Bear Advice for the newbie

[Fella]

OH! I'm sure this goes without saying, but make sure your knives are razor sharp BEFORE you go out into the field. I can't tell you how awful it is to carve up a bear with dull knives, especially when the light starts to fade! If you aren't using a Havalon (or something like it) then sharpen your blades and bring a stone with you for touch ups!

[andrewscag]

And don't sweat it. Be careful of the bladder, stomach, gall bladder, and intestines and the rest is nbd. Its not nearly as hard or stressful as you're probably thinking it is now. Dive in and you'll be fine. You'll likely do some things differently the next time, but there are very few mistakes that'll make it inedible. Have a gallon of water handy in case you nick something you shouldn't have. Just make sure the rinse water will drain right out without running over other fresh meat. Definitely save the fat, its really easy to render and is a great for high heat cooking and baking. Good luck!

[HarryToolips]

More or less did that last year. Quarters, straps, neck meat and head. Gotta take the edibles!

Good to know, thanks.....

[Drillbit]

Study up a bit, you'll be fine. Very similar to deer, except for the mosquitos & blackflies on you, so you don't want to be forever.

Also, line up a place that will deal with the meat before you go out. Lots of places won't deal with a bear.

[Skillet]

I'm hoping to get my first bear this spring too and have been trying to do my homework.
I found this video http://youtu.be/B-7UyZA24pg and it looks pretty good, be warned though it is almost an hour long. Shows a lot of detail though, especially on skinning.

[ACB]

Here's a different way. My Brother showed me this years ago and he's used it on every thing from bears, goats and sheep. First thing you do is skin the bear don't gut him. Once the hide is off including feet off at joints. We alway's do this on the ground using the hide to keep meat clean. Have the bear on it's side on top of the inside of the hide. Then on the side that up starting at the tail or head it doesn't really matter, say you start at the tail end cut along the spine working toward the head, but only go half way. Then cut down toward the belly on the loin but don't cut through! What you are actually trying to do is fillet that 1/4 off. Work the loin back to the hip joint and disconnect the leg and loin from pelvis then do same thing on the front loin and leg trying to get as much neck as you can as well. Once you'v done that flip him over on the hide and repeat on the other side. You can tie ropes around the legs to hang him even if you have to poke through close to bone to get a good grip on muscles and tendons. You wouldn't believe how fast this goes once you'v done it a couple time's. And no dealing with the asshole or the feed end. Once your done there's nothing left on him unless you want the rib meat too which there isn't much of. All the bones and guts stay out in the bush. Oh ya some thing else, I don't know if anybody else has said anything about this but you do know they have a penile bone don't you. The first one I skinned out nobody told me. It was What the HELL! Anyway there's only one way to get experience and that's to do it. Good luck and give er!

[ff89]

can you get trich from blood contaminating cuts on your hands

[Jagermeister]

Just don't forget some good quality rubber gloves, preferably those that extend higher the forearm than the wrist.