Bear Meat?

[captonion]

I prefer bear over venison, and moose.

 

[lthunt]

bears take on the flavor of what they are feeding on. shoot one that is eating grain etc. and they are the best. shoot one at the dump and they will taste like the dump ask my wife and kids what there favorite meat is and they will all say bear

 

[Whelen B]

Here the bears feed on abundant blueberries for about a month before we can shoot them. When I shoot one, bear meat - steaks, roasts and ground - becomes a staple around our dinner table and is tasty. My wife and I both are fans.

 

[sunray]

"...that has been feeding on fish..." Or garbage. How any meat tastes depends on the beast's diet and how the carcass was handled in the field.
"...prefer bear over venison and moose..." That's just twisted.

 

[kamlooky]

A couple of buddies I hunt with both say the same thing, git them orchard bears.
If it's served, I'll eat it.
Both these gents wives can cook wild game and good it is.
The one missus jarred some bear meat and it was sort of jelled.
Tender, tasty and definately not enough in the jar.
Looky.

 

[Johnn Peterson]

A couple of buddies I hunt with both say the same thing, git them orchard bears.
If it's served, I'll eat it.
Both these gents wives can cook wild game and good it is.
The one missus jarred some bear meat and it was sort of jelled.
Tender, tasty and definately not enough in the jar.
Looky.

With the choice of the time of year for a good pelt, spring Bear seems to be a popular hunt. Any experience and/or comments on spring Bear meat?

 

[Lionhill]

My bears are usually early fall, and stuffed after eating all of the orchard and vineyard fruit (some of it mine)

My butcher makes an exceptional pepperoni with bear, and all of my yearly bears goes to this. Kids love bear pepperoni pizza, good with fresh eggs as a stir fry, and just perfect as hunt camp food.

The one factor with bear meat is to freeze it for 3 months before butchering to ensure the possibility of trichinosis is gone. Not sure how relevant this is across the country, but my butcher will not process the meat unless it has been at least 90 days.

LH

 

[kamlooky]

Can't help you there Johnn on bear smarts.
I have never owned a bear tag eye must confess.
Hard to believe, I probably saw more bear last year than I have saw in the
last decade.
Come spring time my smarts are on those under water type of swimming creatures.
Will make a couple of phone calls and see what the two chaps have to say about
best bear times.
Looky.

 

[stsfld66]

Get your meat made into some pepperoni or smokies .I got my butcher to add honey and jalepeno to my last batch of pepperoni was the best yet.Bear meat is good!

 

[Splatter]

I hunted blackbear when I lived on Vancouver Island, and fall seemed to be the best there, spring was when the salmon ran, and tho I never shot one, I did smell one that someone else was field dressing, and it stank of fish, now I admit, maybe I got the scent from the guts; but it was enough to forever put me off of the possibility of shooting a bear during any time when fish make-up a large portion of its diet.
I don't think the Van-Isle bears hibernate, so the fall bears didn't seem excessively fatty to me; but they were great eating.

 

[FLHTCUI]

I can get a general black bear tag in Alberta without going through a draw and I am wondering if it is worth the time and what the members here think about bear meat.

Thanks,
Mark

Mark, next time there is a game club dinner buy a ticket there.
Not only will it support a good cause and some good company for the evening , there might be some bear roast there to sample and you yourself can be the judge of how it tastes before you buy the tag , track, spot, hunt shoot and kill and tag a bear only to find as one member put it " if it has yellow fat, leave it there".
Thats not very sporting or ethical. but I aint about to preach ethics to anyone... even without my daily dose of ### coffee.
In BC, you are only required to remove a quarter of the edible portion of a bear to a game cutter or your place of residence.( Edit you must remove all edible meat to your place of residence, Thanks MD I stand corrected )
But, if you want some serious fun and enjoyment , spotting and stalking a large black bear, then buy all means, buy the tag and giver it a go.
It doesnt mean you have to shoot the first bear you seen, not the tenth bear either.
Tight Groups,
Rob

 

[07blackwater]

One buddy shot a black bear a few years ago and swears it was some of the best game meat he has ever had. Other friends swear that bear meat is disgusting beyond words.

