Bear butchering and the best way to break down for meal portions?

saskgunowner101

saskgunowner101

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Hey guys, just looking for opinions on how you butcher up black bear into the best cuts, in your opinion. I scrubbed the spring bear hunt due to heat, but the weather is looking much better in terms of hunting now, so I thought I'd ask in the event things go my way. Never having ate bear before, I'm not sure if I'm looking to grind, stew, bunch of roasts, or make big steaks. How do you go about it? I realize there's probably no "wrong" way, but I'm sure there are better ways to go about it.

If I used deer as an example, my gal would straight up grind the whole thing nose to tail if she had her way. I'm more geared for steak if possible, and will label a lesser cut package roast/steak so I know it's a tougher cut, and will probably turn it into a steak anyways. If I figure it can't be thin sliced, beat with a meat mallet, and turned into a chicken fried steak/cutlet, it's roast or stew meat. Grind is the last thing I go for. So there's an example. Any thoughts appreciated.

Edit to add: A question on the fat. Do you take as much off the meat as possible? And for the blubbery outer fat, is it really good stuff to render down?
 
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Most fall bear is tender. Chops are always a hit, sausage, especially smokies, freash frying sausage and bratwurst, simply the best using bear if you vcan find a really good sausage maker. And bears make awesome traditional smoked hams. They key is the bear's diet, " they are what they eat". If on a diet of berries, fruit, grain, clover, etc the meat is excellent. If it has been eating garbage your meat will be garbage.
 
keep the ribs together and the meat on .... split them in 4 and slow cooking finish them on the bbq. ther eis a recipe i posted here that my wife used on our last bear.
 
medvedqc said:
keep the ribs together and the meat on .... split them in 4 and slow cooking finish them on the bbq. ther eis a recipe i posted here that my wife used on our last bear.
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Slow-Cooked Bear Spareribs

here is the recipe that my wife used to feed some of us ...

Dry Rub

2 tbsp raw sugar
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp onion powder
5 lb (2.27 kg) bear ribs or around the same weight or whatever fill your pot...

Barbecue Sauce

1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp (28 g) butter
3/4 cup (180 ml) ketchup
3/4 cup (180 ml) abricot jam
1/4 cup (60 ml) apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp (30 ml) molasses
1 tbsp (15 ml) Dijon mustard
1 tbsp (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce


Preparation
Dry Rub

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients. Set aside.
keep the white membrane (silverskin) on the back of the ribs very important. Place the ribs on a baking sheet and rub both sides generously with the spice rub.
With the rack in the up position slow cooker then cover for at least 8 hours. keep it in the warm position for 4 hours.





Barbecue sauce

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, cook the spices in the butter for 1 minute. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes or until the sauce becomes syrupy. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat the grill, setting the burners to medium. Oil the grate.
Remove the ribs from the foil and grill for 10 minutes on each side, brushing with half of the barbecue sauce. Serve with the remaining sauce.

Tabasco sauce, to taste
Salt and pepper

Thank You Phil and your Wife for sharing this !!!

Rendered Bear Fat makes a fantastic lard for making pastries...
Buddies wife does it from scratch and the pie dough is best ever...even better than tender flake lard one buys at the supermarket.


Rob
 
I’ll be keeping my eye on this thread, I’m hoping to cut my first bear tag this fall season and would like to make sausage and grind a bunch but other ideas are good to think about. Smoked hams sound like a great one to do, as well as chops.
 
Know a good friend been hunting bears for his entire life lol he told me he bone out the entire animal even remove all silver skin but here's what I ask my butcher did on my last bear:

Ribs
Steaks
Chops (with bone)
Tenderloins
Roast
Shank (with bone)
Stews

Everything turn out great all my friends who never ate bear before said it taste better than venison and I have to agree the bear you harvest taste totally depend on what it was feeding on as I have taste some not so good eating bear before.

Guess it's same with all game animals as I have some very good eating deer and some very tough ones.

One thing I did learn from my friend was bear meat turn bad a lot quicker than you think and if you can't process it immediately should take the hide off right away and if that's not an option at least put bags of ice in the cavity to cool the meat asap.
 
In the winter I tend to make a lot of crockpot meals so it works perfect to get roasts and stewing meat with a little bit of everything else to give out to family to try.
 
