Understanding bear hunting.

[silvergts1998]

Do you guys eat the bear meat? Or do you just shoot them and leave em?

I was talking to a friend of mine and he and his father are going bear hunting in Alaska. He said they are going bear hunting and they are going to shoot a bear and then they will just leave it for the wild life out there. Something about that didn't sit right for me. In fact it kind of made me a little angry. I hope they don't see any bears when they go out. Maybe I am missing something here about bear hunting?

[Bowhunters]

I've never hunted Bear but from what I understand if its warm out (50's-60's) when its killed the meat can go bad extreemly quickly due to its extreemly high fat content.

Bear meat is greasy and has a fat that can liquify and turn rancid with in just a couple hours if you don't have a cold mountain stream or coolers with ice to keep the meat cold.

I've eaten some bear meat and most would probably agree its best in like a stew or chili or that type of dish, if its a bear steak the fat will cook out quickly and the steak will be dry and not very good but with todays injectible marinades that could probably help quite a bit.

So if they made a kill in an area and then found they had no cold running stream or way to cool down the meat then there's little they could do but leave the meat for the animals and it would get cleaned up by other bear and coyotes, etc.

So once the bear meat is turning rancid there's no point in carrying it out.

[silvergts1998]

So why hunt them? I guess if they are a nuisance I can understand that.

[Bowhunters]

Well if you hunt where there are cold clean streams or you have coolers you can save most of the meat and it can be pretty good eating if cooked in the right dishes.

I agree with you that I have a problem if someone went bear hunting and intended to leave the meat, that I am against also no matter what the animal.

[silvergts1998]

yeah, Don't get me wrong..I love to hunt, but not just to kill because I can. Just didn't seem right.

[Bowhunters]

I hear you bud.

[Tony204ing]

I know of alot of people who only hunt bear for the trophy because of the meat not being very desireable.This seems to be the case with most people i know that go on a paid hunt somewhere.However a couple of years ago i was Elk/deer/bear/cat hunting out west.I guess i should just call that hunting.Anyway we would come across a dead bear every now and again.According to the locals out there the black bears are a serious problem with killing elk calves.Its not exactly legal but no one out there was scared to express thier opinion on how they control the problem.

I my self wouldnt kill a bear to leave it lay.But then again they dont effect my livliehood either.You put anyone in the right sittuation and they will do something that may seem o.k to them but not to others.I'm not at all condoning this but i can understand it.As for your friend who traveled and payed to do this.I dont think thats cool.

[mm614]

It's called hunting for a reason. It's not called killing. I love the hunt and even the adrenalin of the killing shot. Don't get me wrong after that it becomes ALOT less enjoyable; the gutting, hauling, hanging, skinning and processing but hey with the right party even that can be jazzed up a bit so even though it's not fun it's not too bad either. If they are planning a hunt then they can plan to have the supplies that they need to handle the retrieval. If I knew anyone like this I'd give them a real hard time. It isn't cool! It makes the rest of us look like a bunch monsters who just want to kill things. Just as bad as poachers who are in it for the money. Look at the American Buffalo herds that were butchered just for the sport of taking a shot. That decimated the population and did almost as much damage to the natives as settlers. I'll NEVER be able to go hunting free range buffalo in the great plains because someone just wanted to shoot them and leave the body. And no one said anything about it to them. Say what you want to him but tell your buddy I said he's a tool and people like him don't deserve to called a hunter!

[mm614]

I got off on a rant and completely forgot to say bear meat is fine I've had in most kinds of recipes. Though steaks aren't going to be premium like anything else it all comes down to how it's handled and prepared from the second before you take the shot to the second after you put on the dinner plate.

[bearhunter01]

I hunt bear in NC and bear meat if handled right and cooked right can be a very fine pieace of meat.When cleaning the bear you must remove as much fat as possible.The fat is not like beef fat it will make the meat very bad tasting.I do all of my bear cooking on the grill on a low flame slow cook. Rubs or marinades or good.I had a cook out a few weeks ago and cooked up some deer and bear backstrap.I had deer left over and people wanting more bear.I also dont like the idea of killing a bear or any animal and just leave it.That is not hunting thats just killing.If you cant handle the requirements of the hunt to get the animal out and processed then dont kill it take a pic. instead.Just my .02

[Runner]

I have lived in Alaska and I know one thing for sure.......If you kill any game or even fish in Alaska and do not use the meat or purposely waste it, you'll be arrested and charged, It's called "wanton waste" and in Alaska, they take it very seriously, and justifiably so!

-Runner

[cjg]

Every time I shoot a bear, I get it in my head when I'm butchering it I'm not going to like it, I guess because it's so dark or greasy, but I'm careful when butchering to get all the fat off and I eat it because I shot it and it really is pretty good.

[Runner]

I love bear meat but I'm also fussy about what I shoot too. We avoid all the really large, mature boars,...for the same reason I wouldn't care to eat an "uncut" boar hog or pig. It can get a pretty nasty aftertaste, no doubt due to the high levels of testosterone in it. So sows without cubs and younger males are what we are after, generally bears that dress-out at 125-175 pounds. To me it tastes like very mild beef. We even render down the fat and make our own lard from it. French chefs will pay a fortune for properly prepared black bear lard, by the way. It makes the flakiest pastries and is absolutely fantastic, mixed 50/50 with shortening for cookies. I like it just for frying up eggs. Smells almost exactly like bacon grease when cooking. Just remember bear needs to be cooked well done, due to the possibility of certain parasites (like trichina). It also can be used to waterproof leather or as an excellent "natural lube" for muzzleloaders! A hearty bear stew on a cold winter night, or when out ice fishing, is hard to top!

