Bear hides and taste Spring vs. Fall

[TheObserver]

Hey guys,

This will be my first attempt at a Bear or even buying a Bear tag this year (already got one and a new Cougar tag) Just wondering how the meat tastes spring vs. fall. I hear autumn/early fall is best after they have been feeding on berries for a bit?

And how about the hide if I want to save it or get a rug, I would think towards winter would be the best for the Fur? Wondering because if the Fall fur is better I will pull the claws and make something from that instead of doing a full rug.

Thanks!

[Muledeercrazy2]

Bears up high feeding on berries taste much better than one’s feeding on salmon by the rivers. The hide is better in the spring before they can rub much of it off.

[ElectricDyck]

Basically if they have access to ocean beaches or spawning salmon they won't be premium. Fall or winter doesn't seem to matter in my experience. I shot a younger spring bear down by the fraser boston bar area and it was good but had a slight fishy after taste especially in the fat and a slight smell when you cooked it. No upcountry bears I've ever killed have that hint of fishiness.

[whitlers]

I have shot a few bears in the spring and one in the fall. Fall did taste slightly better but bear meat overall is pretty good. If tributaries are avoided like mentioned above. Their coats can be nice earlier in the spring before they get rubbed out. Partner just got his spring bear back from the taxidermist and it looks great. That bear was shot in late May.

[ACB]

We've shot numerous bears in the spring up one of our local inlets, I'v seen a beach that had 8 bears at one time feeding on the new fresh grass growing above the tide line. All the spring bears that we took up that inlet were excellent eating and made great sausage. One thing to point out is that the spring bears are so much easier to skin out because they have a lot less fat than fall bears so when you are grabbing the hide to pull it the hide doesn't slip out of your fingers as much. Of the few fall bears that I was in on sometimes what they were eating overpowered the flavour of the bear. A buddy of mine got one up by Fort ST. James that had been eating rose hips he said all the bear scat that he saw was full of rose hips, he gave me some sausage and I couldn't eat it , it was just over powering with the taste of rose hips. Myself I prefer the grass fed bears of the spring.

[IronNoggin]

Hides are best in the early spring - as noted before they rub.
Fall bears are MUCH better grits IMO.
Especially mountain bears, orchard raiders and garden raiders.
All that fat from the fall ones gets rendered down into awesome oil, which I happen to love.
Avoid those which chew down on fish at all costs!

Cheers,
Nog

[srupp]

sigh....have to agree with Matt yet again...
spring for hides...they do sometimes rub even in the den..
june bears in the cariboo are good eats
fall bears on berries is best
steven

[Retiredguy]

Agree with Nog and Srupp...but would add that fall hides of bears taken late in the fall can be very good as they have had a lot more time to grow their new winter coat than a September bear.

[hawk-i]

I'm not interested in how much fat I get off a bear and we (my family) thinks that spring bears are the most mild tasting/smelling bears of all.

Its like you can stick your nose right into the meat and only get a mild smell of meat no strong odors, no odor when cooking and makes excellent peperoni.

A fall bear has a stronger taste and odor, not a bad taste just a stronger taste.

Everyone has different tastes, for us its spring bear and a younger one at that...not looking for a big scared up tough old boar.

[Ron.C]

Ive eaten both spring and fall and never noticed allot of difference in table quality. I dont hunt tidal areas, salmon streams or anywhere a bear can get into garbage.