Max hang time for a bear?

[russm]

I'm going to be going out Saturday to hopefully get a bear, I'm worried that if I do no butchers will be open on Sunday or Monday, and I'd have to be at work until Tuesday afternoon, what I'm wondering is how long can I get away with hanging it for before its no good, I don't have a cooler but I can keep it in a fairly cool garage.

[mr7mm]

best is too keep chest cavity open and cool as you can and i would use black pepper on the meat and wrap very well in cheese cloth. be sure to keep a fly swatter handy if you have any blow flies good luck!!!

[steel_ram]

I doubt your garage is cool enough or fly resistant enough for this time of year. You have to deal with the meat pretty quick.

[Steeleco]

Got a beer fridge? Cut the limbs off and de-bone the ribs. Will all fit in a fridge if done right. Send me an e-mail to steeleco@gmail.com I'll send you the list of cutters tonight. Call a few locals and see who is open before you leave!

[BCKyle]

Things are hot around the OKanagan, where I am... I am putting together a little 4-sided box of rigid foam insulation that will fit around the front of my freezer. Then I plan on cracking the lid and it will cool the whole works down as long as I keep the edges/joins sealed. Won't be nearly as cold or efficient as a freezer but I figure I should be able to maintain at least a safe overnight/day or two temperature if I have quarters hung or on milk crates in there.

Just a thought. 30 degree days mean I will be seriously rushing if I get a bear on the ground!

[Ron.C]

Like steeleco said, an old beer fridge works great. If you don't have one, boned out and whole bear quarters are not very big and simply getting them on ice in a cooler will suffice to cool the meat down and keep it good and cool for a couple days. I use one of the large igloo coolers from Costco. Can get a whole bear plus 8 blocks of ice in there. Just make sure you crack the lid for the first while to let the humidity escape. And keep the meat out of water accumulating at the bottom of the cooler. Easiest way to do this is keep your ice double bagged, and keep the drain open a tad. Easy system that you can bring along with you on your hunt.

[hunterdon]

A few years back I started using a chest type freezer for early fall bear season, or spring bear. I went to my local landfill and spoke with the caretaker there and she suggested she would give me a call if someone wants to drop off an older freezer. A few days later, she called me with a contact number which I called and was given 2 freezers for free. Turns out they were not in bad shape and worked great.

I set the thermostat on the freezer to it's warmest setting and it kept the inside temperature steady between minus 2 and plus 2 degrees C. Kept my bears in there for 3 days. Worked fantastic. I now don't worry at all about warm weather hunting, even with deer or whatever.

[russm]

I wish I had the option of a freezer/cooler set up but I live in an apartment, I was going to occupy my dads garage since he's out of town lol, maybe I'll debone and cooler it or do some fishing instead.

[Blktail]

If you get a bear, bone it out, remove all fat, lymph, nerve and blood vessels. Put it in the fridge until you have time to process it. You don't need a butcher except for ground meat and sausage. Big pieces of meat are roasts. Small tender pieces are stew. The rest are ground. Simple. Eat it fast or it will go wild on you in 3-6 months, sooner if not boned and cleaned of gype. That is unless you like gamey meat.

[Steeleco]

Eat it fast or it will go wild on you in 3-6 months, sooner if not boned and cleaned of gype. That is unless you like gamey meat.

On this point I must disagree. I've got bear in my freezer that was taken in Oct 2011 that I'm still eating. Not a thing wrong with it. Only ever had one bear we couldn't eat, but we knew that shortly after we walked up to it.

[Blktail]

On this point I must disagree. I've got bear in my freezer that was taken in Oct 2011 that I'm still eating. Not a thing wrong with it. Only ever had one bear we couldn't eat, but we knew that shortly after we walked up to it.
I don't much like bear fresh. My palate likes it less as time passes.
I stand by my butchering method. For any game.