pros and cons of butchering your own bear vs. getting done at butcher

[scotty30-06]

Wondering what some pros and cons I have heard very mixed views seeing what you guys think?

[butthead]

get it done right with the butcher

[scotty30-06]

Yea that's another thing is I don't want to screw it up at all

[scotty30-06]

How much roughly would they charge for a 300 pound bear for instance

[takla1]

why send to a butcher cost too much.Couple rolls of wrapping paper/tape and a couple hrs your done.
We bone out our bears in camp as we just keep the hams for smokeing and the rest gets stew beefed for sausage...

takla

[barry1974w]

The local guy here charges .59 a pound (I think) for a basic cut and wrap. That's for hanging weight. If you want sausages and smoked hams and such, it all costs more.

[scoutlt1]

Well, there's this..

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/wild-chef/2011/05/why-i%E2%80%99ll-never-butcher-another-bear-ever

and then there's this...

http://www.themeateater.com/videos/black-bear-butchering/

I'm all for the latter.


Just remember though, that after you skin your blackie, he will probably resemble your vertically challenged Uncle Fred. ;)

[takla1]

I always thought they looked more like Arnold swatzanegger with black gloves and boots on while hanging..lol

takla

[Daybreak]

I'm not sure what a butcher would would charge but likely by the pound and maybe $1.50 per lb cut and wrapped...just a guess.

The majority of my bears go to sausage, pepperoni and stew meat. Always keep a couple of roasts and loins for cutting into steaks. On that note, I don't think you could mess up badly if you did it yourself which I do. The way I see it, a person can't go on paying butchers year after year if you want to keep the principle of saving money "at the meat counter".

Technically, you're just boning it out and there's no time like the present to start learning. Technique will transfer well to other large game. One thing I have found is that bears are best processed in a really cool environment as the fat has a low melting point and things get greasy in a hurry.

[scoutlt1]

I always thought they looked more like Arnold swatzanegger with black gloves and boots on while hanging..lol

takla


You clearly shoot bigger bears than I do! :)

[takla1]

sound advice Daybreak,best to learn how to separate the musle groups in the legs/select roasts and ive never bothered with steaks myself not on bear.
And yes they get greasy if cut and wrapped in the warm that's why we bring coolers and cut in camp once they fully cooled and cut in the early morning in cool temps.A couple hundred lb bear will fit in a regular sized cooler.Thats how we do it in our moose camps when blacky shows up

takla

[takla1]

Our average size mnt bears in the fall camp are north of 400 lbs each,yes they look like weight lifters when hanging.

takla

[Wentrot]

Do it yourself-no "cons" to it. Super easy once ya get going. Watch some youtube videos.

[RackStar]

Get a meat grinder.
Grind it up at home. Take what you want to butcher for sausage and pepperoni. And enjoy.
I try and do all my deer, saves lots on a already expensive hunt. And it just feels more rewarding. You get the full experience.
Happy trails.

[takla1]

What rackstar said x 2
And an electric vacuume packer/bags are fairly cheap if you can catch them on sale thru out the yr

takla

[scoutlt1]

Get a meat grinder.
Grind it up at home. Take what you want to butcher for sausage and pepperoni. And enjoy.
I try and do all my deer, saves lots on a already expensive hunt. And it just feels more rewarding. You get the full experience.
Happy trails.

what he said.... :)

[scotty30-06]

Wow all good advice.....im thinking I'm gonna take on the challenge myself this year....maybe send some off for sausage and pepperoni.....buddy has a meat grinder and vacuum sealer so good to go that way

[RackStar]

What takla said about the vacume bags is very true.
Keeps your meat longer. No freezer burn.
I burnt mine out packing my moose. So my deers are in butcher paper, no complaints thus far. So if moneys tight butcher paper does work well.
Unless I have no time or in a pinch. I don't think I could pay a butcher again. It's really cool to cut your own roasts and steaks. And you know 100% the hygiene in which your hard earned meat is being processed in.

[guest]

Save a Ton, cut your own trim off all fat, Seperate in large muscles etc. take to butcher ..... biggies are smoked ham ..... Trim for sausage !

[BiG Boar]

Super easy to do yourself. Especially if its just going to ground product. Cut meat off animal, grind or take to butcher to have sausage made. If you can hunt and kill an animal, surely you can cut meat off the bone.

