Black bear season

[Wild one]

I saw a LOT of bear sign when I was out hiking with a rifle during deer season So, I'm going to do a bit of poking around in a couple weeks. I'm around Kamloops up in the mountains and after driving to see no snow at Sun Peaks last weekend I bet it won't be long before they're out.

I have a practical question or two. I'm worried that things might be a bit warm. And if I drop a bear I want to get it cooled down fast. The areas I'm planning to hunt are close to my cabin. I was thinking i could skin and quarter and quickly drop into a chest freezer to cool things down. When I bought the cabin they left a big ole crummy chest freezer. I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet so I might as well use it.

My question is: would a butcher still take it for sausages if it's frozen solid? If not, I could just turn the freezer 'up' and try to use it more as a fridge until I could get it to the butcher.

Follow on questions:

1) I plan to just make some roasts and the rest sausage. Any good sausage makers around Kamloops that you can recommend?

2) I give my dog just a bit of raw food everyday (from the butcher) to supplement kibbles. Would you feed your dog bear meat? I worry about parasites. I would think dogs and bears are susceptible to similar parasites. But, after deep freezing for a couple weeks it might be ok. I would feed venison for example without concern.

Yes a butcher will take frozen deboned meat just keep it in reasonable portion size. I do bags about 15-25 lbs easy to manage and freezes/thaws well

cant help with a butcher in Kamloops but recommend keeping backstraps the are great marinated and cooked on the bbq

If you feed bear meat to your dog I recommend boiling it first. I always do some of the scrap for my dog

[caddisguy]

2) I give my dog just a bit of raw food everyday (from the butcher) to supplement kibbles. Would you feed your dog bear meat? I worry about parasites. I would think dogs and bears are susceptible to similar parasites. But, after deep freezing for a couple weeks it might be ok. I would feed venison for example without concern.

Definitely do not feed your dog any raw bear meat. Cook it to an internal temperature of 165 to be safe. A large portion of bears (on average 20% in southern BC and higher as you go north) of bears are infected with trichinella (and the dominant strain can not be killed by freezing) ... tape worms are also pretty common.

[Darksith]

I agree sorta to that statement. Bears usually don’t hit the ground till May because normally the smaller bears are out now and isn’t till May when you see bigger boats roaming around so yeah May is when bears hit the ground. But there are bears out now as I’m typing. True story

I thought it was the exact opposite? I thought the big bears came out early and you would find them in the snow on the slashes...?

[Wild one]

Not sure where I heard it but the old line is "When the Big Black Bumble Bees Are Out The Bears Will Start Coming Out "
Really thinking of hunting black bear this spring never been before .
Arctic Lake

I don’t pay attention to bees and every area is a little different. I have all my areas pegged out between the use of B.C. Hwy cams, paying attention to growth of veg near home, or snow level on the mountains. This mostly tells me what spot to hunt when

I know lots of guys get excited and run out during early springs but green up is less of a factor than most think. What I found over the years early green up only causes a small portion of bears to wake up early and most action is around the same time every year. All early spring means to me is the bears have more food and spread out more once majority get up. My opinion for timing comes from talking to butchers, taxidermists, GO’s, and years of bear hunting experience from myself and those I hunt with.

I used to run out opening day and invest a stupid amount of time looking for that first bear now I wait and put my effort into it when things are good.

Southern ( lower mainland South Island idea)BC things get started last week April but May 1 is better

Central( Boston bar into region 5) Early May it starts but after first week of May is better

Northern ( parts of region 5 and 6/7) after first week of May but mid May is better

This is general timing and you will need to adjust for elevation as well.

When in doubt if you are booking time off to hunt last week of May first week June bears are awake and starting or rutting

[Darksith]

I saw a LOT of bear sign when I was out hiking with a rifle during deer season So, I'm going to do a bit of poking around in a couple weeks. I'm around Kamloops up in the mountains and after driving to see no snow at Sun Peaks last weekend I bet it won't be long before they're out.

I have a practical question or two. I'm worried that things might be a bit warm. And if I drop a bear I want to get it cooled down fast. The areas I'm planning to hunt are close to my cabin. I was thinking i could skin and quarter and quickly drop into a chest freezer to cool things down. When I bought the cabin they left a big ole crummy chest freezer. I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet so I might as well use it.

My question is: would a butcher still take it for sausages if it's frozen solid? If not, I could just turn the freezer 'up' and try to use it more as a fridge until I could get it to the butcher.

Follow on questions:

1) I plan to just make some roasts and the rest sausage. Any good sausage makers around Kamloops that you can recommend?

2) I give my dog just a bit of raw food everyday (from the butcher) to supplement kibbles. Would you feed your dog bear meat? I worry about parasites. I would think dogs and bears are susceptible to similar parasites. But, after deep freezing for a couple weeks it might be ok. I would feed venison for example without concern.

In kamloops for butchers, If its already deboned and going to be sausage, gary's deli
Interior cut right does good sausage too, he might even sell raw dog food. Not many options around here unfortunately...Interior has been known to mix up meat from time to time, but its usually because hes so busy. He has some good meat cutters there, its more the front end guys that make the mistakes but I think he has that fixed now too...Did we meet at the WSS convention? Ended up at the duchess?

