Who's a bear hunter?

[BillinOregon]

I got a bear tag in my Oregon hunting license package this year, and while I might not specifically seek out a bear, if I see one during the season I may take it. Only thing hanging me up is using the critter once bagged. I can have the skin or robe tanned, and would save the skull, tendons/sinews, claws and some of the bone. Of course, I would save all the fat to render for bear oil -- which I prize above all other parts. But my sense is that bears vary a lot as to edibility depending on age and diet. Not sure I want 150 pounds of bear sausage. How else do you guys use up/cook your bears?

 

[biliff]

Last two bears I shot out in the Wallowas made good roasts, steaks and meatloaf. Just make sure you cook 'em well done due to the possibility of trichinosis.

 

[flintlock75]

Edibility depends on time of year taken and what its been eating. Spring bear is the best eating and usually more tender. Fall bear can be good as long as it has not been eating fish. When you gut them open the smell will tell you if you want to eat it or not.I had a fall bear once that had been eating salmon. the meat smelled so bad when cooked the dogs would not eat it.The spring bears have all been pretty good eating.

 

[crockett]

I had a spring bear that wasn't so good and someone said the fall bear that's putting on weight is better as long as it is not eating fish.

That said, the ribs were still good, same as beef IMHO. The shoulder wasn't all that great. I cooked it into shreds and added BBQ sauce and it wasn't too bad.

There's all kinds of options with a bear. A rug is nice but where do you put it? Mounting the head is a good option. The head mount will take a lot of the front of the animal. Keep the skull as another trophy- most taxidermists use fake plastic skulls and teeth. Save the claws. Keep the rest of the hide/fur for other projects.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Soak the meat in water with salt in it for several hours. Change the water when it turns red. As you pull the blood out of the meat, you also remove the foreign taste in it- be it fish, or whatever.

I learned to do this when I killed my first deer down in the Shawnee National Forest, where the deer were eating pine nuts. Not very sweet tasting, or smelling meat, compared to the corn fed deer I killed later up here in Central Illinois. I had been warned that deer killed in the Shawnee would be strong tasting. My mother-in-law had worked as a bookkeeper in a small meat packing plant outside South Haven, Michigan for 16 years, and she knew what to do.

I soaked the meat in my kitch sink, filled with water, and some salt added. It drew out the blood,and with it,the smell, and the bad sharp taste of the pine.

By the time we got around to eating it( I made venison burgers the next day, and sausage the day after that), with steak, shops, roasts, and cubed meat for chili and stroganoff, later) there was no more odor of pine or taste of it, either. We were all pleasantly surprised.

I did soak the meat in plain rinse water after draining off the salt water and blood, for the same length of time to get the salt out of the meat, too.

 

[blacksmithman64]

I will flat eat bear roast before venison and M&M's!

 

[BillinOregon]

Thanks for all the tips, guys.
Bakeoven: That's some mighty handsome country in the Wallowas. Been too long since I was among 'em.
Stumblin Wolf: Got a special way you cook yours?
Paul: Salt bath sounds like a pious idea.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Bill: Some people prefer to draw the blood out using vinegar, rather than salt. Either way, unless you want to have the meat taste like vinegar, or salt, respectively, I think you need to " rinse" the meat in clean cold water for at least the same length of time as the meat sat in the salt or vinegar baths, to draw out the salt and vinegar.

In reality, I like the strong taste of bloody meat. But, most of my family and guests have lived so long eating plastic wrapped meat, that is bled out within seconds of the animal being killed that they think the strong bloody taste is " Gamey".

Gamey taste is spoiled meat, because it was not processed properly, and was allowed to spoil between the kill site, and the table. Period. Meat that is left with its blood in it- and dark red for that reason- is not "Gamey", unless it has also been allowed to spoil.

Because people don't like bloody meat these days, I tell people how to get the blood out of game so that its taste is similar to what people are used to eating that is bought in grocery stores.

What I found, however, in doing this blood drawing, from my mother-in-law's suggestion, and from actual experience, was that with the blood goes the smell and taste of whatever the animal was eating, by and large.

When I had an Old CANADA Goose to cook one time, and it smelled of river mud, frankly, I went ahead and put my process to the test. It worked. The meat was tougher than I would have liked, because the bird was so old, but the flavor was missing the smell and taste of "mud".

 

[Greenmtnboy]

I killed a big bore in 96,
I mixed my ground meat with elk because of how fatty it was.
I roasted both hind quarters on the bone and it was VERY!!! good with the right marinade.
I also would never eat a spring bear after they had been basically starving for the last four to five months in hibernation.
A fall bear IMHO is the best eating and the fattest.
Remember a black bear is 98 percent herbivore like a elk but with claws.
When prepared right it is very good.
Also the two bears I killed (one black one brown) both double lunged took a wile to die.
Their heart rate is slower than your average big game animal so a back up gun IMHO is a must!
I shot my black bear after a two hour low crawl at point blank range in the chest with a 50cal 370grn conicle and 120 grns of ffg goex.
It hit the gound doing the Tazmainian devil not ten feet from me.
I now know I can sprint a 10 second 100 yrd dash backwards.
:shocked2:
Like I said a back gun up is absolute nessary when hunting with blk powder.

