What do you really think of bear meat?

[BIGHUNTERFISH]

What do you really think of bear meat?

[Gateholio]

epends on bear, his age, and his proximity to fish...

[todbartell]

I dont really hunt black bears anymore because I do not enjoy the meat. Not so much the taste, but the mental part

[Elkhound]

Have had good bear and bad. Last year the wife loved the bear meat much more than the types of deer we have had.

[Wildman]

I've never tried it. I want to before I shoot one. I would go for one of the high elevation "berry bears".

[Byson]

the bear smokies i had last year were so good, i know were im going toi head for bear this year i mean in a couple days.

[Mr. Dean]

I've only had cured meats; ham, sausage... Haven't tried a 'tradional' steak. Can't find anyone willing to part w/ one. I'll just have to go get me own.

[Rookie]

I really enjoy bear meat.That being said I had some pepperoni and smokies made a couple of years ago and the pepperoni was great, the smokies sucked.Same bear, was probably just the butchers recipe.

[Maxx]

take it or leave it personally, and preferably I would like to leave it in the bush.

[Seabass]

The ones I've shot taste just fine, although its usually sausage and hambuger with spices. THat said I've done plain jane roasts and the've been strong but far from bad. Jerky is good too

CHeers

Seabass

[Sitkaspruce]

When I lived on the Island, we used to hunt the hills above Sproat Lake in late Sept for a nice 2 yo full of wild blueberries, best smelling and tasting bear meat you will find. Of course we used to hunt the big boys down on the tide flats in spring for the head and hide, meat was mixed with old moose, deer or other game into sausages and such. Spring bears just have that sitting around taste to them, but a fat young berry bear, now that is a different story. Made into chops, roasts and a steaks, with the rest going to pepperonie.

Here in the Fort, the bears are almost all berry bears so they all taste good, just shoot a young one for meat and a grouchy big ******* for the hide.

[hunter1947]

I shot one 18 years ago ,it was a 5 year old bear female ,it was the shi**, never again for me ,that's why i turned to filming them. hunter 1947.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

I've had the good, the bad and the ugly..........................:roll: .
Processed is usually very good but I prefer my wild game on the rare to med-rare side as steaks and roasts. Not something you can do with bears. Burger is versatile but that's a lot of burger.
I'm going to be out of meat real soon so I'll probably try to put one down with my bow for the freezer.

SSS

[oldtimer]

In my humble opinion the north Cariboo bears produce the best hamburger there is and you can't beat the jerky. When I get mine this year with a bow I will be getting Swamper or WillyQ to cut it so I can experiment with the meat in the crock pot. I doubt that a " fish Bear " could compare to the clover and berry fed bears up here. Mike

[30-06]

My Bro Got One This Fall And It Wasnt To Bad.So Im Going To Try And Get One This Year

[MichelD]

Gonna have one bear shoulder roast slow roasted all afternoon in a few minutes for dinner.

[3kills]

i have had it and its not bad....i can take it or leave it thought i prefer it processed....

[HighCountry]

Me and my family like bear meat alots specialy the brown bear.Use tender
salt,black pepper little bit of brown surgar and teriyaki sauce marinate
over night then B.B.Q it or smoke it.nothing can beat that.

[hoochie]

just shoot a young one for meat and a grouchy big ******* for the hide.

So, we dont have to eat the meat? we can shoot them just for the hide?
when I did CORE, they told us we had to eat everything except dogs, cougars and crows, skunks, racoons etc....

bears, deer, elk, moose etc all had to be taken out to eat if they were shot. Is this not true?

[BlacktailStalker]

Yes it is true, you legally must take all four quarters (minimum) home with you. The only exception is you may leave a quarter in the bush IF it is shot up too bad, or fed upon by other animals if you never found it right away and unsalvageable.

[The Hermit]

I will take one again for peppi and burger. I also want the hide for a rug so hoping it will be a big one! Next month with my bow... I hope I hope I hope.

