Yellow Dog that is my experience as well both with Jerry who I can endorse as a fine guide and person and my pal Ryan at Stickflingers who is equally professional and kind. On a 300 pound bear, deboned meat is roughly a third, just like an elk.
Now, those bears that get hit bad, that take 2 days to track...I am sorry but I am not eating them. I love bear meat. All 3 have come home with me, deboned and ready for the crock pot but if it takes more than a half day to find them, most will be ruined as the meat spoils under all that hide. I have helped drag and skin a few of these. I hate it, just like any animal whose life you took, but unsafe to eat is unsafe to eat.
I have been in Jerry's camp. The meat is butchered and cared for in a respectful way. If the hunter doesn't want the meat it is offered to others. Only thing wasted is guts and bone.