Nick Muche
WKR
We eat 2-4 bears a year. Breakfast sausage, hunter sticks and bear hams are our go-to's. I also love a bear roast and bear backstrap. It's all really good, but our bears do not eat fish, so the meat is very good.
When you make sausage are you using the fat or adding pork fat or something?
Been wondering this myself, going spring bear hunting for the first time soon and trying to get trichinosis out of my mind.
I could understand if this conversation was about wolves or cougars but not taking bear meat would be an absolute travesty. The meat is a great contrast to all the super lean ungulates we eat. It has a fair amount of fat/oil in the meat which makes it far more desirable for summer sausage, pepperoni sticks, roasts, cook down, pulled bbq sandwiches, smoking, canning, breakfast sausage... I use it for anything except steaks. Take the 4 quarters, neck, and back strap and remove as much fat off the deboned meat as possible then prep and freeze it how you would any other animal. You won’t regret it.
Why wouldn't you eat cougar? It's outstanding!