Time to hype up some bear hunters..

[RyoTHC]

Well, season started a few weeks ago now.. snow yesterday. BUT the bears are already out, spotted around Merritt, Princeton and Kamloops.. first weekend of May will be my first foray out this season... last two seasons were a gimme, as there were only 4 days spent bear hunting and 5 bears went down.. here’s a couple pictures to get people excited.

this year I have some new bear medicine, the last year I was using Winchester deer season copper.. bears DRT but, I decided to try something new... Hornady ETX 165 gr... essentially a round nose hollow point solid copper GMX...


couple quick snaps of my last years tags to get some hunters that are on the fence motivated to get out there ! Both bears taken on a week night, after work within 20 minute drive of town.

Oh and both bears were DELICIOUS.. only have moose left from last year.

Since I started hunting in 2017, chasing bears has been my favourite hands down.. I look forward to each spring more than anything else. Fingers crossed this year is even better !

https://i.postimg.cc/xcTBSP12/10456-DB1-2319-4-EFD-B988-FA7-BB89-BB88-F.jpg (https://postimg.cc/xcTBSP12)

https://i.postimg.cc/mhSKqnRj/F1-F0-F510-74-D0-4-CC6-888-E-5-D81288-E7038.jpg (https://postimg.cc/mhSKqnRj)

[RyoTHC]

I’ll take the liberty of posting my hunting partners biggest bear to date as well, day 1, hour 1 of bear hunting last season for us.


https://i.postimg.cc/BjtTsjFb/DD3006-BC-0720-4-AD1-9124-A12-E6-F8592-BF.jpg (https://postimg.cc/BjtTsjFb)

[LBM]

Some nice looking bears any better pics of the brown one. Looks like a good
head on him did you keep the skull and if so any numbers on it.

[RackStar]

Nice bears , you enjoy bear meat more then moose?

[RyoTHC]

Nice bears , you enjoy bear meat more then moose?

thus far, yes. With the exception of steaks /chops.

But I much prefer bear burgers, stew, roasts and smoked meats. I’m a strange man

also I’ll see what I still have for pictures of the brown one, ended up breaking my phone that hunt so I believe I only had the few I sent to my hunting buddy.

[adriaticum]

Some nice bears, cool!

[Firstblood]

Indeed they are waking up, saw one in its den last week but it was awake. Just starting to see the green grass at the bottom of the valleys, the snow yesterday didnt help but these warm sunny days will be getting them active.

[RackStar]

Interesting. I have no valid opinion ive never gave bear meat a honest try. Lots of people seem to like it =)

[whitlers]

That first bear is a stud. Nice noggin on him.

[DannyO]

You’re adding to the excitement here for sure. It’s my 2nd spring season and I’ve not been as excited to hunt an animal before. Got two spots picked out and scouted , four weekends set aside. Really hoping to get it done!
thanks for sharing the photos, beautiful bears

[Iron Glove]

I've never hunted bear, not that fond of the meat and the Wife has no desire to eat it.
Son loves bear hunting and has been quite successful and I thought I would join him, not necessarily to bag one but just to be along with him on the hunt.
So, just to be safe I go on line to renew my lisc and get tags and it won't accept my sign on so now I have to phone in tomorrow.
Maybe my bear hunt is doomed from the start. :frown:

[RyoTHC]

I've never hunted bear, not that fond of the meat and the Wife has no desire to eat it.
Son loves bear hunting and has been quite successful and I thought I would join him, not necessarily to bag one but just to be along with him on the hunt.
So, just to be safe I go on line to renew my lisc and get tags and it won't accept my sign on so now I have to phone in tomorrow.
Maybe my bear hunt is doomed from the start. :frown:


sounds like you’re trying to give up before you even start ;) it’ll all work out! Get out there and find a bear, save one of your favourite herbivores from being dinner.

[walks with deer]

Interesting. I have no valid opinion ive never gave bear meat a honest try. Lots of people seem to like it =)

Better go shoot one.

[caddisguy]

Interesting. I have no valid opinion ive never gave bear meat a honest try. Lots of people seem to like it =)

We grind most of it for burgers, tacos, chilli, burritos. Tough to tell the difference between ground bear and high quality ground beef in my opinion.

Never tried hams, roasts, sausages, and things like that though.

