BigGameHunt.net Hunting Forums

[wlfdg]

I ate bear when I was a kid. I remember not liking it very much. I have heard that bears carry some of the same diseases as domestic meats.

What have you all found? Is this true?

The bears that were killed by my family frequented a huge town dump.

Is bear on a natural diet better eating?

[Fisher King]

Bears on natural fair are better eating. I'v heard tell that rendered bear fat in the fall after they have eaten their fill of berrys are great for pasterys.
For regulare eating the meat I recomend takeing off as much fat as posible and sokeing it in salt and cold water for a coupla hours.
F.K.

[thenail]

When cooking bear ,like FK said cut all the fat off you can and cook it like pork ,, well done . Last season I bottled a few bottles of bear to try it that way . It was deliceous . I plan to put up a couple doz bottles this season . You would never know it was bear meat . I'll be doing the deer the same way . A bear roast done in the slow cooker with the vegies is awesome ...

[Bushbuck]

I never met a dead bear I didnt like!!!

But Honestly, I do like the taste of bear meat. Where we hunt in Northern maine and NH there are no dumps so I am sure that makes a difference.
You are what you eat.

[thenail]

The bears I snare are in the apple orchards , and everybody's composter .Their fine eating . Like pilling apples to the pigs to sweeten up the pork .

[VT Surf-N-Turf]

Bear can be good eating. Like thenail said, treat it like pork. I've found slow cooking, like a slow cooked roast in white wine with onion soup mix, is a good method. Bears, like pigs, can carry the parasite triconosis. There hasn't been a case of triconosis caused by pork in the USA in over 40 years but bears still carry it. You can kill the parasite by cooking the meat until well done, then its fine to eat. If your going to render the fat you have to do it right away, like within 12 hours. It goes rancid fast and if you wait to long its only good on your truck axle.

[ADKBEAR]

Give me a steak from a blueberry fed bear any day. Excellent eating. Now a dump bear........well try and get a good hide because the meat isnt fit to feed the dogs

[billythekidrock]

Properly prepared from field to table you will be hard pressed to find any wild game bettter.

[blackbear]

Black Bear meat is very high in cholesterol but man is it good ! One benefit of baiting is feeding the right stuff to further improve the taste of the meat.

[spitfire]

:thumbsup1: one thing we have done in the past and were gonna do it again, is bring it to a meat shop and have it smoked!!!! it is soooo damn good it taste just like pork, the bear ham's taste just like pork ham' last time we brought one in, including processing cost about 275$ and the bear was 200lb dressed , you gotta try it , it's amazing how good it is!!

[wlfdg]

Thanks Fellas, Looks like I'll be hunting bear in the spring. I let my lady read this and she is sold. :thumbsup1: I doubt we will have the freezer room for bear this fall, but, in the spring we will need the meat. :yes:

[Old Professor]

Last year my son-in-law shot a small bear and we made summer sausage with pepperjack cheese - fantastic!! I have also had a ham smoked and cooked as per a smoked ham. It was so good that it was gone before we served dinner because of people taking "a lttle piece to try" to see if they liked bear meat.

[spitfire]

Old Professor wrote: Last year my son-in-law shot a small bear and we made summer sausage with pepperjack cheese - fantastic!! I have also had a ham smoked and cooked as per a smoked ham. It was so good that it was gone before we served dinner because of people taking "a lttle piece to try" to see if they liked bear meat. imagine smoking the whole bear, so now every cut taste just as good as that ham did, and it does, believe me!

[blackbear]

Some of the best tasting meat I have ever had. The whole family loves it.

[atomikall]

Well I have alot to say about this one. Thier are just some people that I think it gets to thier heads, that they dont like it. Then when you tell them they are eating bear they think to much instead of actually giving it an honest try and thats why I always say "its pork" to family and friends that say they dont like it., Exspecially when I know I have people thier that say "they dont like bear meat".
Would'nt you know they dont even realize until they have already eaten two plates, and when I tell them its bear and they dont even believe me.

I'm a bear eater for life and my kids love it too.
Sausage, Roast, tenderloins, backstraps, a couple steaks and of course some pepperrettes too top it off. My butcher makes the best damn pepperettes in Ontario and I'll guarantee that one. My favourite by far and this is a secret so keep it too yourselves, cut off a nice fresh chunk of rear quarter, cut eery last piece of fat off it even filet along the skin to get more off, then pop it in the slow cooker. For small slow cookers, one bottle of spite for big, 2. Add some salt and pepper, some patatoes and onions.Cook for 2 to 3 hours on hi. Tell me what you think I am telling you when you open that your mouth will water.

Or small slices of tenderloins cooked in a home made gravy with mushrooms and onions.MMmmmMM I'm cooking me some bear boys. :thumbsup1: