bear meat?

[dink]

ive shot 6 in my life all depends on what it eats stay away from bear that eats fish like they said ive had bear that i chewed it and i thought it was good then my jaws started  to hurt go figure its on all what you expect. to me its all good lots of meat on a bear its all good in the long run

[wtpops]

Ive tried it 4 times,never shot one my self, and every time i thought why did you try that again. One of these days i will get talked into it by someone that knows what they are doing and will enjoy it.

[SAM E. STEPHENS]

I have taken one fall and two spring bears and all have been great eating for us , as said I thing it all in how you care for the meat after it hits the ground.,,,,,,,Sam,,,,,,

[americanhunter7]

Bear meat.......DELISH! I usually make roasts involving fresh blackberries and a little bourbon, or grind it and make a killer meatloaf. You're making me want to go kill another bear now.

[dave19113]

I have only eaten bear 2x's...... One was young and the other was old...... I def liked the young meat better.... But like others have commented..... preperation is everything....... But all the same.... Id rather shoot a 2 1/2 yr old deer than an older one bc to me anyway, they taste soooo much better....For me the same goes for a bear..... A huge skull is nice to talk about but empty plates at my house his much more rewarding.....

[Bill Carlsen]

My wife and I like bear meat better than most wild meats if it  is prepared properly.

[Doc Nock]

All the bear I've had were hand-me-downs.

One, a spring, was fresh out of hibernation and still eating grass! That was a MT spring bear and it was the same color as pork! Tasted like the best, most juicy pork I've ever eaten.

The rest of the bear I have had were fall and were dark meat that ate just about like any decent venison!

A butcher in MT offered to smoke a hind-quarter in exchange for the other...and he would skin it out with lips, eyelashes, etc for a rug or mounting... but he warned me, he can tell by smelling if he's going to keep and process the meat.

He, along with others here, said if they get into winter-kill and are lapping rotted flesh outa a carcass (guess eating fish would be similar) the meat is putrid!

Kinda true of all our wild critters: taste varies by diet. I'm not at all fond of antelope or mulie that has been feeding on Sage brush!  :(

[Ray Lyon]

I'll echo the above comments. Michigan bears are hunted in the fall and generally berrys, fruits and corn.  Outstanding table fare. Just make sure you get the hide off and/or get it cooled ASAP. The last bear I got I laid out in a walkin cooler suspended off the floor with stainless steel racks and filled the chest cavity with bags of ice.  It was 70 degrees outside, but the meat came out as fine as can be imagined. Get it cooled asap is the best advice I can give.

[cacciatore]

My friend from WY makes some meat bear balls and they are excellent.

[Fish Finder]

Best meat I've ever eaten from roast, steaks, stew, ground meat...loved it all and ate a 300lb sow in 8 months by myself.

Get it cool and on ice asap. And once you freeze the meat it kills all the bacterias so yoiu don't need to worry about trichanosus

[iron_llama]

I'll second the need to get bear meat cold ASAP.  Unlike venison bear meat is very fatty, and the fat can turn rancid if left unchilled.  I've had excellent bear meat in camp, but the bear was shot scant hours before it was cooked, and skinned and butchered immediately.  I think the worst thing you could do is treat it like venison, and hang it in your garage for a few days.  If you do that the fat will turn rancid pretty quickly and you'll spoil the meat.  I know a few hunters who dunk the whole carcass in a deep, cold lake overnight, and others who skin their bears out right away and put the meat on ice.  Both ideas seem good to me.

Also, I'll second what was said about bear diets.  I've been told that bears shot in orchards or berry patches are the best, while dump bears and fish-eating bears tend to taste not so good.

[Talondale]

Have had two bears.  Both delicious.  First was a spring bear from BigRon and the other was a fall bear I killed eating berries and acorns.  My kids prefer it over venison.

[Kyle Lancaster]

My 14 yr killed an adolescent bear (not a cub) with his bow a couple of years ago. Some of the best meat we've ever had. Some of my kids are picky eaters, but they were coming back for seconds and thirds every time we cooked it.

[Two Dogs]

We used to have fight nite parties when "Iron Mike Tyson" fought, the bear on the grill lasted about as long as his fights!

[Steve H.]

No amount of spice exists to cover the taste of a salmon eating bear!

[swamprooter]

Originally posted by Steve H.:
No amount of spice exists to cover the taste of a salmon eating bear!

I hear that, I am reading all the posts and thinking that I have had some delicious bear meat and some that my dogs wouldn't eat and would stink you out of the house when you cooked it. Bear is a lot like wild hogs, sometimes even the best you can do and treat the meat perfect it still isn't fit to eat. Chris

[Rick Wiltshire]

I agree - get it cold quick, keep it cold, get the fat off and then do a slow smoke and you will love it.  

[buckeye_hunter]

If in doubt, cube the meat and can it with a few of your favorite spices. It will ALWAYS come out fork cutting tender regardless of the cut of meat! Works on deer, bear elk, wild pig or any other meat you can imagine!

Seriously.... It is worth your time.

[azhunter]

The Arizona bears are one of the best eating game out there as long as you get the fat of ASAP and get cooled down immediately. mmgood