Bear Meat?

[kickemall]

If the temps are as low as you said, providing you handle it properly, the meat will be fine for four or five days but obviously the sooner you get it out the better. Bear meat taste is definitely affected by what they have been eating. If they're on apples, acorns, berries or manzanita (which in B6 that time of year they will be looking for acorns if there are any) they should taste great. If they've been on fish (especially when its late and they're scrounging rotten fish) or eating most any rotting meat they tend to be disgusting and inedible, at least to me. If your butchering them and not making sausage then fat sows are hands down the best and yearling boars next (up to you if you want to kill sows). I don't care for older boars but for sausage and pepperoni they're o.k. On the right bear I really like roasts and steaks as well as the ribs. You can also have the hams smoked like pork and its damn good. As mentioned above canned, sausage and pepperoni sticks are great. Taylors in Cave Junction, Or. has the best reputation for pepperoni sticks but they are pricey. There is a guy in Mad River on Hwy. 36 that does a good job too.
Since you mentioned you've never hunted them I'll pass this along - find the feed, find the bears. Bear will travel an awful lot of miles to find feed if they have to. In the fall they will be looking for acorns, preferably white oaks or live oaks but others if they can't find those. Rarely will they eat black oak acorns. Just because an area holds lots of bears in the spring or summer means nothing come fall because the feed source changes. Have fun and good luck!

Dave

 

[fillthefreezer]

both of our spring bears from this year are delicious. a little tough but pounded or slow cooked, TASTY! really wanting to pressure cook some and plan to make some jerky, sausage and burger just havent had the time

 

[30338]

Got my first bear last fall and rendered 6 quarts of bear lard off of it. I imagine I could have gotten at least 20 quarts but wanted to test it first. My family has really enjoyed biscuits, cookies and pie crusts made with it. That bear was eating acorns and berries and had great fat on it. Family also enjoys canned venison and need to try and can some of next bear for sure.

 

[Hunt'nFish]

All the fall bear I've shot have been hitting the berries hard. Last one I took out of a huckleberry patch, others were on thimble & blackberries. Another was on mullberries. All ate just fine.

Canning is super easy. Lots of good info on Utube. And canners are found cheap at Goodwill & other charity thrift stores.... the Red, White & Blue store (Vietnam Vets charity) has treated me well on canners. I now save all my spegeatti & alfrado jars for reuse. I'm getting 3 uses out of the lids before I have issues sealing. Course std canning jars are the mainstay. For me it's all about freeing up freezer space, the fact that canned meat is the bomb is simply a plus.
Hunt'nFish

 

[fillthefreezer]

made a bear steak last night, so good! garlic salt, coarse pepper, splash of worch and a dash of onion powder. hot cast iron greased with olive oil. side of asparagus. got a roast thawing right now as well.

 

[Becca]

All the fall bear I've shot have been hitting the berries hard. Last one I took out of a huckleberry patch, others were on thimble & blackberries. Another was on mullberries. All ate just fine.

Canning is super easy. Lots of good info on Utube. And canners are found cheap at Goodwill & other charity thrift stores.... the Red, White & Blue store (Vietnam Vets charity) has treated me well on canners. I now save all my spegeatti & alfrado jars for reuse. I'm getting 3 uses out of the lids before I have issues sealing. Course std canning jars are the mainstay. For me it's all about freeing up freezer space, the fact that canned meat is the bomb is simply a plus.
Hunt'nFish

Glad you are having such an awesome time pressure canning! Be really careful reusing jars and lids. My understanding is that commercial jars like the ones spaghetti or Alfredo sauce come in are not always of the correct glass quality/thickness to be safe for home pressure canning. If the thickness of the glass interferes with the canners ability to adequately heat the food inside to the proper temperature for the required length of time, the food inside can contain unsafe bacteria. If the glass is too thin, it may be prone to fracture during the canning process which ruins your product and makes a real mess inside the canner.

Also, standard canning lids are not intended for more than one use, and doing so is likely to lead to seal failure over time, even if they seem to seal right when you can with them. There are some reuseable lids available (here is a link:http://www.reusablecanninglids.com/) but they are a bit more expensive.


Certainly not trying to be a naysayer, I just know how much hardwork goes into pressure canning. I would hate to see you lose your hard earned canned goods, or worse make yourself or someone else sick.

 

[Shrek]

I've never hunted bears because I had heard bad things about the taste but reading this makes me want to try. I really should have known better as many people say venison is strong tasting and tough and I eat it seven days a week and beef tastes bland and greasy to me.

 

[Rizzy]

I harvested a California black bear in 2008. As I was breaking it down I thought the meat smelled terrible and made the decision to turn the whole thing into salami. The bear salami was just as good as deer salami. But I have to be honest here, salami is good no matter what you make it out of

 

[fillthefreezer]

I harvested a California black bear in 2008. As I was breaking it down I thought the meat smelled terrible and made the decision to turn the whole thing into salami. The bear salami was just as good as deer salami. But I have to be honest here, salami is good no matter what you make it out of

our bear meat smells terrible as well but tastes great

 

[ebhegele]

I was having this discussion yesterday with rig workers. Bear back strap tastes like a good medium quality ny strip!!!

I love it!

 

[Stid2677]

I have heard that with bear meat, it is crucial to get it cooled down and on top of some ice promptly. More so than with venison or pork that is....
Would a bear shot on day one of a 4-5 day hunt, with roughly 20-35 degree night time temps cut the hunt short?

I routinely keep bear meat every spring for several days in the temps you describe, I hang it in game bags in the shade just like any other meat.


If you have ever heard the saying you are what you eat??? Well, that is the case with bears, if they stink when you walk up to the they will be nasty to eat. That is my experience. Bears on garbage or fish have been inedible in my experience.

Spring bears and fall berry bears are my favorite and they tend to be fine table fare. I eat the backstraps like any game meat, keep the meat on the rear legs for roast, steaks and smoked ham. The fronts and trim is ground and make into sausage or hot links.

NO jerky as bears can have trichinosis and is can be difficult to get the meat hot enough making jerky to kill it.

Has been mentioned but I will state it again cook to a minimum of 160 degrees internal temp to ensure it is safe.

Blue berry eating bear, in blue berry sauce.

Bear hot links in marinara sauce

Bear meatball sammi

Fresh of the bear backstrap and fresh shrimp

If you have never skinned one, make sure to wear gloves, a disease called (bear finger) can be transmitted through open cuts or wounds. I wear cut resistant gloves for all my skinning.

Tools of the trade, the utility knife with with roofing blade is awesome for long straight cuts, the small hook helps keep your helper safe be giving a safe way to hold greasy legs around sharp blades.

Keep cuts straight and make sure to not cut the back legs to far in or your rug will have a giant but when spread out.

Enjoy and good luck

Steve

 

[Tuffy]

Wow!!!! Steve, nice photos and awesome looking dishes! ..... now I'm hungry. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ringo]

Bear meat is great. Cook it like venison. The back straps, loins, and parts of the hind quarters are the good cuts. I bread the meat in flour. I melt a 1/4 stick of butter and saute onion and mushroom in a pan. Then put the meat on. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. I also sometimes add Tony Sasharas croele seasoning. Don't over do it on that stuff. A little goes a long way. Then flip when flour on back side is starting to get browned. Add a little more butter. And cook till that side is done. Like Paula Deen, I like butter. Giver a shot.

 

[Stid2677]

Buttermilk Biscuits, made with Black Bear fat, Black Bear Sausage and GRAVY! Stick to your ribs on a cold day.

 

[boom]

best bear i ever ate!

this bear was killed in the Sierras. so delicious! we were about 10 days in, and borderline starving. we would look at our Mountain house meals, and the hanging bear. huh, okay we ate the bear, with Mountain house "sides". in the end, four guys scarfed the thing. we packed out a hide with a bear tag ziptied to an the bearhead. all we did was season it with some random stuff and wrap it in foil. it was a smaller bear, so not alot of meat. hahahha..

tender and delicious!

 

[elkmule123]

Blue berry eating bear, in blue berry sauce.

That is an awesome looking table, what is it made out of?

 

[Stid2677]

That is an awesome looking table, what is it made out of?

Old Growth Redwood Burls, have a coffee, 2 end table and a dinning table that seats 6. Thanks.

 

[Hunt'nFish]

Yes Steve I totally agree.....Awesome Post! Great pics!
Hunt'nFish

 

[samabell]

I have only had bear meat as sausage. It was rather sweet and very greasy, but then again there is usually a lot of fat in sausage. The taste of meat depends greatly on the time of the year the bear was killed. In Alaska most of the hunters try to get their bears in early Spring, because the bears are eating grasses and vegetation, so the meat is sweeter. Later in the year, they're eating a lot of fish and meat, so they don't taste as good.

 

[tuffcity]

If there is a wildlife or vet lab reasonably close you can see if they will test the meat for tric. That way if its clean backstraps and roasts can be cooked as they should be- medium rare!

RC