First day out for bear!

[zimbu]

Well, I finally made it out for some bear hunting on May long monday. Saw about a three hundred pound cinnamon in the first twenty minutes but it turned tail and ran before I could get a shot. Carried on and saw a couple moose, twenty mulies, and another bear but he was too small.
I did some plinking with a new rifle for a bit, and then headed home. Got about two minutes down the road and spotted this furry fella. I put a .270win 130gr SST into his chest with the Tikka at 134yd. He dropped in his tracks and rolled twice. I didn't measure exactly but he was about 5 or 5 1/2 feet and 280lb. Not huge but for a first bear I'm happy.:-D
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss12/zimbubert/IMG_1133-1.jpg
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss12/zimbubert/IMG_1134-1.jpg

[Derp]

nice bear, great color, congrats!!

[Archer]

Sweet color on that guy... Very nice!

[BCBear]

lots guys dropping browns this year...nice bruin indeed

[BiG Boar]

Nice bear! Congradulations!!! Way to put the brown down! I have yet to shoot a color phase. What a beauty! Meat bear? Or will u mount it also?

[guest]

Beauty of a color, lucky you and congrats too!

CT

[JDR]

Great looking bear, Zimbu. Congrats!!

[Rackmastr]

Congrats! Nice color on that guy!

[cloverphil]

nice looking bear, congrats

[srupp]

Bigbore 14 ..thats kind of a personal question dont you think????oops..

Nice color bear..actually 280 # spring black bear is a big bear...and especially if only 5 feet....

cheers
Steven

[whitetailsheds]

Yep, like that color....nice bear, congrats! Rug? Half mount?

[kastles]

Beaut color. Congrats on the first

[cavebear]

make a very nice rug:-D

[hunter1947]

Way to go on getting what you wanted ,thats a very nice colored bear ,congrats ..

[Caribou_lou]

Looks like a great bear to me. Those are some beautiful claws on him. Very long compared to most Blacks.

[fester]

nice bear good job

[landphil]

Nice bear! Sausage on the menu?

[zimbu]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I've never eaten bear before so this will be a first. Four roasts, some ribs, a little stew meat and the rest is burger, mostly for pepperoni. I'd like to try tanning the hide myself even if it just ends up being a practice run. I have to do some research on the process so for now I scraped most of the fat off, gave it a good wash with the garden hose, salted it, and hung it up to dry before I freeze it.

The inlaws have got my wife all worried about trichinosis.:evil: I told her it isn't a problem as long as it's thoroughly cooked. I am wondering about the pepperoni though. Does it get cooked/smoked hot enough to kill the little buggers?

[Rattler]

Beauty bear....congrats!

[Schutzen]

Yep
is it just me or are there more colour phase bears around now?
Good for u Zimbu its a beauty bear u got there.

[houndogger]

Nice bear! If you have salted don't freeze!

[zimbu]

Nice bear! If you have salted don't freeze!
What happens if you salt it and then freeze it. I'm curious cause it has been salted and I just stuck it in the freezer a short time ago so it's not frozen yet. What's the best way to store it until I can do something with it? I separated the hind paws and head in the rush to deal with the meat. Is it still possible to make a nice rug out of it by stitching them back on? I'm not sure if I'll do a rug with or without the head yet.

BTW I finally measured the hide and head together. 6 feet on the dot! I guess he's bigger than I originally thought.:-D

Had some bearburger soup tonight. Great meat and the flavour is more mild than venison.

[Dad and son]

If you like steak considere making some bear steaks, they are some of my favourite steaks. You can get your meat tested for trichinosis. There are old postings on here about the testing and about smoking bear meat which you can look up.

[zimbu]

My wife cooked up one of the roasts in the slow cooker for dinner tonite. She used her usual horse radish crust recipe and wow, that is good meat!

Cut it with your fork, melt in your mouth tender. I honestly don't think I could tell the difference between bear and beef, except that bear is more tender.:-D
Wife likes bear better than moose. I just might have to try for another...

[lostindian]

sweet looking bear nice job!

[Phil]

Great colour on that bear. Nicely done!

[brandonhunter]

Thats a nice bear for a first, I still have yet to get my first bear!