Processing Bear Meat

[jingles]

My brother-in-law and I will be doing our first bear hunt in mid-May, and I'm seeking some advice on caring for the meat. We will be camping remotely and plan to bring the meat to a butcher to be made into sausages. My preference is to cut the bear up myself and bring the processed meat directly to the butcher; I've processed dozens of deer and moose in the fall, when the weather is cooler and I can hang it, but I've never had to deal with meat in the warmer months.

Assuming we get a bear, what is the best course of action once the bear is field dressed and skinned? Is it possible to take the meat home immediately, process it while fresh, and then take the meat directly to the butcher in coolers? Or is it better to just take the carcass directly to the butcher where they can hang and cool it prior to processing?

Any advice or tips is greatly appreciated!

[Harvest the Land]

Depends on where you're hunting but most spots I hunt (not on the south Island) warm weather is almost never an issue for spoiling meat - just make sure to keep it out of the sun.

One tip would be to bring nitrile gloves in case the bear still has a decent amount of fat from the fall - your hands will get super greasy and it can become difficult to hold a firm grip on the knife; so it's nice to switch out the gloves periodically. And there's no need to hang the meat like ungulates - I just throw the butchered meat straight into the freezer after its been processed and wrapped.

Curious, how come you don't want to butcher it yourself? You'll learn a great skill, it's a great way to re-live the hunt and BS with your brother in law while doing it.

Good luck

[Linksman313]

One tip would be to bring nitrile gloves in case the bear still has a decent amount of fat from the fall - your hands will get super greasy and it can become difficult to hold a firm grip on the knife; so it's nice to switch out the gloves periodically.

The above is the best tip a beginner Bear hunter who has experience butchering can get. Skinning and processing a bear is a whole different ball of wax, or should i say grease. My hands have never been more sore than skinning my first Bear a few years back, wish i had this tip to take with me.

[tigrr]

I expect to shoot a bear in the next two weeks as well. Might be some snow left in the higher elevations or shaded hillsides. I gut and skin the bear right away after shooting it, rinse it out with cold stream water and then we process it the next day. Get it cooling down. Meat souring around big bones is a big issue. Cut it up and put the meat in big clear plastic bags if you'd like. Then find some snow.
Take a tarp to keep it clean while working on it.

[RyoTHC]

The great thing about spring bear is that it usually isn’t far to get snow, fill cavity with snow, head down the mountain to my skinning spot, and voila cold meat and a skinned bear shortly after

going for 3 days of chasing bears this weekend, it feels like it’s time! Though I’m going to be picky.

[jingles]

Thanks for all the replies!

[Arctic Lake]

Jingles. I like to remind hunters about plastic bags and meat you intend to consume , DO NOT USE GARBAGE BAGS ! Most garbage bags are treated !
If using plastic bags make sure they are food grade .
Arctic Lake

[tigrr]

Some garbage bags are recycled garbage bags. That's why I suggest clear one's.

[Maxwell]

If I want to get the bear stuffed at a taxidermist, which I plan to do for mine​, what would I do and not do?

Additionally, please see my other posts regarding need for a hunting partner.

[Hugh Mann]

If I want to get the bear stuffed at a taxidermist, which I plan to do for mine​, what would I do and not do?

Additionally, please see my other posts regarding need for a hunting partner.

There's a specific way to skin them, that gets you the best results for taxidermy, I don't recall it off by hand, but you can find it on YouTube. Prior to the hunt, I'd find what taxidermist you want to use, talk prices, styles of mount, etc and that will effect what you do. Some even offer skinning services so you can roll up with the dressed bear and they'll do it, as the head and paws can be tricky as I understand it. Or if you have to skin it, ask them if they want the hide raw, salted, frozen, ect.

Beyond that, avoid dragging the bear as much as possible, and get it as early in the season as possible, before they start rubbing off all their good winter fur.

As to the general handling of processing bears. Gloves are a great idea, also have something to sharpen or hone your knives. A good practice on general, but I've found bears dull knives much faster than deer. Bear bones are much thicker too, so be prepared for that. Beyond that, the muscle groups and organs are all more or less in the same places. If you intend to keep the liver (Don't know if black bear liver is safe or not due to vitamin A quantities found in other bear livers), be sure to remove the gall bladder. Keeping that is a big no-no.

[walker1985]

Do you need to freeze your bear meat for 30 days before butchering? I've heard it's best to do this, my cousin mentioned something about trichinosis or rigor mortis? I just brought my meat to the butcher 3 hrs after we had loaded it in the truck and it was going to hang in cold temps for a few days and then get butchered. Will this change the taste?

[Hugh Mann]

I have never even heard of freezing the bear for 30 days prior to butchering. With me, it's either been cut and wrap myself, same day/day after or bring to the butcher, where depending on volume, he hangs it for up to a week.

I honestly haven't noticed a taste or texture difference between either one, bears are just damn tasty in general.


As for trich, cook the meat clean through like chicken or pork and you'll be fine.

[Surrey Boy]

My bears are always ground into hamburger and frozen or further processed into sausage.

It's not a premium meat that warrants special care.

[RugDoctor]

Any thoughts on taking belly for bacon? Wouldn’t mind throwing some some on the ole Trager

[albravo2]

Any thoughts on taking belly for bacon? Wouldn’t mind throwing some some on the ole Trager

I've always been curious about this too and wonder if a fall bear would make better bacon.

Pork bacon is one of the top 3 things I make on my Traeger, no matter how much I make I'm always out.

[Arctic Lake]

Okay it used to be the rule to freeze for 30 days to kill Trichinosis, but apparently that is not foolproof and you need to cook it thoroughly like Hugh Mann mentioned . No eating it medium rare or less . If I’m not mistaken Caddids Guy knows quite a bit about the topic !
Arctic Lake

[tigrr]

I have 2 bellies set aside in the freezer to try making bear bacon. I also have 4 hip roasts for making hams. My smoker will be good to go in July. Then it can get hot enough to smoke right. I process next day. It makes no difference how long you wait for bear, deer and moose. It is not tough beef!!

[srupp]

hmm did try bacon from bear..i must of screwed it up...friend tried it loved it..lol i gave all i made to him..
good luck Tiggr
srupp

[CheesyLimper]

It's a different kind of trichinosis from pork. Freezing pork eliminates it, not so with bears.

Okay it used to be the rule to freeze for 30 days to kill Trichinosis, but apparently that is not foolproof and you need to cook it thoroughly like Hugh Mann mentioned . No eating it medium rare or less . If I’m not mistaken Caddids Guy knows quite a bit about the topic !
Arctic Lake

[tdot]

As above, the 30 days doesn't work for bears, only pigs. It also has to be alot colder then a residential freezer will go, it has to be a commercial freezer.

I tried to age a bear a couple of years ago, it was a disaster. The meat was on ice within 4 hours of being shot, in a fridge within 24 hours and after more then a week in the fridge at 1 degree celcius the fat started to go rancid. Meat was fine aging nicely, but ruined by the rancid fat.

[tdot]

I looked into that a few years back. Apparently it doesn't work. But I'm certainly willing to trade some bear for another side of bacon, so you can try it!

[ElectricDyck]

My bears are always ground into hamburger and frozen or further processed into sausage.

It's not a premium meat that warrants special care.

X2 i bring a small freezer with us as well as a small generator, we quarter, leave hang for the night to get rid of some moisture and then put in the freezer with spacing between quarters and keep hunting. When we get home we let it defrost a little and grind all the bears for tacos, spaghetti, burgers, chilli etc...its a fine meat but doesn't lend itself to anything but slow cook or ground because of its toughness. 2 big BC book bears and 1 small one last year gave me a 140 lbs of packaged meat.