[Steeleco]

Butcher, what's that? Do it yourself. A good knife,Costco saran wrap and butcher paper and all it takes then is time. Cutting a bear is NO different than any other game animal.
If you have a beer fridge you take a few days to do it and not worry about spoilage.

[two-feet]

Doing it yourself gets you one step farther from the factory food/ supermarket disaster we call normal. Its really easy, the worst thing that can happen is you end up with more ground meat! Spend $500 on a quality grinder/sausage maker combo, most the cost will be recovered in the first animal that does not go to the butcher. I wrap with freezer paper over saran, the meat lasts for years.

[scotty30-06]

I like the idea of butcher paper too....save some cost that way.....lol I doubtful in my self self bit....but after hearing some of you guys I'm pretty excited

[scoutlt1]

I've found that the biggest "problem" with people butchering their own game is the "fear/worry" that they will mess it up. Nothing to fear really!
If they have parents, they're all pretty much the same.
Start with a sharp knife (keep it sharp), take your time, get the meat cool, and get everything prepared well before you leave on your hunt.

There's nothing more satisfying than sitting down for a meal with meat that you've hunted, shot, cleaned, butchered, and cooked yourself.

That's what I think anyways.... :)

[scotty30-06]

^^^^^^how it should be.....and that's how I want to do it....like another post said not time like now to learn

[Daybreak]

Doing it yourself gets you one step farther from the factory food/ supermarket disaster we call normal. Its really easy, the worst thing that can happen is you end up with more ground meat! Spend $500 on a quality grinder/sausage maker combo, most the cost will be recovered in the first animal that does not go to the butcher. I wrap with freezer paper over saran, the meat lasts for years.

I go one step further. Tight saran wrap, butchers paper, frozen and then packed into cardboard boxes. Like the ones from the liquor store. I mix the box content up and mark contents on the outside. Boxes fit nicely in the deep freeze and I can use one at a time more or less. Like you said, the meat literally keeps for years. Any voids in the deep freeze are filled with crumpled newsprint in bags. I can thaw a roast from 18 months ago and it's like the day it went in... almost.

[takla1]

Oh and remember all good butchers make their individual cuts against the grain...

takla

[MOOSE MILK]

Put the fat in a pail and render it down to pure oil, keeps leather soft, boots waterproof and hands nice and soft :smile:

[warnniklz]

I deal with my own bears because my regular cutter doesn't take wild critter in the spring. It's pretty easy to do anyways. Basically follow the lines. After you've done it once, easy peasy.

[scotty30-06]

Yea I'm gonna do a lot more research on it and watch it all over again on youtube.....i have been around the process just never attempted by myself

[two-feet]

Just learn the major cuts to seperate first: back straps, t-loins, hams (bears). Then the other main large chunks of meat can be shaped into roasts, steaks, stew etc as you see fit. The rest can be ground. Dont over think it. And you can still take things to your favorite butcher for specialty items like salami, hams etc.
If you want to get into other fun things look into osso bucco, pickled tounge and other delicacies

[MichelD]

I have numerous criteria that require that I process my own bear meat.

For one thing, my wife and i know how to do it. This October marks our 40th year of bear butchering together. I know because I shot my first bear when she was 8 1/2 months pregnant and our daughter's 40th birthday is November 10.

For one thing, I want to process bear meat fast. Bear meat doesn't age nicely, it just goes bad. I bring along a Coleman cooler full of frozen 2 litre water bottles, get the skin of the critter, cut it up into manageable portions, put them in cloth bags and lay them with spaces in between on a tarp in the back of the truck with the water bottles around them, then hopefully drive right home. I live in Vancouver so I might be a half day's travel away from home so when I get home (if it is evening ) we put meat portions in an upright freezer set to just above freezing for the night. If I arrive home in the morning we cut right away.

Another reason we do it at home is so that we get exactly the size of cuts we want in the cuts we want. Stew, roasts, ribs and burger mostly. I save the shanks as is or cut in half for pressure cooking later. I find bear meat too "rubbery" to cut into chops or steaks. The ground bear meat is choice, and extremely versatile.

I've been party to having deer and moose cut up by butchers as I've had group hunt partners that insist on it and to be honest, in my house, we are so used to the the way we cut up game animals by muscle group that to get wrapped meat done by somebody else in "standard' butcher cuts done with a band saw is just weird.

And we save all the bones. My wife is crazy about soup so we save every bone and cut it into pressure-cooker sizes before freezing.

I might take about four to six hours cutting and wrapping, depending on the size of the animal and we carefully trim all the meat and save everything possible for that all-important ground meat.

It's just not that hard to do.

[TyTy]

I took my first bear to the butcher and asked for all ground and to wrap. Way easier for him to grind that volume of meat and it was cheap enough. The savings in my time helped to keep hunting too. I use the ground to stuff and smoke my own pepperoni and sausage in the off season

[TyTy]

I did de-bone myself though. Most butchers will charge on hanging weight, so de-boning saves $$

[BearStump]

what you spent on that one bear at the butcher could have bought you a nice grinder..........

[Wagonmaster]

Do those of you that make your own burger, use fat from the bear itself? How much in say 10 lbs of meat? Does bear fat cause more of a gamey taste and if so, do you think getting some pork fat from the butcher might be a better way to go?

[warnniklz]

I took my first bear to the butcher and asked for all ground and to wrap. Way easier for him to grind that volume of meat and it was cheap enough. The savings in my time helped to keep hunting too. I use the ground to stuff and smoke my own pepperoni and sausage in the off season

^--- Good point! What's your time worth? That's also something worth considering.

[Fella]

I debone and take to a small sausage shop in Chilliwack. Usually do half ground and the other half into sausage. I don't have a smoker or grinder yet and my sausage guy does a great job so I don't mind paying the $100 to have him do it.

[stevo911_]

How much roughly would they charge for a 300 pound bear for instance
I think we paid ~180, with part being sausage/pepperoni. If we get a bear in cooler weather I'd do it myself, but in 25 degree + weather there's something to be said for quickly gutting/skinning it and promptly dropping it off in a walk-in cooler.

[MichelD]

Do those of you that make your own burger, use fat from the bear itself? How much in say 10 lbs of meat? Does bear fat cause more of a gamey taste and if so, do you think getting some pork fat from the butcher might be a better way to go?

I never add fat of any kind to ground bear, deer, moose or elk.

[NMO]

I never add fat of any kind to ground bear, deer, moose or elk.
Generally I do the same thing, though ocassionally I will grind the fat of said animal into it, and never had issues. I did a grind for fresh burgers once with a pound of bacon mixed into a few pounds of bear and it was fantastic.

[Daybreak]

I never add fat of any kind to ground bear, deer, moose or elk.

Any particular reason you leave it so lean? Do you prefer the unadulterated taste or is it a diet concern?

[MichelD]

Any particular reason you leave it so lean? Do you prefer the unadulterated taste or is it a diet concern?

Exactly. I really enjoy the flavour of the unadulterated meat. I just use an egg or two make it bind together. Don't want it tasting like pork.

For the same reason I usually dislike game "sausages" my friends have made up by a butcher with so much pork fat in them they don't taste like the original animal anymore.

[scoutlt1]

Exactly. I really enjoy the flavour of the unadulterated meat. I just use an egg or two make it bind together. Don't want it tasting like pork.

For the same reason I usually dislike game "sausages" my friends have made up by a butcher with so much pork fat in them they don't taste like the original animal anymore.

I agree on the taste (although I'm a big fan of pork)....but you don't find it too dry??

[MichelD]

I agree on the taste (although I'm a big fan of pork)....but you don't find it too dry??

Nope. Rather have dry than "porky."

[scoutlt1]

Nope. Rather have dry than "porky."


True enough.... :)

[Bowzone_Mikey]

Exactly. I really enjoy the flavour of the unadulterated meat. I just use an egg or two make it bind together. Don't want it tasting like pork.

For the same reason I usually dislike game "sausages" my friends have made up by a butcher with so much pork fat in them they don't taste like the original animal anymore.

Your friends take their animals to the wrong Butcher

[two-feet]

It should not be too hard to get some grass fed beef fat, healthy and a higher melting point. Dry sausages is like warm, flat beer. Not nice

[warnniklz]

It should not be too hard to get some grass fed beef fat, healthy and a higher melting point. Dry sausages is like warm, flat beer. Not nice

It shouldn't be hard. But non-grass fed is a bigger investment

[scotty30-06]

Wow all great info and input....i gonna do it myself this year....any sausage I'm gonna take to butcher to have them do it but I will grind it all up myself....really appreciate all the input guys....thanks for the confidence booster

[ajr5406]

I took a hunting butchery course last year, and while I learned a lot and really enjoyed it, I was actually surprised at how simple it actually is (at least in theory). Plenty of great videos on line, and I have spent many hours watching them so that I can feel confident to do it myself. Worst case is your cuts wont look pretty, but at least you know exactly how your animal was treated from field to plate - cant beat that.

[Rob Chipman]

Here's my experience:
First time you butcher stuff you find it's easier than you thought, but you made some boo boos and you know you'll do better next time.

Next time you do a bit better.

By time 3 you're starting to really get the hand of what's what.

Bear fat? Keep it and render it. Good for boots, good for cooking. You can eat a teaspoonfull just like butter (No shit. It's good. Love it for cooking).

Money you save on not paying a butcher? Buy a good grinder. Make sausage. That is way easier than I ever thought it would be.

The only way I'd take the near to the butcher is if I got him Sunday and had to be at work Monday. Otherwise butchering your own stuff is the way to go.

[tigrr]

2nd bear, a spring bear was made into 23 roasts. All tied up and ready for a slow 200 degree cook from 7 am to 5 pm. 95 lbs of deboned and trimmed bear. 4 to 7 lb roasts. Taste's between veal and mutton, you have to add spices. Previous fall bear had 30 lbs of ground and 45 lbs of roasts. Do all my own butchering. Deer, moose and bear. Meat wrapping paper can be bought in more locations today. Due to people cutting and wrapping their own meat.

[Philcott]

Cutting your own game, whatever the animal, is very rewarding though a bit labour intensive. It is a skill well worth taking the time to learn and as many have said, the worst that can happen is you end up with more burger.

Is any discussion on cutting your own bear complete without talking about trichinosis? Years ago I took a bear in and had pepperoni made. The butcher said he would leave it in the deep freeze, for, I believe, 30 days before making the pep to prevent trichinosis.

One of the great things about butchering your own wild game is you know the quality and cleanliness of the meat you end up with. It's been many years since I've cooked a burger with store bought meat to a delicious rare to medium rare but I do this all the time with my moose and deer. Dripping red juices loaded with flavour make a wonderful burger. I would NOT do this with bear meat though. Make sure to cook your bear well so as to be safe.

Go into your butchering session with confidence. it's really not that hard.

Get a big cutting board though. You'll be having trouble if you try to do this with a 12 x 8 inch board.

[Rob Chipman]

^^^^^

"Get a big cutting board though. You'll be having trouble if you try to do this with a 12 x 8 inch board."

Excellent point. You need a good working area to throw chunks of meat around, especially when you're still trying to figure out which end is up. :-)

[two-feet]

Cutting your own game, whatever the animal, is very rewarding though a bit labour intensive. It is a skill well worth taking the time to learn and as many have said, the worst that can happen is you end up with more burger.

Is any discussion on cutting your own bear complete without talking about trichinosis? Years ago I took a bear in and had pepperoni made. The butcher said he would leave it in the deep freeze, for, I believe, 30 days before making the pep to prevent trichinosis.

One of the great things about butchering your own wild game is you know the quality and cleanliness of the meat you end up with. It's been many years since I've cooked a burger with store bought meat to a delicious rare to medium rare but I do this all the time with my moose and deer. Dripping red juices loaded with flavour make a wonderful burger. I would NOT do this with bear meat though. Make sure to cook your bear well so as to be safe.

Go into your butchering session with confidence. it's really not that hard.

Get a big cutting board though. You'll be having trouble if you try to do this with a 12 x 8 inch board.

i agree 100% about the under cooked burger. People are so used to eating factory meat proccessed in terrible conditions that they think all burger is poisonous and need be cooked well done. This is not the case with deer/moose done on a small scale in a controlled environment

[bridger]

My hunting partners and I went all in a few years ago and built a walk in cooler that will hold 8 moose/elk size critters plus a processing room. Bought a a large grinder from cabelas, meat trays etc. Total cost about $15,000. Has paid for itself a couple of times over.

[Brambles]

There is an initial cost investment, some good knives, sharpener and a grinder....I used hand grinders....then shitty kitchen quality meat grinders...then I invested in my #22 Trespade. Cabelas sells grinders not so expensive as my Trespade (Italian) but like everything cabelas....made in China I'm sure so I can't comment on the quality.

wrap everything in Saran Wrap, then in butcher paper and it will literally last a decade....don't Saran Wrap it and it will be freezer burnt within a year.

[scotty30-06]

Awesome tips....i was looking for a huge cutting board today lol

[srupp]

Major advantage of doing a bear..is you can spend the time to remove ALL the silver side that contains the wild flavor on a bear.
Chill the chunks well..
Ensure the grinding plates are matched to the blades..dont mix and match..chill out those plates, blades, auger in the freezer..gives better grind...should be nothing but lean red meat.make your sausages..spicy meat products.makes exceptional spicy Italian breakfast sausage.
Cheers
Steven

[scotty30-06]

Really eh....most of the gamey taste comes from the silver skin on bear?

[srupp]

Yes, anything thats not red meat..silverskin, fat..whatever vernacular you choose.
Steven

[scotty30-06]

Well seasons close.....any tips for getting a bear cooled down and field dressed to prevent spoilage.....what kinda time frame do you have before the meat starts to turn bad....any tips or advice is great....like getting lots of opinions on the matter

[two-feet]

I like using the gutless method because it is efficient and you end up with skinned quarters, these can cool down quite well. In warm weather you still have hours, be prepared, and get those skinned quarters in the back of the truck whistling down the hiway at 100km/hr

[caddisguy]

We couldn't move our bear last year. Could hardly roll it over, let alone lift or drag it. As a result of inexperience (first large critter) improper equipment (3 knives that dulled up fast, 3 different saws that wouldn't get through bone, headlamps that didn't put out much light) and another bear hanging around making us nervous it ended up being an in-field hack and slash butchering job. Just kept cutting away chunks of meat and putting it in game socks until there was nothing worthy left. Back to the jeep around 1am, put the game socks in a 70gal roughneck rubber made and put it in the creek by camp. I woke up a few times to dump the blood out, but that was it.

Got home the next day, picked off any hairs, trimmed off any silver skin and packaged everything with the food saver.

It would be difficult to do worse than we did, but consider the result... about 130lbs of meat, vaccum packed in the freezer. Though we have no idea what is what, it does not matter. We just open up a bag, thaw it out and either cut it up into stew/stirfry/steak-bite size chunks for frying pan or slow cooker, or grind it up for burgers or tacos. Tastes like some awesome cow to me and everyone we served it to was impressed. We look forward to bear night every time which is usually dinner with leftover for lunch once or twice a week. Not a fan of bear steaks, as they need to be well done.

I'd say unless you are dead set on pepperoni and sausage and don't have the time, take it to a butcher, but otherwise DIY. You would have to really mess up to go wrong... like if you got home and forgot you whacked a bear and left it in your truck for a couple days.

The only thing I was uneasy about was whether or not our in-field hack and slash job would have been questionable, as there weren't really whole identifiable quarters... also missed out on some of the neck amd rib meat... but these aren't really butcher vs DIY issues. This year we have a better saw, more knives, barracuda with disposable blades and ridiculously bright head lamps.

Enjoy your hunt. Your bear will be great either way.

[wiggy]

Love the thread. By all accounts. We're hunters. We do it all. Mostly we learn from trial and error. Other times from listening and remembering
Some great tips here. I personally find butchering my game a very rewarding experience. I go the extra mile ensuring what I package is going to be great table fare. Couldn't imagine letting anyone doing that for me unless weather or time is against you. Lots of ways to beat both those things Thx and happy hunting. Couple more days and we're all ready to go at it again ��

[Arctic Lake]

Just a reminder that most domestic ground meats are cooked to well done to kill off bacteria that may be present from trimmings included in the ground meat. Trimmings can include the outside of the animal where ecoli may be present due to contamination from fecal matter while processing. If those contaminated trimmings are in the center of say a ground patty and not cooked to a high temp your going to possibly end up with a trip to the toilet or worse. Ecoli is present in wild game as well .

Arctic Lake

[scotty30-06]

Awesome tips guys....keep them coming.....does gutless waste a lot of meat?

[Rob Chipman]

"It would be difficult to do worse than we did..."

Oh no it wouldn't. Sounds about right for a first time experience dumping something near last light. Probably the best way to figure out why you want good knives, etc. But, like you say, the end result is worth. And believe me - you're going to better on the next one, and better on the one after that, and after a bit you'll be able to envision the roast on the plate when you still see it on the animal.

[scotty30-06]

Hahah....just takes time and a learning curve

[Daybreak]

Last years spring bear I skinned on the spot(11:00am) and then ran it up the hill on my quad to a snow drift and buried it in the snow for the day. Returned about 5:00 pm and loaded it back to the truck. The snow was handy for wiping it down and the end product was great. Technically it was the equivalent of having it skinned and in a cooler within two hours of going down. Myself, I avoid the gutless method as I prefer to do the cutting in an environment where I have hot water, towels, soap and clean surfaces to work.