[MichelD]

I get a little irritated by people who kill things and don't eat them.
You are legally required to take the bear meat home.
But it's a person's individual decision what to do with it.

Had an awesome garlic-stuffed bear shoulder roast dusted with thyme, pepper and paprika slowly cooked in wine and onions for dinner last night.

I have previously posted the following:


You can make anything you want out of bear meat. Roasts, steaks, stews, burger, anything. I personally have never had a gram of game meat, bear or otherwise made into a sausage of any kind.

The first bear I got (in 1976) made 9 gallons of rendered fat that went into using for deep fying doughnuts, greasing my boots and for diaper rash ointment for our newborn, who has two kids of her own now.

The three year old is itching for Grampa to take him bear hunting.

Ground bear meat is great in spaghetti sauce, meatballs, lasagna, hamburger patties and anything else you use ground meat for. It loves to be blended with garlic and onions.

And it is extremely versatile.

Had Hungarian chigadina goulash with bear stew the other night and Mrs. is making East Indian style Bear byriani the next time we thaw some stew out. She likes me to save the shanks as they are and boils them in the pressure cooker, then when the meat is cooked off the bones,makes soup with the broth and slices the meat and serves it as is or with a gravy.

The Chinese are supposed to be crazy about bear paws, so to try that I have skinned them out and she's cooked them up too.

[Bow Walker]

Never having knowingly eaten any bear meat, I voted as such.

I don't hunt them because I don't want the hide, I don't want the mount, and I don't particularly want the meat.

[talver]

A bear that has been in the berrys or in the oats makes great eating. Its just as good as the more popular big game meat but that just my 2 cents

[tuchodi]

I use the bears I take to make pepperoni, differant kinds of sausage's, smokies and we smoke and cure the hind's into ham's. I have never had a bad one as some people claim but I have always taken my bear from up northern BC and close to farms so they get grain fed. I find it is the same as a lot of differant wild game if you don't tell the people that are eating it that it is wild they really enjoy it.

[highcountry88]

Our family with 4 big teenagers eats a lot of black bears (usually 1-3 per year).....we eat spring bears and we eat fall bears. All of us eat it except my wife who doesn't mind the flavor, but she just can't handle the idea of eating a bear.

It is not our preferred game meat, like elk, moose or deer, but it is OK in sausage. I think it depends more on the recipe than the animal as long as you stay away from dump bears.

For our family, we hunt bears because the fall hunting season is just too long to wait for and we just have to get out in the bush.

We used to take a lot of average bears, but now we pass up on the average ones and are waiting for a biggie....

[Brambles]

I usually make homemade sausage out of it, had pepperoni an luncheon meat made one year too. Its very good.

My problem is that I am always worried about undercooking it and usually end up overcooking it. Now that we use the slow cooker more I might shoot one and try some nice slow cooked bear recipies. Anyone got some to share?

[Rob]

the breakfast sausage we got out of my small spring bear is really good.I took out a ham last nite and cooked it up a couple hours ago, I prefer the breakfast sausage,however my wife and 3 yr. old daughter both enjoyed it. Rob

[pitdog]

I prefer bear in burger and sausage form mostly, but have had some very tasty roasts.

[Bruinhunter]

Why don't you try bear jerky? I like bear meat very much. But you must clear all the fat which gives you bad smell.8-)

[Phil]

I am hoping to shoot my first bear this season and have been planning on eating it and taking the hide so this thread is good timming for me.

As I have been planning my hunt a few friends have worned me that bear meat can contain harmfull organisms. Is this true? And does it really matter if it is cooked properly?

[Will]

Yes Bear Meat should always be "well done" do yourself a favour and stay away from "cured" non cooked type products made from Bear meat. It can and often does contain Trich worm.........

I've eaten alot of Bear Meat....used to Butcher one up for Roasts, steaks and such every year. The taste as mentioned varies Greatly from Bear to bear.

I don't enjoy the "cut" meat as much as I used to, but they do make excellent Sausage and Burger for sauces, chili or whatever ???

