Safe to eat?

[25.06girl]

Hey all,
boyfriend got his first big game animal yesterday! Yay a spring black bear! Going through the butchering process today and have found an number of very small skinny, short larvae looking critters in the meat. Just wonder if anyone has experienced this and if the bear is edible? We are new to bear butchering and are clueless. Will try and figure out how to post picture

[Surrey Boy]

It's edible if you cook it. Predators and white fish often have worms. No Jack In The Box rare hamburgers for you.

Even if you ate it rare and got worms, the chance of death or debilitating injury is negligible. You're more likely to get Lyme Disease from the ticks on the outside of the critter.

[monasheemountainman]

yep cook it up but always cook bear meat well done

[caddisguy]

What Surrey Boy and monashee said. Internal temperature of 165F is instant death for trichinella or any other parasite, and that is being conservative. A few seconds a 145F is probably safe, but we never chance it.

Bears will always have something, whether you can see it or not. I have always been confused why some people actually pay to get bear meat tested for trichinosis... it's super common and even if the test is negative, you still need to take the same precautions because of other parasites.

Enjoy your bear meat. Looking forward to any pics or stories from your hunt... caddisguy likes stories :)

[Squamch]

What Surrey Boy and monashee said. Internal temperature of 165F is instant death for trichinella or any other parasite, and that is being conservative. A few seconds a 145F is probably safe, but we never chance it.

Bears will always have something, whether you can see it or not. I have always been confused why some people actually pay to get bear meat tested for trichinosis... it's super common and even if the test is negative, you still need to take the same precautions because of other parasites.

Enjoy your bear meat. Looking forward to any pics or stories from your hunt... caddisguy likes stories :)

Trichinella? Trichinosis/Rinella hybrid??

[caddisguy]

Trichinella? Trichinosis/Rinella hybrid??

Lol ... trichinella is the worm, trichinosis is the syndrome when infected :)

[25.06girl]

Oh good, thanks guys! That puts my mind at ease. Well done bear sounds delicious! I will post pic and story after I go back to retrieve my binos that I managed to leave on the mountain in all the excitement.

[Liptugger]

You can also freeze it solid for a month

[caddisguy]

You can also freeze it solid for a month

I have read this does not work on the trichinella strains found in bears. Apparently they can withstand being frozen for months... here is one citation:

"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 (http://web.stanford.edu/group/parasites/ParaSites2005/Trichinella/trich.html) from a Stanford study."

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

[two-feet]

Yup cook ot like you would stewing beef, or pork. Delish.

[ianm]

The larvae are just there for some extra texture and protein 😂

[835]

http://wildlifedisease.unbc.ca/bear_filarial_worm.htm

this is what you see, you can not see trich.
Just anout wvery bear has them so if it creeps ypu out done shoot them.
Trich in bears can not be killed by your home freezer it will not go low enough for long enough

[shortrange]

http://wildlifedisease.unbc.ca/bear_filarial_worm.htm

this is what you see, you can not see trich.
Just anout wvery bear has them so if it creeps ypu out done shoot them.
Trich in bears can not be killed by your home freezer it will not go low enough for long enough

Yup, I saw some filarial worms on the bear I caught a couple weeks ago. He is going to be smokies and pepperoni, so should be fine.

[monasheemountainman]

Yup, I saw some filarial worms on the bear I caught a couple weeks ago. He is going to be smokies and pepperoni, so should be fine.

You caught a bear? Lol

[Wild one]

You caught a bear? Lol

I have seen a few small ones this spring where catching them vs shooting them seemed more appealing lmao

[monasheemountainman]

grab them by their little tail and hog tie em

[caddisguy]

I have seen a few small ones this spring where catching them vs shooting them seemed more appealing lmao

They're a lot of fun on the 4wt... 10ft leader and 2lb tippet... no strike indicator (takes away all the feeling) It's pretty challanging... they'll have you into the backing and sometimes takes a while before they run out of steam so you can scoop them up with gentle release net though.

[Wild one]

grab them by their little tail and hog tie em

Good thing I don't drink when I am out hunting as it might seem like a good idea to try this lol

[steel_ram]

Justt scrape the worms to the side of the plate and keep on eating.

[Drillbit]

grab them by their little tail and hog tie em

Some cowboys have roped them