There's your answer. Some people can't stand it (like me and I'm not fussy about game) and others, such as my dad and brother, love it.

You have to try it for yourself.

 

[Mount Sweetness]

Bear must be cleaned and cooled much quicker than deer/moose. If you wait until the next day to recover your downed bear, it is only worth it's hide (rug), the meat has already spoiled.

This is coming from a very experienced highly intelligent professional Black Bear Guide. You need to get in and get that bear cleaned and hang him in a cooler right away, do not hang them outside to age like a deer.

He ranked bear meat his second favourite when it has been handled properly, just behind moose. If not recovered and cooled quickly, it is dog food.

 

[Fall Guy]

The one time that I ate bear, it was killed way north of Thunder Bay (in the middle of nowhere) and it was eating grass at the time. It's guts were full of grass (yep, we looked). The animal was immediately tended to and allowed to cool properly. There was a tremendous amount of fat (very white) on the body and it was a mofo of a 'greasy' job skinning it away.

I'll admit, I had my reservations but it was very tender and very good.

 

[blasted_saber]

never heard that, Ill take that into consideration next time, thanks

Be aware that in Ontario it is illegal (as well as immoral IMO) to let game meat spoil. So leaving it where it lies will get you a fine and a charge.

 

[Johnn Peterson]

Can't help you there Johnn on bear smarts.
I have never owned a bear tag eye must confess.
Hard to believe, I probably saw more bear last year than I have saw in the
last decade.
Come spring time my smarts are on those under water type of swimming creatures.Will make a couple of phone calls and see what the two chaps have to say about
best bear times.
Looky.

Sounds like you have plans to chase snakes with fins. With my question I was just wondering what Bear meat would be like from a spring Bear, fresh out of the den.

I've had a little Bear meat here & there over the years and I don't really recall having any that tasted bad. Young son living at Horsefly in the interior is quite fond of it. As a kid I remember an incident coming back from a morning of Moose hunting with and his partner. Dads hunting buddy was married to a native lady and they invited us in for lunch. She made sure we were aware it was a Black Bear roast we'd be having, long story short, I thought it was great. She told me, it was her impression, putting a grill under the roast in the roaster to keep the meat out of its fat and residue in the bottem of the roaster was the key. I don't know one way or the other but I do know it was good.

Back to my original question, and let me know if you find out, how would the meat/flavour quality of spring Bear meat compare to that of any other part of the year. I was kinda' hoping to let my model 71 'bark' at a spring Bear in the coming season but first I'd like to be sure the meat would be as good as possible.

 

[Dukester]

Only 2 experiences with bear meat.

Was at a hunting camp wild game night and there was a large bear roast on the menu, along with beaver, ground hog, caribou, moose....
That bear roast was delicious and disappeared quickly.( Some of the other stuff sat on plates and got cold! ).

Had bear pepperetes recently and they were awesome!

Reading this thread makes me think the ones I let go while deer hunting mighta been a mistake. Heck, another game animal to hunt!

 

[mmattockx]

Thanks to all for the replies. It is clear that proper processing of the animal is key to getting good meat from a bear. My friend who loved the meat also mentioned that it was very important to get all the fat off the meat when butchering, lest it go bad and taint the meat. Between knowing to skin immediately and removing all the fat, I should have a decent shot at getting some tasty bear steaks into the freezer this coming season.

I think I will be reading up on our bear hunting regs and seasons and keeping an eye out for yogi next fall while out looking for the usual elk and deer critters.

Mark

 

[MD]

I gut 'em, skin 'em, quarter 'em and cool 'em on the spot.

I bring a cooler full of frozen two litre water bottles to lay on and on top of the cotton meat bags with the quarters in them.

 

[tactical870]

Like any wild game you need to take proper care of the meat. Gut, skin and cool a bear as fast as you can. Remove as much fat as possible as the fat adds a rancid taste. If you prep bear properly it is one of the best eating game animals.