 

[BillinOregon]

Greenmountainboy:
That's a big point for the Kodiak double-barrel percussion rifle. A .58-caliber right and left should be pretty serious medicine.

 

[biliff]

Bakeoven: That's some mighty handsome country in the Wallowas. Been too long since I was among 'em

Ran into a F&W biologist in Joseph that described the canyon I was hunting in as a "snake infested hellhole." But I have to admit, it was a scenic snake infested hellhole.

 

[longcruise]

described the canyon I was hunting in as a "snake infested hellhole."

Heh, Heh. I give similar disparaging descriptions of my favorite places. :haha:

 

[Flint311]

I've got 3 over the years (between 196 & 500 Lbs.). The lighter ones were better tastin'. I think I have to learn to cook better :redface: . Save some of the bones for knife handles. Like: wrist bone for a large ball end knife handle. The hip bone for a flatter, but flared, handle. If you shoot 'em in the lungs/heart, they go down quickly. Good luck! It makes for fun huntin', especially when they're an extra tag in the pocket. Get the fat off, not just for rendering.

 

[dgold]

I plan to try this next fall. It might work with bear. http://www.wildeats.com/journal/?p=17

 

[paulvallandigham]

Bill, this is pretty much what I have been doing with venison, and other game for years. I just didn't know the process was called " Dry-Aging". I bone out the meat, then soak it in water with salt to draw out as much blood as I can. Then I soak it in rinse water to pull out more blood and the salt. Then after inspecting the meat and removing any fur, or connecting tissue, I pat them dry and put them dry in bowls and pots in my refrigerators, covered, where they remain for a week, aging. I wipe down and dry the meat, and then wash out the containers and dry them before putting the meat back in the bowls and pots twice a day during that week. If I had wire racks for all my pots and bowls, I would keep the meat from sitting in draining blood, as recommended. But I don't. That is why I clean everything every morning before going to work, and every evening when I come home from work. I believe I get the same result. I made the mistake of eating an old goose too soon, rather than aging it as usual for a week. It was a tough old bird. Good flavor, but tought!

Good link. Thank you for it. Paul :thumbsup:

 

[dgold]

Bill, this is pretty much what I have been doing with venison, and other game for years. I just didn't know the process was called " Dry-Aging". I bone out the meat, then soak it in water with salt to draw out as much blood as I can. Then I soak it in rinse water to pull out more blood and the salt. Then after inspecting the meat and removing any fur, or connecting tissue, I pat them dry and put them dry in bowls and pots in my refrigerators, covered, where they remain for a week, aging. I wipe down and dry the meat, and then wash out the containers and dry them before putting the meat back in the bowls and pots twice a day during that week. If I had wire racks for all my pots and bowls, I would keep the meat from sitting in draining blood, as recommended. But I don't. That is why I clean everything every morning before going to work, and every evening when I come home from work. I believe I get the same result. I made the mistake of eating an old goose too soon, rather than aging it as usual for a week. It was a tough old bird. Good flavor, but tought!

Good link. Thank you for it. Paul :thumbsup:

Now all I need is a successful hunt when fall rolls about :v

 

[MercerLake]

:v I have had the rumps cured as "Ham" also the rib meat cured as Bacon. Tasted very good! The hams had a deep purple hue kind of like a huge beet and were sweet. You are to be commended for trying to utilize all possible from the animal. :v

 

[Ron LaClair]

I'll take bear roast over ANY other roast. I've had both spring and fall bears and they ARE delicious. The main thing with a bear unlike deer is to get it skinned and on ice as soon as possible. Bear meat is a fine grain sweet but delicate meat that will sour quickly if not taken care of ASAP.

 

[Bud Jenks]

My cousin got a 200# sow first period mid sept. in Michigan UP last year the first bear that we have harvested. Two days later when I got there he had it in the freezer but saved steaks for the grill and breakfast. I've had moose,elk,antelope, and venison , this bear was some the best wild game I have eaten. We had more bear roast and chops during deer season with the same result would favor it over other wild game for sure. This was a younger bear and he took most of the fat off when processing for the freezer and wasn't over cooked during preparation the meat was tender and sweet.
The only down side was he didn't save the fat for me.

 

[texcl]

My buddy and I hunt in N/W minnesota the first 2 weeks of season, and sometimes you'll have 7+ bears wandering around your stand, we get 2 bears per season on one application, for $200 ($39 for residents)it's a really good deal. But you have to put in many many hours of scouting, it's actually the most work I've done hunting. Last year my partner wanted to shoot one with his bow so we focused on that, it was interesting to say the least, he shot the bear with a good shot but he jumped at the shot and moved his leg back causing the arrow to penitrate the shoulder blade, he left it to bleed out went back to pick it up to find a really pi...d off bear. Shot it with a load of buck shot hat put it down,you hear about people being charged by black bear and I always thought they were full of it, guess not. This year I'm using my .58cal virginia rifle, then my bow with either my .62 fusil or a 10ga. fowler (if I have it built by then)with a round ball as my back-up arm. We hunt in pairs now with a primary hunter and a filmer/back-up shooter. Hopefully we'll get some good footage of our 1st blackpowder bears.