Bear hunt. Bullet advice and eating it.

[waffentomas]

Going bear hunting, and have two loads at my disposal, both .308 win.

180gr Barnes X at about 2350 fps.
220gr Nosler Partition at about 2200 fps.

I'd like your advice on which one you'd select.

Also, should I get lucky enough to bag one, well, I'm not much a trophy hunter, draw cow tags every year for elk because I hunt for the meat, anything on a bear worthy of my culinary expertise?? Backstrap, etc. any good?

How hard is it to get a hide off one and made into a nice rug??

Thanks

Tom

 

[grizz]

If were talking black bear than either load will work just fine. Just go with whatever shoots the best out of your particular rifle.

I bagged a black bear in Alaska and ate almost all of it. The quality of the meat depends on a lot of things (age of the bear, diet, etc.).

Whatever you eat, COOK IT REALLY WELL because bears are known to harbor a nasty parasite called Trichinella spiralis.

Caping a bear isn't hard, it's just a little time consuming. The easiest way is to skin everything, but saw the bones before the 4 paws and leave the paws attached to the hide. Also saw the spine and leave the head attached to the hide.

My bear rug was ~$800.

Good luck!!!

 

[MCgunner]

I'd use my Barnes 140 grain in .308. You can go light in a Barnes and get better performance than a heavier standard bullet not only because the bullet will not come apart, but also because it's solid copper and is longer for its weight than a lead bullet. A 140 barnes will perform much as a controlled expansion 160 grain lead bullet. Mine his shooting about 2850 fps. Bait hunting bear, you ain't gonna need the flat tragectory, though. 50 yards will likely be a long shot. Not sure what type of hunting you'll be doing. If there's a chance of a long shot, I'd sure consider a lighter controlled expansion bullet in the caliber.

Between your two loads, toss a coin or take the load that's most accurate would be my suggestion.

 

[bub8889]

Either of those loads will work just fine, like hunting anything shot placement is more important. here we have bear taken every year with .243's some of them going 500+ pounds.

As far as the eating aspect you'll have to try it and see for your self, bear meat is mostly love it or hate it, I'm the later, with not much in between so I can't really help you there.

 

[.45Guy]

I've got a killer recipe for spiced bear roast buried in the kitchen. I'll dig it out later when I get done straightening out some issues with my employers.
Found it:

 

[swampdog]

Bear meat is pretty good. It can taste like good pot roast, with a similar texture. Bears are fat, though, and not getting all the fat off before cooking is what leads to the gamey taste. I guess diet can play a part, too, but the ones I've eaten were feeding in soybean, peanut or corn fields and tasted fine.

Steaks cut from the backstrap and cooked on the grill are excellent. The inner loins are good on the grill, too. Treat it like you would a deer and you'll be fine. Just make sure you remove all the fat.

The bear hunters here use 30/30, .35 rem, 44 mag and shotgun slugs. Most shots are at close range. Any good hunting bullet in a .308 ought to be fine.

 

[ACP230]

I shot a small bear several years ago with a .30-06 handload using Remington 150 grain PSP Core-Lokt bullets. It only made it about 12 feet after the shot.

We found that we didn't like bear as much as venision.
What we did like, a lot, was "breakfast sausage" made with bear meat.
It was great on homemade pizza.

 

[borrowedtime69]

Bear

My deer, elk, & black bear load is Winchester 180 grn Power point for my .308. Havent gone for bear yet, but i hope to go in the next five years or so.

As for eating bear meat, i have had some. a freind gave me some bear sausage a few years ago and i made chilli with it, in a word... FANTASTIC!!!!

he told me that autumn bear is the best cause they have eaten well all spring & summer and is well hydrated. he told me not to bother hunting spring bear (our state had or still has a fall & spring bear season) cause they are emaciated from the long winters, living off their fat reserves and are not as plump and moist as they were in the fall. the gamey taste is worse cause the meat is much more consentrated. try making sausage with it and see how you like it. good luck! -Eric