[RackStar]

Maybe I’ll try some smokies this year

[Redthies]

I've never hunted bear, not that fond of the meat and the Wife has no desire to eat it.


I’ve eaten black and grizzly bear. Both were fine, but nothing I need to get all excited about. Spring is for turkeys! ��

[HarryToolips]

Love eating bear but I'm super selective and really take my time ensuring I don't shoot a mom with Cubs....but it's a great time of year to be out....hope to get one this spring with the recurve...

[Treed]

I’ve had a crappy sleep for the last 10 days. A bear keeps on wandering through the yard every couple of nights and the dog goes nuts.

Bloody bylaws....I could have two birds with one stone. Bear meat and a good nights sleep.

Yup the bears are out. Yawn!

[bcsteve]

We grind most of it for burgers, tacos, chilli, burritos. Tough to tell the difference between ground bear and high quality ground beef in my opinion.

Never tried hams, roasts, sausages, and things like that though.
I find the grind kind of stringy, gives it a weird texture. It does make great summer sausages and pepperoni. Great hams too. Just smoked my last quarter from last years bear last week end.
https://i.postimg.cc/bJY37Hrq/CFFDDDFF-0102-4983-9144-6926-D8-FA2-FC7.jpg

[caddisguy]

I find the grind kind of stringy, gives it a weird texture. It does make great summer sausages and pepperoni. Great hams too. Just smoked my last quarter from last years bear last week end.
https://i.postimg.cc/bJY37Hrq/CFFDDDFF-0102-4983-9144-6926-D8-FA2-FC7.jpg

That's looks amazing! Quite fitting for the topic of this thread, "time to hype up some bear hunters". If that picture doesn't do it, I don't know what will :)

I would really like to try doing something more with bear meat (other than ground) one of these days. Smoking isn't currently an option.

I do think I know what you mean by "stringy" with regard to ground. Sometimes I find it to have a more fibrous or even grainy texture compared to beef, but not always. I was never really sure what to attribute that to (ie: cooking, bits of silverskin, or it's just how the meat is) ... I did find the more picky I am about trimming and what goes in the grinder, the better the texture is. Could be all in my head though.

[MichelD]

That's looks amazing! Quite fitting for the topic of this thread, "time to hype up some bear hunters". If that picture doesn't do it, I don't know what will :)

I would really like to try doing something more with bear meat (other than ground) one of these days. Smoking isn't currently an option.

I do think I know what you mean by "stringy" with regard to ground. Sometimes I find it to have a more fibrous or even grainy texture compared to beef, but not always. I was never really sure what to attribute that to (ie: cooking, bits of silverskin, or it's just how the meat is) ... I did find the more picky I am about trimming and what goes in the grinder, the better the texture is. Could be all in my head though.


Lots of variety in a bear. I save the ribs and saw them into strips for baking in the oven, make roasts out of the big portions off the hinds, rolled roast of the meat filleted off the scapula and stew meat from nice chunks left over from bigger cuts. I have saved the whole lower back intact for a saddle roast. I also save the shanks as is for pressure cooking for meaty soup or baking in a clay pot as a sort of osso bucco. Every bone is saved and frozen for future soup. I skin out the paws and my wife makes braised bear paws. Render down the fat though spring bears are lean. Fall bears are better for the fat.

[Kill-da-wabbit]

That's looks amazing! Quite fitting for the topic of this thread, "time to hype up some bear hunters". If that picture doesn't do it, I don't know what will :)

I would really like to try doing something more with bear meat (other than ground) one of these days. Smoking isn't currently an option.

I do think I know what you mean by "stringy" with regard to ground. Sometimes I find it to have a more fibrous or even grainy texture compared to beef, but not always. I was never really sure what to attribute that to (ie: cooking, bits of silverskin, or it's just how the meat is) ... I did find the more picky I am about trimming and what goes in the grinder, the better the texture is. Could be all in my head though.
The older the bear, the tougher/striny the meat will be, of course. I just go down a size on my grinding plate - problem solved.

[Blockcaver]

Nice bears RYO! As per the stringy burger....I double grind and never noticed an issue. I do remove fat and gristle from the meat pre-grind though. Good luck to the bear hunters!

