Decision Time: Go for the buck or the bear?

He skunked out on both doe tags this year but I have one to fill for area 7p. My SIL has been pretty successful he's tagged 6 in the last 3 years. All with 12 ga shotgun.

I am interested in what wmu you guys hunt, I still have not got mine. I think you have to get them the same day if you get two different dmp's. I always get 3m

troy fairweather said:

We should start are own thread so we don't hijack the op thread lol. I was hoping to sight my guns today but it's raining so heavy I don't think the bullet would make it to the target.

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You are correct about a new thread.

I'm located in 7s. Usually try for 7p
unit Afton NY.

I would prefer the bear but would take the first one that showed up. Neither is a given.

If the bear had any size to it I would take it.

Last year in Pennsylvania a guy shot a 679 pound black bear at five yards (15 feet) with a 357 magnum revolver.
I can't paste & post on my phone.
He shot it on November 21st 2018.

George P said:

I'd rather eat a deer than a bear

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I've never eaten bear, but I do recall an old family friend who described eating bear meat as follows:

Cut a piece off the steak, put it in your mouth, chew it.
Spit it out, cut it in half, put a piece in your mouth, chew it.
Spit it out, cut it in half, put a piece in your mouth, chew it....

I'd take the buck myself, that's a nice one.

Stay safe.

I made a thread in the hunting section. So we not hijack this one. Title is new York hunters.

I've never eaten bear either. I've hured it can be good, they say spring bears are the best. But then I've was told the bear feeding off salmon can be nasty.

troy fairweather said:

I've never eaten bear either. I've hured it can be good, they say spring bears are the best. But then I've was told the bear feeding off salmon can be nasty.

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You are what you eat..............

I worked with a guy out here in Washington State that lived to go hunting, elk, deer, bear, ducks & geese turkey.
He hunted north-west of Spokane closevto the Canadian border. He has a good track record on harvesting all species of game.
He shot a bear close to his mothers property and processed it there and stored it in her freezer.
He lives a little over a hundred miles from his mom.

His brother called him and asked if he could have a bear roast for his super bowl party. He told him to help yourself.
His brothers wife would never eat anthing if it didn't come from a store.
She had a bite of that bear roast and loved it. They ate the whole bear up. When my friend weht to his mothers place in the spring he went to load up a ice chest with some bear meat and it was all gone.
He asked his mother what happened to the bear meat, she said your brother has been taking it.
He called his brother and he said ( you told me to help myself).

I would think a bear would be good if it ate the right food. I live in Western Washington and it id mostly evergreen forest so the food source here sucks for bears, deer as well.
Most iof Eastern Washington is desert.
North and Northwest of Spokane is prime habitat for large game.

It does not take long for the meat to change flavor. Most deer here eat from the corn fields, last year's lot off farms where growing soybean for the first time. I could taste the diffrence, the 2 doe I shot last year had soybean in them.

I've eaten venison once that I know of. A game warden's wife made them for me by placing the pieces of meat inside a waffle somehow, using an old waffle iron. It was tasty. Pre-panini rave so she was ahead of the curve. Bear, no, unless I was really hungry. I ate alligator at a wedding reception, of all places. They tricked me and I remember not being all that happy about it. I would, however, shoot a bear. No hesitation.

I’ve had black bear on numerous occasions and it was outstanding.

That’s a great looking buck. Just remember, if you shoot the bear, you have to eat him. Would you rather bear backstrap or deer? How about burger meat?

Did I mention, that’s a really nice buck?

I tried that code blue buck lure a few years ago and it worked good.

Highland Lofts said:

I live in Western Washington and it id mostly evergreen forest so the food source here sucks for bears, deer as well.
Most iof Eastern Washington is desert.

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I killed a 2-yo bear in the Cascades of Washington and it was the most tender meat I ever ate. However, it had absolutely no taste, kind of like tofu. I killed another in Montana and she was tougher than a hawser rope.
It seems there's no tellin' what you'll get with a bear as far as meat goes.

Like the old saying goes,
"You are what you eat"
Tall evergreen trees don't do much for food source.

Now if it were feeding in clear cuts full of blackberries then maybe it would of had some taste to it.

Vegans probably would of liked that bear meat.
They try make veggies taste like meat, you shot a bear that tasted like their garbage.

wombat13 said:

I bought Tink's Doe-in-Estrus lure. It seemed to have the most positive reviews online. We'll see...

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Yup that's a old stand by, we had a shortage a few years ago because are governor wanted to ban it. I don't stock up because we are only allowed to have so much. Most time I use it for cover sent.