[Jagermeister]

Ya man me too! Need some meat in the freezer and been thinking bout makin sausage this year with blueberries. Can’t wait, and it doesn’t sound like it’ll be long now with all this hot weather!

If you want blueberry flavour bear meat, find your bruin in fall as he is gorging his self in the blueberry or huckleberry patch.
Spring bear is for summertime bbq’d bear burgers and cured bear back bacon

[Wild one]

I thought it was the exact opposite? I thought the big bears came out early and you would find them in the snow on the slashes...?

Small bears get pushed into crap den sites so often wake first.

There is an advatage with big bears early in the season but not because they wake early. If you find them early you can pattern them do to less food and food being their number one focus they stick to one good spot to start.

The in the snow on slashes thing I have heard before but It has not done much for me. My opinion this theory can from guys finding a big bear that chose a den at high elevation that is feeding on the limited food available before searching out better options. I have found it’s fairly common for big boars to den at higher elevation

I don’t target slashes and opt for natural feeding areas or landings/pullouts/bends on old roads. There is the odd area I make an exception

Late May early June I find best because the boars are roaming so the big boars that don’t come in the open often exposes them selves traveling. Down side it’s harder to pattern a bear so if you don’t make it happen first time you see him he might not be seen again. You may also have the bear you patterned early in the season disappear on you. But if you find a sow with a boar on good feed you can pattern them again

Basically you have an advantage if you find a big boar early but they are easier to find once they start cruzing for sows

[Jagermeister]

I saw a LOT of bear sign when I was out hiking with a rifle during deer season So, I'm going to do a bit of poking around in a couple weeks. I'm around Kamloops up in the mountains and after driving to see no snow at Sun Peaks last weekend I bet it won't be long before they're out.

I have a practical question or two. I'm worried that things might be a bit warm. And if I drop a bear I want to get it cooled down fast. The areas I'm planning to hunt are close to my cabin. I was thinking i could skin and quarter and quickly drop into a chest freezer to cool things down. When I bought the cabin they left a big ole crummy chest freezer. I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet so I might as well use it.

My question is: would a butcher still take it for sausages if it's frozen solid? If not, I could just turn the freezer 'up' and try to use it more as a fridge until I could get it to the butcher.

Follow on questions:

1) I plan to just make some roasts and the rest sausage. Any good sausage makers around Kamloops that you can recommend?

2) I give my dog just a bit of raw food everyday (from the butcher) to supplement kibbles. Would you feed your dog bear meat? I worry about parasites. I would think dogs and bears are susceptible to similar parasites. But, after deep freezing for a couple weeks it might be ok. I would feed venison for example without concern.

A fellow I know feeds his dogs an exclusive diet of bear meat. He gets a copious supply from his guide friend and he freezes it for no less than 3 months before feeding it to his dogs. This way he is sure that it kills trichanosis.

[jlirot]

In kamloops for butchers, If its already deboned and going to be sausage, gary's deli
Interior cut right does good sausage too, he might even sell raw dog food. Not many options around here unfortunately...Interior has been known to mix up meat from time to time, but its usually because hes so busy. He has some good meat cutters there, its more the front end guys that make the mistakes but I think he has that fixed now too...Did we meet at the WSS convention? Ended up at the duchess?

Thanks! If I get one - I'll save some for the BBQ and put the rest into reasonable sized packages for the butcher. Might even make some burgers.

But, first I've got to connect.

[caddisguy]

A fellow I know feeds his dogs an exclusive diet of bear meat. He gets a copious supply from his guide friend and he freezes it for no less than 3 months before feeding it to his dogs. This way he is sure that it kills trichanosis.

The freezing myth comes from pork strains that are common in the south, but the strains that commonly affect bears are immune to freezing. His dog is likely infected but asymptomatic. Dogs likely have a better tolerance for coping with the infection than humans do though. I think it's important we bust the freezing myth as it has the potential to kill in humans.

There have been a few studies on the subject that looked at polar bear that had been frozen for the greater potion or a decade and the parasite was still ready to party. The ideal temperature to preserve the cysts/larva is betwee 0 and -18C.

Here is a study on involving a fox:

During the second part of the study, some of the minced fox muscle, exposed to the initial freeze protocol, was stored for a further 23 weeks at -18 degrees C prior to in vitro and in vivo assessment of larval viability and infectivity. The study demonstrated that Trichinella isolates originating from carnivores from higher northern latitudes expressed highest tolerance to freezing and that temperature fluctuations around freezing point, for up to 7 weeks, had little effect on larval infectivity.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18594862

"Unfortunately, the two trichinella species most associated with bears are immune to freezing. These are T. nativa, the Canadian and Alaskan species, and T-6, the dominant species of parasite from a line stretching from about Washington state across to Maine down to the Rockies, the Great Plains, the Midwest and the Northeast — really where all the good bear hunting is. Only southern states appear to be immune to this species. (Here is a map from a Stanford study.)"

https://honest-food.net/on-trichinosis-in-wild-game/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...05676616300129