Bear Meat?

FLHTCUI said:
... 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. ...

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.
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Rob, have you ever hunted bear in BC? Your assertion that you are only required to remove one 1/4 is WRONG. Read your regulations! YOU are required to remove "all edible portions" - ALL.

Also, the OP is NOT in BC. The OP is in AB. In AB you are only legally required to remove the hide of a Black Bear. There is absolutely no legal requirement to remove anything else.

This discussion was not about the ethical ramifications of bear hunting, it was about BEAR MEAT.

And before anyone beaks off any further, FWIW I have never left a bear (or any other game - other then yotes and skunks) in the field, anywhere. However, after eating (or trying to eat) meat from a bear that should have been left in the field (very dull yellow fat), having the option to do so in AB is just fine with me.
 
Anyone ever try eating the bear's heart?

I know I absolutly love moose and deer heart, wondering if a bears would be any different.

With moose and deer, after the tenderloins are gone, the heart is usually the next thing on my plate.
 
Splatter said:
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...
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Sorry Splatter, but you are dead wrong. Please tell me what species of Salmon are running in coastal streams in May and June?? The only fish spawning then are Steelhead, and they are not often fed on by bears. All (almost) Pacific Salmon species spawn in late summer to early winter, so your chances of getting a "fishy" bear in the fall are likely higher than in the spring.

IF the bear your buddy got smelled like fish it was probably because it had been feeding along the shoreline. I have seen spring bear scats so full of barnacle and mussel shells that you wonder how it could possibly pass them. I have watched bears eat seaweed, dead seals and various other carcasses.

Best bet for an "eating bear" on the coast is to get as far away from the shoreline as possible. Look for bears at high elevation, early in the season.
 
FLHTCUI said:
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.
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You need to remove all the meat to a residence or meat cutter.

Lionhill said:
M
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
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Freezing will not kill the trich that is in bear meat.

Johnn Peterson said:
;)
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.
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Depends on what it was eating and the age of the bear. Springtime bear eating on the beach is going to taste fishy as a fall bear eating salmon carcasses.
 
Just a suggestion: put the dry ingredients for a 3 gallon ham brine together in a plastic bag, put the bag and an injector in a clean 5gal. pail, silicone the lid on the pail and toss it in with your gear.
That way if you get a bear you can get those hams brining right away, just add water, and temp isn't so critical once the meat's in brine, either.

I did that on our moose hunt this last fall, but alas, no bear came to call. :(
 
kamlooky said:
The consensus is in on my two bear hunting buddies.........fall orchard bears.
Makes sense, more fruit in the fall than in the spring.
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Might have to try for two then. One spring and one in the fall. Only difficulty with the fall Bear is orchards are far and few in between around here but I could try for one at higher elevations this fall.
 
Well it would appear that by the number of messages in inbox this afternoon when I came home have struck a nerve!
I was a lil foggy this morning and did not have the current BC Hunting Regs open when I commented on the "Bear Meat " question and made the incorrect comments of amounts to be removed for consumption!
I have since corrected publicly my mistake on the Regs for here in BC about taking the amounts of meat to your place of residence. ( All Edible parts )
That leads me to PP's comment about "Ever Shooting a Bear in BC?"
Well PP yes I have and it actually would score Number 10 on Vancouver Island
Nimpkish Valley, Bonanza Lake 1996 Is that anywhere near BC enough for you??
I Thank You very much for asking too.
Oh PP, the ethical bit about bear hunting and leaving the meat behind was brought up by you, when you quoted your old hunting buddy and the yellow fat comment..something if it is yellow leave it there or however you put it, and if you are going to defend that adage from a Hunting buddy in BC , then I'll see fit to comment on ethics.
There is no need to feed me anymore on your stand on Bear Hunting, I see where you are coming from and have no desire to read more of your drivel Thank You.
I still recommend the OP check out a Game Banquet and sample some Bear Meat and be the Sole judge on if it is fit to eat.
Tight Groups,
Rob
 
Why not? said:
We hunt bears every Spring up here. The meat is always quite delicious. Never had a bad one.

As well, we render as much of the fat as we can get off the animal clean. It is so rich, that my wife uses 1/3 of what a recipe calls for in shortening. Pastry, cookies, bread, all come out wonderful with bear lard.

You might enjoy the following threads:

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=122157

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=431535

Ted
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I've heard that before, that Black Bear fat rendered down is some of the best shortening available for pastry. You're a man that may know. What about Grizzly meat???
 
Papaclaude said:
I've killed and eaten several bears, and they are my favourite wild meat. The trick to bear meat is to gut, air out and skin the thing ASAP. Bears are chunky and the meat will sour very fast. The only times I've tried or heard of bad bear meat was when this wasn't done. I have always opened them up with 10 minutes of shooting them, spread the rib cage open, and keep the meat from touching anything. Skin it as soon as you can. I also take all the fat off that I can. Do this, and you will find that bear eat is moist, succulent, with no gamey taste.
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I use the same method for Deer as well. Getting the hide & glands off right away seems to result in cleaner tasting meat. I also recomend using a seperate knife for cutting out glands.
 
Oh yeah Why not? I got about thirty pints of lard from my last bear. Pie crusts, tortillas you bet. Great for cookin. Bear lard was also used for all kinds of other things like water proofing, stopping hair loss. I don't know if I'll be trying that last one.
 
It is, indeed, used medicinally for people with skin problems. I know two people, one quite elderly lady down South, and one little girl up here, whose doctors both prescribed bear lard to treat their conditions.

Ted
 
FLHTCUI said:
Oh PP, the ethical bit about bear hunting and leaving the meat behind was brought up by you, when you quoted your old hunting buddy and the yellow fat comment..something if it is yellow leave it there or however you put it, and if you are going to defend that adage from a Hunting buddy in BC , then I'll see fit to comment on ethics.
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Here's some more "drivel" anyway: the requirement to remove all edible portions came into effect in BC in 95 or so, and a year or two before that it was only 1 edible 1/4. The comment from the old timer I quoted in my original post was told to me in the early 90's, when the same rules that are currently in effect in AB were in effect in BC. I have found his comment to be an accurate indicator of the quality of bear meat. Do you disagree? Do you have any experience with a "poor tasting" bear, or have they always been excellent table fare?

Congratulations on the trophy.
 
benelli one said:
Any bears I have eaten were great. Any i have shot were promptly cleaned, and cooled. I cut all my own meat and debone everything taking care to trim fat as much as possible.. when i cook it i usually dont let it cook in its own fat (BBQ). This method has always produced a great tasting cut and has always worked out for me. and yes a younger bear will usually taste better than an older one....thanks.
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As is done with some other game, do you let Bear meat hang and age a little before cutting it up?
 
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