Bear no good!

[Kill-da-wabbit]

I don’t know where everyone finds these bears that apparently taste bad or are full of worms, myself my better half and the guy I do all my hunting with have tagged and eaten 11 bears and helped with 3 others and each has tasted great, smelt better than any deer we have processed and never saw a worm or anything like that in any of them and we do a lot of the work processing our own animals...

wondering if location plays a big role, and since we hunt pretty high elevation we get good meat ? Would be interesting to know the difference, I dread the day I have to waste an animal because the meat is spoiled.

Same here. The last bear I shot was delicious and made a convert out of a few people on game meat. Shot a long ways away from any dump or salmon stream, processed properly, kept clean and cool. The fat rendered out beautifully. It seems the worms are a more of a problem towards the salmon streams and people population, but I'm no microbiologicalismist....

[tigrr]

The 5 I have shot in the last 7 years are all great tasting. Mine eat mountain grass, rose hips and berries.
The alpine deer taste better than the lower open plains deer as well.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Likely just filarial worms- harmless. They sometimes come crawling out of the neck, etc a while after it's been skinned.

I say man-up and wipe them off the carcass and eat the ones that remain.

This...

Have shot and consumed 15 or so bears. Only one had filarial worms. While a bit gross, they are harmless.
And of course the meat will be completely cooked to proper temperature so they can rest their minds.
Plus, that’s what the grinder is for.

SSS

[Ride Red]

Bear Filarial Worm


(Dirofilaria ursi)

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DESCRIPTION

The bear filarial worm (Dirofilaria ursi) was first described in an Asiatic black bear in Japan in 1941. The North American black bear harbors two developmental forms; the microfilaria stage which circulate in the blood stream and are extremely small, measuring 185 to 292 microns in length, and the long, white, slender adults which reside in the subcutaneous space of the neck and groin, and in the connective tissues around the aorta, kidneys, and rectum. The adult worms differ in length according to their sex, with males measuring 51 to 86 mm and the females 117 to 224 mm in length.
DISTRIBUTION

Since 1941 the worm has been identified in black bears in Alaska, Canada, New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. Adult bears and cubs, at least 10 months of age, can harbor adult or subadult D. ursi. The rate of infection in bears ranges from nearly 100% in Minnesota and Ontario to nearly 0 % in Alberta and the southeastern United States. Eighty-nine blood smears from bears in the Houghton Lake area were negative for D. ursimicrofilaria in a 1978-1980 study. Though the actual rate may be higher, only an occasional bear is reported with a D. ursi infection in Michigan.
TRANSMISSION AND DEVELOPMENT

D. ursi adult females produce motile microfilaria which make their way to the blood stream. They do not develop further until ingested by a blackfly. Following a 2-week developmental period in the fly, D. ursi larvae are infective to the bear. When the fly feeds again on a bear, the larvae leave the fly's mouthparts and enter the bear's body. The larvae migrate to the preferred sites mentioned above, mature, and mate. A 7-month period of time is required for the female worms to produce microfilaria and thereby complete the life cycle.
PATHOLOGY

D. ursi microfilaria, subadults, and adults do not appear to be pathogenic to the black bear.
DIAGNOSIS

D. ursi infections can be diagnosed either by blood smears (microfilaria) or by finding the adults in the preferred subcutaneous and visceral locations.
Because microfilaria of other filarids may be present, identifying the adult worms as D. ursi is the most accurate method of diagnosis.
TREATMENT AND CONTROL

There are no current treatment or control measures for this parasite and, as it is quite insignificant in black bears in Michigan, these measures are not necessary.
SIGNIFICANCE

The primary significance of this parasite is its being found by the hunter during the skinning of a bear. The microfilarial stage and the subadult and adult stages do not affect the edibility of the meat nor are the worms of public health significance. It is unlikely that the bite of a blackfly containing microfilaria would cause any adverse reaction in a human.

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[willyqbc]

Between myself and several of my long time hunting partners, we have killed and butchered in excess of 50 bears, quite possibly closer to 100 than 50. Mostly region 5 and 7. We turn everything to burger, so if there were ANY worms, we would see them....ive not encountered this yet. Gotta think if this is common in some areas it must be a regional thing, as it does not appear to be very common where I've been hunting? Or weve just been lucky??

[Pioneerman]

I have taken at least 15 bears myself and not one had any worms or tasted bad. I even had two of my friends wives that hunt try a bear roast I had in a slow cooker and they liked it better than any other wild game they have had. It is all a personal perception when it comes to flavor . I had a neighbor I once gave a couple moose steaks to and never heard how he liked them and he said he threw them out as they were rotten, becasue he did not like the smell, needless to say he never got anything again after that

[waserwolf]

Shot 2 Bears in Trout Lk area, both had Filarial Worms. They can be easily removed in their Adult stage. I've not experienced any issues from eating said Bear Meat.

[IronNoggin]

That and I haven’t had a good piece of bear meat yet.

You are missing out:











Cheers,
Nog

[Foxton Gundogs]

you got it Nog. MMMMMMM

[RyoTHC]

You are missing out:











Cheers,
Nog

could not agree more bear is definitely top 3 game meats for me. White tail bear and elk.. could be a toss up between moose and bear.