I will also add that I shot one Big Fat Bugger one year.........when we Peeled off the hide his Flesh was literally crawling with BIG white hair like worms....it was not very appetising to say the least...:lol:

Just my advice...don't look to closely at Bear meat while you cut it up they often carry a multitude of harmless parasites(if cooked)......just stuff it in the grinder ASAP and Enjoy the Sausages :smile:

Oh and for the Squeemish ones like Bartell... a set of nose plugs while you Gut the beast will save that delicious aroma from "coming" back to you as you chomp into that Bear steak later on ;-)

[MichelD]

Yes, you can get trichinosis from bear meat, just like you can from pork.

From the Internet:

"Trichinosis, also called trichinellosis (TRICK-a-NELL-o-sis), is caused by eating raw or undercooked pork and wild game products infected with the larvae of a species of worm called Trichinella. Infection occurs worldwide, but is most common in areas where raw or undercooked pork, such as ham or sausage, is eaten."

Those skinny white worms are a form of hookworm if I remember right, bears get 'em from eating dirt where the eggs have been deposited and the egg has to go into a live critter to hatch.

Unless you too eat huge mouthfuls of dirt like a bear does, you're not going to get those worms. They appear mostly in the throat area.

[eastkoot]

"The first bear I got (in 1976) made 9 gallons of rendered fat that went into using for deep fying doughnuts, greasing my boots and for diaper rash ointment for our newborn, who has two kids of her own now."


Wipe on the kids ass and it may be OK ??? Or eat your boots, the leather may make it bearable..My partners and I live at Timmys and I wouldn't eat a bear fat donut!! Skin them out and watch the pinworms crawl out Yum/Yum..

[3kills]

will u should see the shit that will come out of beef :D.....

michelD...trich is pretty much been eradicated from domestic pork u buy in stores...u may get from private farm raised pork but it is rare...and i cant see u gettin trich from hams cuz a ham is cooked when it is hot smoked....hot smoking cookin and freezing will kill trich but ur freezer at home will not kill trich....it has to reach a certain temp for a certain length of time....

[MichelD]

3kills


That info was cut and paste from the Internet. I'm not claiming to to be any kind of expert.

[3kills]

i got that...was just givin ya a lil info back ;) :D

[Will]

will u should see the shit that will come out of beef :D.....

I can only Imagine........seen some nice Green pussy lumps in Deer, Moose, bears just about everything, trim it out and Yummy ! :|

That's why I say just don't look too closely at any "meat" sometimes it moves after it's dead, I don't get too grossed out anymore :lol:

Cook it up and Enjoy ! :)

[Phil]

Thanks for the advice on the above question. The descriptions of the tric. worm is exactly as was described to me by friends who have shot a few bears. I thought they were exagerating but I guess not by the sounds of it. I'm not discouraged, I still plan to eat what I kill. I'll be carefull and leave behind what is infected.

[CHilko21]

I've never had really bad bear meat, mind you I've never had a garbage bear or one that was living off of fish, when you get a bear that's living on hayfields and baby calves they don't taste too bad. Definately depands on the animal and what s/he's been eating though.

[Brambles]

I've shot and cut up a fair number of bears and luckily the only thing I have found are Ticks, so many in fact they half filled a quart mason jar:eek:

I'm not sure what my reaction would be if I shot a bear that was still crawiling when dead??

I only shoot bears that are way out in the boonies and I can be sure they haven't dined on any huggies or glad garbage bags. Seems to make a difference.

[hunter1947]

I am glad that most of you like bear meat ,helps out the deer populatiom ,bears take a lot of fawns in the spring. hunter 1947.

[coyotebc]

Can't stand it, have tried it numerous times and done numerous ways.
No more for me

[jackychiles]

I eat it and my wife and I think it is good. Makes good pepperoni, sausage and ham

Jacky

[longhairmtnman]

I can only Imagine........seen some nice Green pussy lumps in Deer, Moose, bears just about everything, trim it out and Yummy ! :|
:)

If game really had these lumps maybe Bartell would eat more........:lol: