Is it worth it to hunt bear?

[Tactical Lever]

Bear meat is no different than venison or any other meat. It's only good if it's handled properly in the field. Mind you, garbage eating Yogi is going to taste like it. A Manhattan area garbage can could be dumped over by Rocky. He and Yogi eat the same stuff.
Anyway, I suspect not doing something with any game animal' meat is illegal in every jurisdiction. If you don't want it contact Hunters for the Hungry, Sportsmen Against Hunger or the Hunters and Farmers Feeding the Hungry.
"...not eat pork that..." Trichinosis was bred of Porky eons ago. Not so with Yogi, of course. Still killed by cooking.

You can not breed out trichinosis. The reason we don't have it in Canada anymore is because the breeding standards and laws changed to where pigs are not fed waste animal byproducts anymore.

Any carnivore/omnivore in the wild that you eat has a chance of carrying it. Just make sure the inside hits 160 C, or whatever the number and duration is.

In B.C. you are only required to salvage the hide for bear. And you are not required to salvage cougar meat or other carnivores, not to mention fur bearing animals as outlined in trapping regulations probably everywhere. Even though it can be quite tasty. Even (or especially even) the wild cats.

And federal food law has changed as well in Canada. It was common for Fish and Wildlife officers to salvage meat that would have otherwise went to waste, and take it to a shelter. Not so anymore. Wild game that is not inspected by a federal inspector (if that's even possible) is illegal to give away. Even though I've seen it suggested as a token of goodwill in one of the newer hunters ed. books.

 

[Hoser99]

Howdy. I've had the opportunity to kill and eat a lot of bears. Spring bears seem a little off but a nice fat fall bear is delicious! Bear is like the dark meat on a turkey. Some people prefer the white meat. Up here in CanuckLand, butchers are particular, bear, deer, moose or elk. Honestly, bear is good meat.

 

[Tactical Lever]

Howdy. I've had the opportunity to kill and eat a lot of bears. Spring bears seem a little off but a nice fat fall bear is delicious! Bear is like the dark meat on a turkey. Some people prefer the white meat. Up here in CanuckLand, butchers are particular, bear, deer, moose or elk. Honestly, bear is good meat.

I've never heard of butchers being particular; but then again, I can clean, cut and wrap it just as well. Just not as pretty or all the nice ways of cutting.

 

[Tony k]

Last year I shot a young black bear that had been gorging itself on huckleberries. When I gutted him he was literally oozing purple huckleberry juice out of his mouth and ****. Easily some of the finest meat I've ever eaten. I shot it labor day weekend, and we had eaten it all by the second week of January. I was kind of bummed to switch to elk

I've heard they don't taste so good if they've been eating carrion.

To the OP: it doesn't take special equipment to process a black bear. The same stuff you use for deer will work fine. I can't imagine why a butcher wouldn't process it. Cook it to 160 as others have pointed out.

As far as the actual hunt is concerned, I really don't care for it. For me, it can feel a bit like shooting a big fat dog. Also, if they aren't dead right there when you shoot them, they tend to pile up in heavy brush and downed timber. PITA to get them out.

I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to harvest a bear. Meat is meat.

 

[silicosys4]

Bear can be good and can be bad, as has been said by others.
Around here, (wa) we have berry bears, fish bears, and garbage bears....what you get depends on where you find it and what time of year it is.
Berry bears are the one people around here prefer to eat.
Fish bears are bears that have been at the river eating salmon, fresh kills and dead carcasses. Those are generally not very palatable, I've heard.
Garbage bears are the in-town and urban nuisance bears, the ones that primarily scavenge and raid peoples trash cans. Not fit to eat, is what I've heard.
There used to be a donut bear, but they outlawed hunting over bait here so you don't get those anymore. Lots of people bought stale bakery donuts for bear bait.

Also, you have to keep in mind that bears are more aggressive than deer, and will fight each other for territory or to protect cubs. I had a friend take a bear a few years ago that charged him, so he was forced to shoot it. The bear was a total loss of his tag.