At very least, (if you can manage) I recommend packing some water, cubed and block ice during warm spring hunts and pack the chest cavity and extremities with it for the transport home. I firmly believe that the sooner you get the hide off and the meat cooling the better product you will have.

[walks with deer]

Bring a insulated tarp drive up to snow pack in ice drive home..
make sure you buy a 6 pack to keep you hydrated for cut time.

[scotty30-06]

Love the last tip hahahhah

[two-feet]

We couldn't move our bear last year. Could hardly roll it over, let alone lift or drag it. As a result of inexperience (first large critter) improper equipment (3 knives that dulled up fast, 3 different saws that wouldn't get through bone, headlamps that didn't put out much light) and another bear hanging around making us nervous it ended up being an in-field hack and slash butchering job. Just kept cutting away chunks of meat and putting it in game socks until there was nothing worthy left. Back to the jeep around 1am, put the game socks in a 70gal roughneck rubber made and put it in the creek by camp. I woke up a few times to dump the blood out, but that was it.

Got home the next day, picked off any hairs, trimmed off any silver skin and packaged everything with the food saver.

It would be difficult to do worse than we did, but consider the result... about 130lbs of meat, vaccum packed in the freezer. Though we have no idea what is what, it does not matter. We just open up a bag, thaw it out and either cut it up into stew/stirfry/steak-bite size chunks for frying pan or slow cooker, or grind it up for burgers or tacos. Tastes like some awesome cow to me and everyone we served it to was impressed. We look forward to bear night every time which is usually dinner with leftover for lunch once or twice a week. Not a fan of bear steaks, as they need to be well done.

I'd say unless you are dead set on pepperoni and sausage and don't have the time, take it to a butcher, but otherwise DIY. You would have to really mess up to go wrong... like if you got home and forgot you whacked a bear and left it in your truck for a couple days.

The only thing I was uneasy about was whether or not our in-field hack and slash job would have been questionable, as there weren't really whole identifiable quarters... also missed out on some of the neck amd rib meat... but these aren't really butcher vs DIY issues. This year we have a better saw, more knives, barracuda with disposable blades and ridiculously bright head lamps.

Enjoy your hunt. Your bear will be great either way.

the gutless method is just this but in a more systematic way. Hunting with my dad growing up, he was ideologically insistant about bringing an animal out whole with the hide on, he believes (correctly) that this is the best way to keep an animal clean. But damned if i will break my back to drag out a whole critter ever again. Why carry so many parts that will never get used? Hide, hoofs/feet, head etc etc.

The one drawback of gutless is you do not get the option of t-bones or bone in ribs.

With help I can break down a bear for packing in just over an hour, a moose in maybe 2 hours.

[walks with deer]

It's a must when you make a mistake or have to move something heavy.. and getting vinegar on s cut doesn't hurt as bad when your wiping down your processed meat... lol

[walks with deer]

Burlap sacks work great to pack snow I had snow in my truck a week after the bear was already cut late in may into June.

[northernbc]

lots of good stuff here for you scotty, my thoughts are, do not use a butcher you can buy all your home equip for much the same costs, as was said here before. do not worry about hams sausage etc for your first few animals you will get better just make burger. saran and paper or vac seal both work great. in the field if it is warm get the hide off and all bones out quickly. sour marrow can ruin meat very fast. bear is awesome eats enjoy.

[scotty30-06]

Thanx northernbc....and all the other members....im self taught so it's been a learning curve....but you guys help ALOT

[Rhyla]

The only con I could possibly see is that it takes time. But IMO, it's well worth the time to do it yourself.

My husband and I butcher all our own game and have for years. We do deer, bear, moose... you name it. It isn't hard. We make all our own sausages, which also isn't hard and lets us try out and tweak recipes until we get exactly what WE like.

[scotty30-06]

Nice....yea it all just takes time.....just like anything else

[okas]

i leave them face down . cut neck to tail skin out and off with the meat ... OK now cut hide go with hair like head to toe ;) then skin sides out lay sides on ground and remove meat from bone ..

[PressurePoint]

I always thought they looked more like Arnold swatzanegger with black gloves and boots on while hanging..lol

takla

Yeah super creepy.... Looking at skinned out bears back and shoulders look suspiciously like humans... I work in law enforcement and it's a weird thing to know what that looks like.... Always get the heebee geebies when I cape out a bear.