Why is bear so underrated?

saskgunowner101 said:
Pretty sure everyone in the thread gets it. You. Don't. Like. Bear.
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Never had it...have had cougar. It was incredibly tough.
In your terms perhaps...
Why.Is.Bear.So.Underrated.
Did I do that right?
That is the title of the thread, correct?
Not 'Best Bear meat lovers recipes' last I checked.
Would I eat it, sure. Not gonna seek it out. And pork producers would take umbrage with references to trichinosis in modern Swine no doubt. Even the Wild Bore folks claim below 5%.
I've thought about Bear Hunting, but I can't see me getting over being squeamish about it. So, it don't seem fair to kill it if I'm not gonna eat it.
 
tokguy said:
Never had it...have had cougar. It was incredibly tough.
In your terms perhaps...
Why.Is.Bear.So.Underrated.
Did I do that right?
That is the title of the thread, correct?
Not 'Best Bear meat lovers recipes' last I checked.
Would I eat it, sure. Not gonna seek it out. And pork producers would take umbrage with references to trichinosis in modern Swine no doubt. Even the Wild Bore folks claim below 5%.
I've thought about Bear Hunting, but I can't see me getting over being squeamish about it. So, it don't seem fair to kill it if I'm not gonna eat it.
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4 x now...impressive. Make sure to remind everyone in a few posts that you don't like bear again.
 
I’ve been playing around with a smoker this year since getting back into ice fishing and will be smoking bear meat if I can connect with one this time around.
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Besides pepperoni and summer sausage chubs and the hams I cured and smoked the ribs from those bears. Very good; they go a lot faster than pork ribs but they were both 2 year old bears (the second may have been a bit older) did a variation on the 3:2:1 smoke for 2 hours, 1.5 in foil with a spritz of apple juice and half hour back to smoke. Good stuff

If well done chops aren’t to your liking schnitzel and katsu are good.

Really hoping I get my bear this weekend…
 
considerable margins are subjective )
good lard makes good pastry

but pure bear fat needs to be trimmed off as much as possible for good bear meat, the fat can go off in the freezer over time..... sometimes
 
conor_90 said:
Besides pepperoni and summer sausage chubs and the hams I cured and smoked the ribs from those bears. Very good; they go a lot faster than pork ribs but they were both 2 year old bears (the second may have been a bit older) did a variation on the 3:2:1 smoke for 2 hours, 1.5 in foil with a spritz of apple juice and half hour back to smoke. Good stuff

If well done chops aren’t to your liking schnitzel and katsu are good.

Really hoping I get my bear this weekend…
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Bear schnitzel is great, I’ve made it before. We had people over for dinner for a schnitzel feast, grouse, deer and bear were used with a morel gravy and the usual sides. Pickled red cabbage, mashed potatoes. It was a big hit.
 
I've had the meat, although not frequently -- and I thought it was fine. I also know 2 guys and their bear meat is the only meat that they almost never give away. They also allow 2 tags here in NB. Only 1 deer tag and drawing a moose tag here is rare --- I've been buying hunting licenses for over 30 years and have never drawn a moose tag. Not to mention that our forestry practices have decimated the deer population .... not so with bear and moose.

For myself the issue is not that the meat is underrated, it's simply that I have no interest in "guarding a bait pile" so to speak. That's NOT a statement on anyone else's preferences -- point of fact hearing stories of folks getting stoked for spring bear season where the whole family making plans and anticipating the upcoming hunt, or a kid harvesting his/her first bear positively warms my heart. It's just not for me.
 
Brutus said:
And trichonosis is forever. There is an American hunter that hosts hunting shows. He arrowed/killed an Alaskan black bear and planned to cook and eat it forthwith. Well it was undercooked because with a time crunch for take the exit plane out and damp weather, he barely had time to moderately cook the meat. Hence he caught Trichinosis. And thus is a forever sentence because u really dont know how many larvae are immature in your muscle tissue. But one gets sore aching muscles each time one sprouts into maturity and wriggled its way out looking for a meal.
Sounds great huh?
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That's not how it works. Really not fun at first, but you recover and are unaffected after. Its weeks, not a lifetime. Sure you have cysts in your meat, that will be an issue for the zombie that eats you, but otherwise you won't know you have it after you recover initially. Not saying I want it, but cooking properly like we have done for centuries with pork solves that risk.

If you ate a porkchop in your life you have the same risk. At least up until 20 years ago or so when they got it under control in the pork industry.
 
Because loud mouth old guys won't stop talking about how it's no better then dog food, thus perpetuating the myth to a new generation who then won't go eat it and tells the next generation it tastes terrible.

Said old guy above probably ate it once, it was probably a dump bear that was shot and hung in 32C weather and not respected.
 
blasted_saber said:
Because loud mouth old guys won't stop talking about how it's no better then dog food, thus perpetuating the myth to a new generation who then won't go eat it and tells the next generation it tastes terrible.

Said old guy above probably ate it once, it was probably a dump bear that was shot and hung in 32C weather and not respected.
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I've always wondered if that was the case. While I haven't shot or ate a bear yet, what you say rings true regarding venison. My cousins husband gave us some venison years ago, and it was barely fit for my dog. Besides that some people couldn't cook a piece of meat to save their life.
 
That is so true!! Same goes with caribou in the rut, you just don’t hunt them in the rut! Same with pikes, people say pikes are no good not worth the effort with all those bones…. Learn how to do things properly and you will be happy!! Pike is one if not my favorite fish! Bear, I never shot one but I had some a few times and it was always good!
 
great bear makes great meat the same can be said for pike and caribou. it is complicated to deal properly with meat and game in general: remove all the organs fastest you can and fill up the cavity with closed frozen bottle. never rush the gutting nor the skinning process.

bear meat doesnt need to age contrary to some others.

i never wasted meat because of the heat.

do not listen the ones that say inedible or else. cook well and you re golden.

steve rinella caught trychinosis because he ate meat not cooked well enough.

in europe my family ate brown bear for ever and never were sick: again cook it well.
 
I'm not sure why eating/not eating bear creates so much controversy on here. If you like it, eat it. To say it's the best tasting wild game out there is false, there's no such thing, everyone has individual tastes. Some don't like whitetail meat, strangely enough saying that doesn't cause an uproar on here.
I've had bear many times, I can take it or leave it. Same with Canada goose and mule deer. I'll choose elk, moose or caribou over most wild meat, including deer and bear.
 
What prevented me from hunting bear was the AB regs that say you have to save the hide; just didn't want to spend the money(well, didn't Have the extra disposable income). Finally thought screw it, always wanted to try bear meat, went up N on a solo hunt, brought back a spring bear. Everyone that tried the meat loved it. Was too lean for roasts, so just ground it, added nothing. Would like to try a fall bear so have roasts and ribs with some fat.

BC regs are opposite. BC guys swear by it and say rendered bear fat cannot be beat for pastry.

Honestly had I known when I was 20 how good bear meat was I wouldn't have been hunting deer. (just mpo). Far as trichinosis, no different than pork from what I've read.
 
Ontario has reclassified the black bear as a game animal. Now you can throw away the pelt but are not allowed to let the meat spoil. Used to be that hunters shot black bear for the pelt and tossed the meat. Seems a waste but the last bear rug I had done came close to 2 grand after the dust settled. Most guys cannot afford that. When I got the bill I realized I really could not afford it either.

Darryl
 
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