else has seen this, but again, once you throw worms into the equation, I'm out. It's just my rules.

If other folks like bear-meat, go for it. From my experience, i will not touch it.......:)
 
I've taken a few bear in BC, from the coast, the cariboo, and the okanagan. None have been wormy yet.

Bear isn't my favorite, simply because I like a good rare/med-rare steak, but it's still good eating in my books.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DGY
FOG said:
Bonus Trichinosis and tapeworms !
Click to expand...
If cooked and prepared properly, bear meat can made into a very tasty dish.

The hams smoked in a Black Forest fashion are excellent. If they are prepared properly.

As for Trichinosis and tapeworms. The cresols, and nitrates will give you cancer a lot faster. And the heat kills the worms.

And to all of you bear hunter's out there, remind the farmer and/or rancher that the only good bear is a dead bear when you ask for permission to get Yogi on their property. The price of cattle are extremely high right now, and you don't want to labeled a cattle thief.
 
Suther said:
I've taken a few bear in BC, from the coast, the cariboo, and the okanagan. None have been wormy yet.

Bear isn't my favorite, simply because I like a good rare/med-rare steak, but it's still good eating in my books.
Click to expand...
Same, and Plenty of em.
I also like my meat very rare so I tend toward nice clean blacktail backstrap, never once had a worm or a cyst or anything except in a couple Interior WT. Since you have to cook Black bear fully for the Tric, I tend to use it in stews and taco recipes or ground in chili or pasta sauce (one of the things I like most about hunting deer is that I can trust cooking a venison burger to medium). I also make a LOT of salami with it.

My hunting method with bears is to spot and stalk and I end up watching the bears I take for a long time to ensure they aren't sows with cubs sleeping off somewhere. That gives me a chance to get a real good sense of their body condition and overall health. I also tend to eat bears that are pretty obviously vegetarian with the exception of insects and insect larvae. No salmon eaters.

I also tend toward manageable size which for me is somewhere between 200 and 250lbs. Where I live, that is a 2 - 3 yr old so maybe that helps too.

OP, ask around on facebook or your favourite social network. Barter and trade is unlawful in BC and I imagine Alta too. If you lived in my hood, I would happily share a bit if it meant mentoring a new hunter into the pursuit.
 
hawk-i said:
Hard to beat ground bear for all kinds of dishes and peperoni's...( north coastal mountains) we usually spring hunt for bears and the meat is great! :)
Click to expand...
I had some pepperoni made by a bunch of Dutchmen out of Smithers.

There was a familiar taste that I could not identify.

Thanks for lighting the five watt bulb between my ears. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom