Bear meat

[Buck TraX]

heard many people say good meat many say triginosis? parasite infested? spring vs fall.berry fed vs salmon fed. never tried anything but peperoni. is it just location or proximity to garbage dumps.saw quite a few nice looking bears and am considering taking one this year any help much appreciated im all about the meat!

[deer nut]

Bear meat must be thoroughly cooked (just like pork). These parasites cannot be removed once they get into your muscle tissue! Dump bears and salmon bears are inedible. Not a big fan of bear meat myself but many like it - including hams and roasts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichinosis

[bearhunter338-06]

Bear is good for sausage. My next one I will get the hams done.
for a rug you want a spring bear, lard you want a fat fall bear.

[Buck TraX]

so basically steer clear of salmon bearing streams in fall and should be ok for eatin. thanx!

[sherpa-Al]

I mostly hunt bears in high slope berry producing areas in the fall. 2 reasons; one they are easier to bowhunt when distracted by berries and the meat practically smells of berries and 2 I've shot a couple of black bears down near salmon rivers that have been full of worms and parasites, basically inedible. I freeze the raw meat for 3 to 5 months to ensure that it is safe to eat, and then it's off to the peperoni man!

Al.

[emerson]

Bear meat must be thoroughly cooked (just like pork). These parasites cannot be removed once they get into your muscle tissue! Dump bears and salmon bears are inedible. Not a big fan of bear meat myself but many like it - including hams and roasts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichinosis

Salmon bears aren't inedible, just prespiced to taste like...salmon. We got most of a salmon grizzly when I was a kid (not much money in the meat budget and the price was right). Bear meat tastes stronger than most are used to, but as far as organic free range protein when boiled and ground it makes high quality food for your furry family protector(dog). It's also good butchering practice because dogs don't seem to mind a little hair, grass, leaves, or less than perfect cuts.

[Steeleco]

Not that I don't like some good pep made from any wild animal, but to shoot a good bear and not eat a few steaks and roasts is IMO a shame.
In the near 20 bears either myself, my buddy or my son have shot in the last bunch of years, only one was inedible. Stunk so bad the gag reflex was instant, he's the one in my avatar and not lives on my wall!!

If you stay away from rivers and dumps your increasing your odds of getting a good meat bear, we hunt a few spots up the Coq and they've all been good.

Bear meat at my house is the first meat we run out of. Deer, lasts a long time. And my girls are fussy eaters!!!

[Buck TraX]

thanks steelco most of the bears i saw were in boston bar and princeton should be ok east anderson river got salmon ?

[Steeleco]

The first few bears we took we're on the east side of Harrison. They were Sept bears. Now I'm no authority, but as I was on the tops of the hills and there was so much food up there, I doubt those bears even know what a fish is??

They're smart creatures, they're not going to burn more calories than they're going to get by leaving one food source and going to another.

[MuleyMadness]

Bear meat must be thoroughly cooked (just like pork). These parasites cannot be removed once they get into your muscle tissue! Dump bears and salmon bears are inedible. Not a big fan of bear meat myself but many like it - including hams and roasts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichinosis

Yes bear meat has to be thoroughly cooked to ensure it is safe. However if you do become infected it is very treatable, the above about not being able to get them out is completely incorrect. It is more treatable than the standard flu people get...more people die from the flu in Canada every year than die in the entire world from Tric..as a parasite, it is much more treatable than any virus or influenza out there.

Also if you want facts, refer to a real medcial journal, not a wikipedia okay, that is not the place to get the science on ANYTHING.

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/trichinellosis/gen_info/faqs.html

Personally I enjoy bear meat, but only inland or mountain bear. Fish bears taste like fish. Never eaten a garbage bear, but I imagine it tastes like, wait for it...garbage.

Personally I like spring bear because it's so lean, and thus I can control the fat content in what I eat by adding appropriately, but on that aspect, everyone has an opinion.

[pathfinder55]

The kids will all come home if they know that I am making bear stew. I have had nothing but great tasting bears but I also don't hunt near salmon streams.....Peter

[BCBRAD]

Rogers here in PG does an excellant job of bear. We get smokies , pepperoni and Bavarian meat loaf made from it. The bears we get are from the berry patch in the early fall.
Which makes me wonder........ would a 300WSM be better on bear than a 30-06?

[NitwiT]

bears you need minimum 416 rigby, if you don't pack this or better, they can and will eat your offspring.

Took a spring bear last year, missed this year, and am getting ichty to take another. Good roasts outta that one!

[vortex hunter]

thanks steelco most of the bears i saw were in boston bar and princeton should be ok east anderson river got salmon ?


I took a bear last june with a fellow hunting buddy off hear. Our bear was a GREAT meat bear my wife and I ate every single piece of it and she was a sheltered North Van girl who never even knew about hunting till she met me :-D . She like's bear better then deer or moose lol go figure ....... anyways I think if you shoot a bear way the hell out there you would be fine to each there own.....Vortex

[beni]

Question to the bear hunters out there, how long do you hang your bears? If at all? I had some bear and deer pepperoni earlier this year and it was fantastic... hoping to get myself some more come spring =)

[bforce750]

heard many people say good meat many say triginosis? parasite infested? spring vs fall.berry fed vs salmon fed. never tried anything but peperoni. is it just location or proximity to garbage dumps.saw quite a few nice looking bears and am considering taking one this year any help much appreciated im all about the meat!

If you like immitation crab....you will like immitation salmon:-D

[Steeleco]

Question to the bear hunters out there, how long do you hang your bears? If at all? I had some bear and deer pepperoni earlier this year and it was fantastic... hoping to get myself some more come spring =)

Generally I'll only let my bear sit in the cooler till I've the time to cut it. It isn't like moose or other large game that needs to be hung for longer periods. Keep it cool, cut it as soon as you can!

[nano]

How do you go about cutting up a bear? Also do you gut it like a deer?

Thanks
Nano

[Steeleco]

Cut it as you would any other game. I gut mine but many use the gutless method. I'm going to have to try it if I'm successful in the spring?

[nano]

Ok sounds good, Thanks David.