[boilerroom]

If things align I'm hoping to get out for a 4 day spring bear hunt (first time hunting them). I'd be happy to share the bear if someone isn't able to get out this year that does their own processing and can process mine as well. PM me if you're in the lower mainland.

cheers,
BR

[wildcatter]

I find the grind kind of stringy, gives it a weird texture. It does make great summer sausages and pepperoni. Great hams too. Just smoked my last quarter from last years bear last week end.
https://i.postimg.cc/bJY37Hrq/CFFDDDFF-0102-4983-9144-6926-D8-FA2-FC7.jpg

That looks really good, though a bit still raw.
Did you cold smoke and how long?
How do you make your brine?

[bcsteve]

That looks really good, though a bit still raw.
Did you cold smoke and how long?
How do you make your brine?
Not raw at all. The redness is from the brine. Brined for 5days and smoked for about 10-12 hours. In the smoker at 180 for the first 8 hours and up to 200 until interior temperature is at 160.

[wildcatter]

Not raw at all. The redness is from the brine. Brined for 5days and smoked for about 10-12 hours. In the smoker at 180 for the first 8 hours and up to 200 until interior temperature is at 160.


OK thanks, can you post your brine recipe?

[bcsteve]

OK thanks, can you post your brine recipe?
Oops, sorry, I missed that part. I have to admit, it’s the brine recipe from The Meateater cookbook. It recommends, and that’s what I did, to use a syringe to inject the brine in the muscles daily.

https://i.postimg.cc/VkHHRwTR/3-F02-EC72-DCB9-41-A8-943-D-8315-D9519713.jpg

[RyoTHC]

Mmmm. That looks delicious !!!!
two weeks and counting until I drag my ass out and start looking.. going to be picky this year so I can use bear hunting as an excuse to get into better shape for chasing elk through the mountains this fall.

[wildcatter]

Oops, sorry, I missed that part. I have to admit, it’s the brine recipe from The Meateater cookbook. It recommends, and that’s what I did, to use a syringe to inject the brine in the muscles daily.

https://i.postimg.cc/VkHHRwTR/3-F02-EC72-DCB9-41-A8-943-D-8315-D9519713.jpg

Thanks, I will make that if I get a bear.

[tigrr]

It will be a month before I go looking. I am almost finished the 20lbs of deer sausage I made. I want to get a bear and make farmer sausage and a breakfast sausage with it. I have enough natural casings to do 100 lbs. And I have a smoke house. And I am building a bigger smoke house. Then it will be time to hit the ice off fishing. No rainbows left in the freezer.
I want to catch and smoke some suckers this spring too.

[RackStar]

Mmmm. That looks delicious !!!!
two weeks and counting until I drag my ass out and start looking.. going to be picky this year so I can use bear hunting as an excuse to get into better shape for chasing elk through the mountains this fall.


sorry dude. Law states you must stay in 3 =P

[RyoTHC]

sorry dude. Law states you must stay in 3 =P

Pfft. Elk are legal less than a 20 minute quad ride out my back door. Nice try bud ;) nice thing about straddling two zones.

[tigrr]

7+ inch wide grizzly tracks in the mud south east of 150 Mile House Moffat lake area. No black ones yet.

[orest.06]

Rackstar: Which law, where? Please cite specific source of law, page, paragraph, sentences, as this could be very impactful to hunters all over BC.

[RyoTHC]

Rackstar: Which law, where? Please cite specific source of law, page, paragraph, sentences, as this could be very impactful to hunters all over BC.


he was busting my balls. Don’t worry all you lower mainlanders can still legally flood the rest of the province to eat your tag soup ;)

[wildcatter]

It will be a month before I go looking. I am almost finished the 20lbs of deer sausage I made. I want to get a bear and make farmer sausage and a breakfast sausage with it. I have enough natural casings to do 100 lbs. And I have a smoke house. And I am building a bigger smoke house. Then it will be time to hit the ice off fishing. No rainbows left in the freezer.
I want to catch and smoke some suckers this spring too.

Is you smoke house designed to do cold smoking?
I want to build one too and would be interested to see your plans.

[scoutlt1]

7+ inch wide grizzly tracks in the mud south east of 150 Mile House Moffat lake area. No black ones yet. Can't wait to get up there... :-)

[RyoTHC]

Dandelion and clover growing all over around kamloops... looks like the fun is about to begin!

[ElectricDyck]

https://i.imgur.com/RWKWhIL.jpg

Almost done eating our families bears from last year...we got 2 big ones and one small one, this guy was the oldest, he had a nice crease in the skull and was missing teeth. He was sure hard on the knives cutting him up...we wrapped and labeled the 3 bears separately from young to old to see if there was a taste difference. We ground them all once through the small plate and can't tell the difference, they all taste amazing!

Can't wait to get out again this year, hopefully it won't involve a fine to dispute lol

[MichelD]

I don't know; with the price of gas, travel restrictions and my wife eating less and less meat I hardly need one this year. Still eating deer meat from 2018.


Bought a tag though.

This is my 45th year buying tags. Got my first bear in 1976.

[Hugh Mann]

Absolutely gorgeous weather for bears. Out doing some shooting, fresh greens everywhere, dandelions. I half expected to see a bear on my way out.
Yup, I am very much looking forward to this May, have to one up the big sum' bitch I shot last spring.

[tigrr]

Hope you have a winch and or chains when heading out for bear. Its a long walk out to find someone to pull you out.
Most roads around me should be closed. They are bringing in rig mats to cover the really bad spots. Still places your axle levels out the ruts. The local roads are ripped to shreds.
Weird wet fall weather froze in before it dried up. Now with the thaw going full steam ahead it is soft for 2 feet down. I can sink a 3 inch sapling into our ruts down 2 feet with little effort.
Still some piles of snow around. Lots in the shaded bush. Buy a good winch.

[RyoTHC]

Hope you have a winch and or chains when heading out for bear. Its a long walk out to find someone to pull you out.
Most roads around me should be closed. They are bringing in rig mats to cover the really bad spots. Still places your axle levels out the ruts. The local roads are ripped to shreds.
Weird wet fall weather froze in before it dried up. Now with the thaw going full steam ahead it is soft for 2 feet down. I can sink a 3 inch sapling into our ruts down 2 feet with little effort.
Still some piles of snow around. Lots in the shaded bush. Buy a good winch.


makes me happier than ever that I bought a quad for last years LEH, time to enjoy some bear hunting and playing in the mud in the sunshine haha

thanks for the heads up though! Looks like I’ll be Parking the truck for the first few weeks.

out of curiosity have you got any rain in your area this spring or is it all the thaw? Locally zero rain since last fall, and it seems relatively dry but I haven’t ventured to far back into the mountains.

[tigrr]

Rain 3 or 4 days next week. Maybe it will fill in the ruts and the humps will slough down levelling out the road. Ya that's what I think too.

[srupp]

Hmm Tigrr heard the same about Horsefly rds..yikes
Be safe
Srupp

[Leveraction]

Spent the day Saturday east of Boston Bar/ Spuzzum area, there is absolutely no sign of bears being out.
no tracks, no scat ( not that there would be much this early, but one usually can find a pile or 2 covering as much ground as we did.
mid point up the hill sides and many valleys that dont get a lot of sun were still locked in snow.
, in some places lots of snow.
My son and I hiked just under 14 kms mostly on deactivated logging roads , glassed some cuts, other than 4 muleys, absolutely no sign of bears out, not a lot of green happening either, in some places a bit getting started.
ran into a guy and his Mrs. from PoCo , also bear hunting and same same, no sign, no activity.
but overall was sure darn nice to have the rifle over shoulder and NO STRESS.

good luck everyone in the coming weeks.

no stops on the highway either by Hope as Farnsworth said, even though Boston Bar in the Fraser health district.

[Leveraction]

I like the bear pic, but that’s a fine looking lever gun on the left in the pic.
make model caliber ?


I’ll take the liberty of posting my hunting partners biggest bear to date as well, day 1, hour 1 of bear hunting last season for us.


https://i.postimg.cc/BjtTsjFb/DD3006-BC-0720-4-AD1-9124-A12-E6-F8592-BF.jpg (https://postimg.cc/BjtTsjFb)

[RyoTHC]

I like the bear pic, but that’s a fine looking lever gun on the left in the pic.
make model caliber ?


he totes around a Browning BLR pistol grip in .450 marlin, shooting 250 grain monoflex.. bear medicine ! He got that one at sub ten yards and the kinetic energy rolled it over lol.

we both prefer to hunt our bears with levers.. adds some fun to it ! And have to get closer in my case with irons.

[Jaws]

Started and ended my spring bear hunt in five minutes yesterday.

Parked my truck and started to hike up to my desired location when someone collecting firewood passed in his truck. "Are you out for spring bear? Well there is one just up that road." I headed off in that direction and was totally surprised (the bear was too) when he popped out 10 yards from me. Game over.

Glad there is meat in the freezer but sad that my spring hunting season ended so quickly. Guess it means more time to look for morels.

[Ron.C]

Started and ended my spring bear hunt in five minutes yesterday.

Parked my truck and started to hike up to my desired location when someone collecting firewood passed in his truck. "Are you out for spring bear? Well there is one just up that road." I headed off in that direction and was totally surprised (the bear was too) when he popped out 10 yards from me. Game over.

Glad there is meat in the freezer but sad that my spring hunting season ended so quickly. Guess it means more time to look for morels.

I had a similar spring season a few years back. Sucks when it ends before it really begins. Congrats, enjoy some fine eating!!!

[andrew5]

Any bear activity in region 8 yet?

[RyoTHC]

Started and ended my spring bear hunt in five minutes yesterday.

Parked my truck and started to hike up to my desired location when someone collecting firewood passed in his truck. "Are you out for spring bear? Well there is one just up that road." I headed off in that direction and was totally surprised (the bear was too) when he popped out 10 yards from me. Game over.

Glad there is meat in the freezer but sad that my spring hunting season ended so quickly. Guess it means more time to look for morels.


that’s why they have two tags !!!

[RyoTHC]

Any bear activity in region 8 yet?


Any time is a go time in southern 3 or 8.

[ghunter4x4]

I've had two on camera 8-9 Penticton side. Little black and medium cinnamon. Sunday and Tuesday, both in the afternoon.

[tigrr]

Still shaded areas with 2 foot of snow. No tracks yet. I need some bear meat.

[RyoTHC]

Still shaded areas with 2 foot of snow. No tracks yet. I need some bear meat.

horsefly is its own beast, snows early, stays late.. cold in September.. you can keep it ! Shorts and croc bear hunting time here.

[elimsprint]

Any bear activity in region 8 yet?

I saw a nice grizzly up close last Sunday morning and a fairly nice black this morning, 8-10 above Kelowna

[andrew5]

Nice! How far up the hills has green up gone? Are they still down pretty low or are they moving up on the plateau now too?

[NorthEnd]

DAMN! that first bear looks like a TANK

[RyoTHC]

DAMN! that first bear looks like a TANK

biggest black bear I’ve came across, he was the dominant boar in the area as told by all his scars.. easily 25% bigger than the other large bears in the area.. hell, I haven’t laid eyes on one the same size since.. hopefully this year will change that ! He came in hungry and snuck up on me.

[elimsprint]

Nice! How far up the hills has green up gone? Are they still down pretty low or are they moving up on the plateau now too?

I am at about 1400ft above the valley floor and it's getting really green here. I haven't gone any higher but it should be getting very green up top also.

[fuzzybiscuit]

Started and ended my spring bear hunt in five minutes yesterday.

Parked my truck and started to hike up to my desired location when someone collecting firewood passed in his truck. "Are you out for spring bear? Well there is one just up that road." I headed off in that direction and was totally surprised (the bear was too) when he popped out 10 yards from me. Game over.

Glad there is meat in the freezer but sad that my spring hunting season ended so quickly. Guess it means more time to look for morels.

That was my Whitetail season last fall. About half an hour into a hike on Oct 10th I spotted a good 4x4 in the timber. He didn’t even know I was there. I hated the idea of ending the season so quickly but my rule is to never pass up a buck that I’d be happy tagging the last day. Beautiful conditions with 4” of fresh snow on the ground so I took him. As long as they have a bit of size to them then the meat hunter in me usually wins out and up where I’m at decent bucks are few and far between.

[RyoTHC]

Prizes updated, get over to the bear derby ! Season is half over almost !

[tigrr]

They are out in the Cariboo. Seen a sow with 4 cubs and a big boar on the side of the road yesterday morning early. Lot of scat on the back roads. Go reduce the moose calf eaters. Shoot a wolf too if you see one.

[RyoTHC]

Ditto for zone 3 and 8, I’ve been on 3 hunts so far, about 20 hours total and I’ve spotted 13 bears so far!
I’ve found all mine by going up to the snow line and working my way down to them, honestly they don’t seem to be nearly as low as years past at this time.