-Runner

[moltogordo]

Bear meat is excellent. I'm an opinionated SOB as you'll find out, but I put it ahead of mule deer but behind moose.

I'ts texture is a bit grainy, so I burger or stew the buld of the meat, and grill or fry only the backstrap chops and tenderloin, and roast only the most tender areas from the rear quarters.

Good bear tastes surprisingly like beef (not pork, as is commonly thought, at least in my area.) It is FANTASTIC corned. If you like corned beef, you'll love corned bear. Bad bear (avoid spawning runs or you'll be sorry) is not so good, but can be fixed with Habanero peppers and curry.

I took my trophy bears early on, so in the past 20 years or so, look for bears in the 185 pound range.

[bearhunter01]

Bear meat is excellent. I'm an opinionated SOB as you'll find out, but I put it ahead of mule deer but behind moose.

I'ts texture is a bit grainy, so I burger or stew the buld of the meat, and grill or fry only the backstrap chops and tenderloin, and roast only the most tender areas from the rear quarters.

Good bear tastes surprisingly like beef (not pork, as is commonly thought, at least in my area.) It is FANTASTIC corned. If you like corned beef, you'll love corned bear. Bad bear (avoid spawning runs or you'll be sorry) is not so good, but can be fixed with Habanero peppers and curry.

I took my trophy bears early on, so in the past 20 years or so, look for bears in the 185 pound range.

Do you add any beef fat to your bear when making burger? Is so how much per pound of meat?

[moltogordo]

I do add fat to my burger meat. I like a ratio of 60/40 or 70/30 meat to fat, and I use pork fat, or if the bear has been eating berries, 60/40 pork fat to bear fat.

I usually, however, render the bearfat down into lard. It makes (and is quite famous for) excellent pie crusts.

(sorry for the late reply - I've been on a business trip and since returning the first week of January, have been ultra disorganized!!!

[SGT. D]

Tough subject Same as hunting high fences We have to try an remember that there are hunters, trophy hunters and people who enjoy hunting in a high fenced area. We shouldn't be concerned with what other hunters may be doing providing it's with in the law. As long as the laws aren't broken then who are we to condemn others. They have to live with how they are hunting or call hunting or where they hunt. IMHO

[brush buster]

I have killed a few bear and eaten them. The meat is very good (very similar to beef) if you trim the fat. They will spoil quickly if you don't get the hide off and the entrails out quickly; but if you do take care of it quickly the meat is excellent. I like it best in roasts (cooked in broth in a crock pot) but if it is not cooked with some type of moisture it is very dry. hope this shed some light for you.

[chris lavoie]

Some provinces allow a successfull bear hunter to discard the bear meat, such as Sask. In Ontario the law states "you must not allow bear meat to go to waste".

[bearhunter01]

IMO,no hunter of any type should discard the meat.If a person only hunts for antlers ot trophy mount they should atleast give the meat to somebody or place that would use it.All a person has to do is ask and it wouldnt take long to find a person or familiy that could use the meat.I take atleast one deer a season to give to a needy familiy,And they or very thankfull for it.This goes for anything taken bear,deer,hog,etc. There is nothing wrong with taking a trophy 'head' 'antlers' etc as long as the animal is not left to rot or be buzzard food.Backstrapping an animal is something I truley hate to see.I cant tell you how many carcusass I have come across over the years that the head and backstraps were the only thing taken. What a waste.Stuff like that is exactly what groups like PETA love to find out about.Gives them more stuff to to say about how bad hunters or and try to have or great hunting heritage and sport regulated even more or taken away altogeather.Sorry for getting on my soapbox but this is a subject I can get really going on

[Runner]

Amen to that....
-Runner

[Canadian Black Bears]

I have been hunting bears for the past 8 years and the meat is absolutely fantatstic. A bear is like any animal, you have to take care of it immediately after killing it. You must remove the cape as soon as possible and take every ounce of fat off it you can prior to taking to the butchers. I always wrap it myself, scrape the meat and trim the fat again prior to packaging. People who hunt this majestic animals and just take the cape, paws, and head, leaving the rest to rot, should be shot themselves. If you shoot a bear the rule of hunting says you have to eat it. Here is a great recipie for cooking bear meat...

This is a must try for everyone if you get the opportunity to try bear meat.

- Ensure all fat is trimmed off the steaks and scrape the steak with a sharp knife to remove any fat residue.

- Using approximately 4 lbs of steak, cut it in cubes, and again cut any excess fat away from the meat and de-bone the steak.

- Take 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon onion powder, and 1/2 cup of worchestershire sauce and mix all together.

Put the meat in a bowl, put the mixtures in with the meat, and ensure evenly distibuted throughout the cubes of meat. Cover and keep refridgerated a minimum 12 hours. Ensure frying pan is hot with a small amount of oil added prior to putting the mixture in it. Stir fry for approximately 5 minutes adding mushrooms, onions, and green peppers. The end result delicious!!