It was a sow that had been fighting, presumably to protect cubs, and her hide was torn up, he said the entire side was one huge festering series of gashes. Not only was the hide no good, but the bear had gone gangrenous so the meat was no good either.

Be prepared for a bear to be much harder to manage than a deer. A deer is pretty straightforward and drags easily, even by one person. A decent bear is like trying to move around a grossly fat person in a huge fur overcoat. Literally. Make sure you have rope if you plan on taking a shot if you see a bear, a small pulley that you could tie around a tree to help you drag it to your rig if you are alone would help too.

I've never hunted for bear specifically...I've helped other people pack their kills and ate them, but I'd harvest one if given the opportunity. My experiences with the meat have been kind of meh... tender but greasy and somewhat flavorless. Makes great pepperoni though, which is what everyone here does with bear, pepperoni and summer sausage.

 

[SleazyRider]

This is great information, and I am very appreciative to those who posted!

Many years ago, in my neck o' the woods, we had a LGS/hardware store with a potbelly stove and creaky wooden floor where a feller could ask a question like this over a cup of coffee and discuss it for the better part of an hour. That's since been replaced by a shopping mall and a Gander Mountain. No coffee, no discussion, no creaky wooden floor. Get your stuff and get out.

This is what I like about THR: coffee and discussion. But I still miss that creaky wooden floor.

 

[buck460XVR]

This is what I like about THR: coffee and discussion. But I still miss that creaky wooden floor.

Here ya go!

 

[SleazyRider]

I am fulfilled! (By the creaky wooden floor) Thank you!

 

[Hoser99]

Bear meat is no different than venison or any other meat. It's only good if it's handled properly in the field. Mind you, garbage eating Yogi is going to taste like it. A Manhattan area garbage can could be dumped over by Rocky. He and Yogi eat the same stuff.
Anyway, I suspect not doing something with any game animal' meat is illegal in every jurisdiction. If you don't want it contact Hunters for the Hungry, Sportsmen Against Hunger or the Hunters and Farmers Feeding the Hungry.
"...not eat pork that..." Trichinosis was bred of Porky eons ago. Not so with Yogi, of course. Still killed by cooking.

You are wrong in saying bear/deer are the same. Bear is much juicier and tastier...really.Deer is like white meat on a turkey. Bear is like dark meat or rich pork. No foolin'!

 

[gamestalker]

IMHO, unless you have the financial resources to have a rug made, the meat is pretty nasty and not worth the culinary options. I have had bear sausage a few times, and granted it's good, I have yet to find bear steaks or roasts as worth eating.

So if worth it means having a nice looking rug, than yes. But as game meat goes, bear is hardly considered a worthy meal.

I have hunted and killed bear, but after the second one, I decided that the extreme amount of work involved is hardly justification for a score, or rug.

GS

 

[Rangerpants]

I'm late to the party on this one, but if anyone is still reading here:

All the bears I have tasted (4) have been excellent, but all four were eating almost exclusively acorns and blackberries (based on gut contents). On the other hand, I've been told fish-eating bears can taste like low tide in summer!

If it were me, I would take a look at what kind of food they are likely to be eating locally and make the call of "to hunt, or not to hunt" based on that!

 

[Lloyd Smale]

I use it mostly for sausage but do know a number of guys around here that actualy prefer bear meat to deer meat.

 

[7mmstalker]

It would be pretty hard to pass on the chance to bag a Blackie, especially if they had been eating berries in the fall.
We butchered one that was an early spring kill, from the looks of his green teeth, eating mainly grasses. Most of that bear was added into large batches of chili, or cooked the same as venison. Very mild, non distinct flavor.
A meat processor told me that he would not process bears after many years of taking in a lot of them; one of his workers got trichinosis while butchering and it was an ordeal that nobody would risk again. Maybe a good idea to call around and make sure the meat can be handled if you won't be doing it yourself. If so, don't cut yourself!

 

[RJTravel]

My kids were raised on wild meat. The bears I have brought home were taken in remote wilderness in the northwest. Best-tasting wild meat bar none. We enjoyed it more than venison, elk, or moose. Right not my mouth is watering just thinking about it.