First time bear

[Jimmy]

I always grab a black bear tag when I get my deer tags but I've never seriously went after a bear when I've seen them. Just watched em or shoed them away. Anyways, I want to get a bear this year and have a few questions for you experienced bear guys

Do I need to bring anything special to clean a bear? What do you like to have with you?

I imagine its like deer, get the guts out and skin it? Anyone do the gutless method for bears? Can I quarter and hang meat or does it need taken off the bone asap?

Anything to watch out for? I imagine bears get quite a few bugs...

Thank you

 

[Hnthrdr]

Good news is once you have a bear tag the likelihood of seeing one drops almost to zero… all jokes aside, I’m going to try to get a bear this fall as well. I would treat the meat like most other animals, cool the hide quickly also if you don’t want to lose it. I haven’t worn gloves processing anything else but I think I’ll pack a few pairs for the bear

 

[Jimmy]

Good news is once you have a bear tag the likelihood of seeing one drops almost to zero… all jokes aside, I’m going to try to get a bear this fall as well. I would treat the meat like most other animals, cool the hide quickly also if you don’t want to lose it. I haven’t worn gloves processing anything else but I think I’ll pack a few pairs for the bear

Thats what i'm thinking. Gloves, and keep the hair off the meat.

Here in CA even if we dont want to preserve the hide we have to retain it unil 15 days after season. So I guess I'll be packing that out too. Hopefully get everything in two trips but we'll see.

 

[danhuntingmi]

Bears should be skinned a certain way if you're doing anything with the hide; best YouTube it. Cook meat well done.

 

[medvedyt]

you need to gut and no you do not to have the bear meat aging. make sure when you gut and skin that the hair-fur is not touching the meat and if you have fat remove it and render it.