I cut my bear into 30% burger and 70% roasts. We slow cook all the roasts and you can do anything with the burger. If you want steaks you take out a roast and slice it up. I usually try for a 4 year old mountain bear. Never shoot anything near a salmon stream.
Rendering bear fat usually take 4 rendering's to get it all clear. A lot of work and my Mrs won't use it. Great bullet lube.
 
I always go for fall bear, nothing near fish sources. I grind everything- breakfast sausage, bratwurst and mild snack sticks. When the scat is purple/reddish from all the berries those are good eating bears.
 
Thanks for all the ideas. I dunno how big a "footprint" bears should leave in an area, but I'm not seeing as much sign as I'd like. Might not have to worry about shooting a bear if there's none around.
 
Clay00019 said:
I always go for fall bear, nothing near fish sources. I grind everything- breakfast sausage, bratwurst and mild snack sticks. When the scat is purple/reddish from all the berries those are good eating bears.
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Yes, it's pretty easy to tell from the scat (sight and smell) what a bear has been eating. Bears that have been eating grass will have big wads of it in their poop --- also a sign of a good eating bear.


saskgunowner101 said:
Thanks for all the ideas. I dunno how big a "footprint" bears should leave in an area, but I'm not seeing as much sign as I'd like. Might not have to worry about shooting a bear if there's none around.
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For what it's worth, I've always noticed scat in active bear areas well in advance of noticing paw prints. Something you'd think the bear had the runs with the frequency of poop piles along a trail!
 
stickhunter said:
Yes, it's pretty easy to tell from the scat (sight and smell) what a bear has been eating. Bears that have been eating grass will have big wads of it in their poop --- also a sign of a good eating bear.




For what it's worth, I've always noticed scat in active bear areas well in advance of noticing paw prints. Something you'd think the bear had the runs with the frequency of poop piles along a trail!
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I meant footprint in the sense of like how when my son is around, he leaves a big footprint (dishes, laundry, messy kitchen etc) so even if you don't see him, he really leaves an impression!:d

I'm getting my younger brother into hunting, and we were out a few times to check for sign and do some calling. A small amount of older poop, but no tree rub sign, nothing I deemed fresh for claw marks, no black hairs on low trail branches or fence, only a few paw prints that I think I could make out etc. There's another part to the land I hunt, much more rugged, but it's blocked by water, and can't access until crops are out. That might show results, who knows.
 
I like 3/4 roasts (and ribs) for the slow cooker and 1/4 ground. No steaks because the meat has to be well done to avoid trichinosis and I am no fan of well done steak
 
I don't cut anything into steaks. I figure I can always thaw and slice a roast into steaks later if I want.(that's how I do it with beef too, I never buy steaks I buy roasts and cut them into steaks. It's cheaper and I get my steak however thickness I want.
 
Spent the weekend eating our August Bear. 1/2 the bear was turned into sausages in a couple flavours, mixed with 25% pork. Outstanding! I boil them for 10 minutes (if thawed) then finish them slowly on the grill over indirect heat to avoid burning or splitting the cases. Use a thermometer of course to get the temp to the right zone.
Also made my first roast this weekend (Neck Roast). Braised it on the BBQ, then into the over at 325 until done, while soaking in a caramelized onion gravy. I was shocked at how good this was. So was the family, I had no idea bear could be so tasty. Sausages and Roasts....Can't go wrong if you know how to cook em!
Oh yeah and get as much fat off em as you can. If you have a butcher, make sure he's committed to getting the fat off as well. Cheers!
 
DTM5 said:
Spent the weekend eating our August Bear. 1/2 the bear was turned into sausages in a couple flavours, mixed with 25% pork. Outstanding! I boil them for 10 minutes (if thawed) then finish them slowly on the grill over indirect heat to avoid burning or splitting the cases. Use a thermometer of course to get the temp to the right zone.
Also made my first roast this weekend (Neck Roast). Braised it on the BBQ, then into the over at 325 until done, while soaking in a caramelized onion gravy. I was shocked at how good this was. So was the family, I had no idea bear could be so tasty. Sausages and Roasts....Can't go wrong if you know how to cook em!
Oh yeah and get as much fat off em as you can. If you have a butcher, make sure he's committed to getting the fat off as well. Cheers!
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that idea of how good bear had been tried to be spread but your testimony is the best of it. congrats. you are right trim off the fat and do not let the hair touch the meat or muscles.
 
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