The tastiest Black Bear...West Coast or Prince George, which one would you take?

[Junmity]

I'm heading over to Ucluelet in September and was thinking of going for a black bear. They are plentiful there but I'm worried that the Salmon are so plentiful that they may end up feeding on spawning salmon and taste fishy.... (is that a myth?)

In the end of September I'm going on a hunt west of Prince George and we are there for a couple weeks regardless so I thought I could wait and take a black bear from there. I'm guessing that the salmon dont run that far inland and they are probably feeding on berries.

would really appreciate any advice you could give,

Thanks,

[lorneparker1]

Definitely not a myth. I would not shoot a black bear unless hes up high on the west coast in sept - nov

Lorne

[Wade]

The island bear will probley be bigger if your lookin for a rug, but the pg bear should taste better

[Amphibious]

Higher cutblocks, find the berries, and you'll find a tasty ditch pig. If you start seeing purple poo, you know you're in fine eating bear country.

as for salmon... I've dove with springs and sockeye an hour east of PG.

[Junmity]

Thanks for the quick reply! I was watching an episode of meat eater with Steve Rinella and he took a bear in south central Alaska and that thing looked damn tasty. I never really thought to take a bear for meat but after a bit of research and a pile of people on youtube gushing over it, I've decided to go for it!

Now I just want to make sure I get the tastiest one I can find. I know once I take it, I'll be compelled to consume the whole thing as the guilt I would feel over wasting the meat be would worse than the displeasure of eating fishy meat.....

I can always make pepperoni i guess but if I can improve my chances of getting a good tasting bear from the start with the advice of seasoned hunters, I'd rather start there.

Thanks Again!!

[Ryan Olson]

There are so many berries up in the high timber on the west coast, you could get a large tasty bear. Down low would be a good chance of a fishy bear. PG would tase good but be smaller.

[r106]

If you were to process the whole bear into peperoni or sausage would it matter?

I would go for a VI bear as it's world renowned for big bears and with the cost of ferries and travel why not kill to birds with one stone. Or if you never got a spring bear go get one from each place and let us know if you can taste a difference

[Junmity]

Great info!

I know of some high ground I could scout around for that purple poo on the west coast, think I'll give that a try and report back!

I wasn't planning on processing the whole bear into pepperoni and sausage, I just meant that if it were fishy tasting, I could always salvage it by making sausage.

My thinking was that since there was soooo much salmon coming into the coast that the salmon would be irresistible and therefore a bit fishy....

but since the consensus is:

fishy food = fishy meat is no myth!
deep inland doesnt = no salmon
high country and purple poo = tasty bear

This will be my first bear so maybe I will try both areas and report back!

Any bear hunting advice / processing / jerky / peperoni recipes (just in case) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again!

[steel_ram]

Interior bears taste better. I've taken Island bears a long ways from salmon streams and they still were not as good as a region 7 bear,

[Big Lew]

Poor berry years often relates to less tasty bears. As was said, blue poop is normally good....orange or light coloured, not so good.

[sawmill]

Anywhere on the Skeena,Bulkley or any river that hooks up to them,....NO.Salmon season.You will see lots of nice bears but that`s cause the food (salmon)are there.Don`t eat them.Or if you do,cook them in the guy down the streets yard.Downwind.

[BromBones]

Eating burger tonight from a Skeena black bear - pretty good stuff! Shot in the spring though.

Good bear meat is pretty neutral in flavour and takes on the taste of whatever you cook it with really well. The best burger patties I've ever head are lean black bear meat (clean from any sinew, just pure meat) mixed with ground bacon. Really good stuff.

[Cherylgrono]

I live on Vancouver island and i got a spring bear in May. As we were cutting and wrapping we threw a piece on the bbq to try it out and it tasted just like beef steak. I shot it about 50 yards from the Quinsam River. It is the tastiest bear we have gotten so far and 300 lbs. So really its all up to whether you have a tag for deer as well. The deer are bigger in PG but i think the bears here are better. Good luck!!

[Dhegg]

My wife and I are in love with bear meat and with 3 young hunters coming up it doesn't last long. In fact, the bear is usually the first to disappear. Up here in region 7, we try our best to tag out each year to keep the stock up. I would suggest finding a good butcher that will process the meat for you into smokies, sausages, and pepperoni. If you get a nice large fall boar go for a ham or two. I'm almost ashamed to say that these hams for thanksgiving dinner are better than Moms! Good luck to you!!

[Bowzone_Mikey]

ummm buy 2 tags ... and shoot one of each...

[steel_ram]

Do any of you guys that eat Coastal bears ever get the urge to drag your backsides on the carpet?