After the shot Meat care and storage.

[wt]

I had the good fortune of killing my first bear Aug 2. I'm not sure about the care needed going forward. LEt me recount what has been done up to this point. Bear was down at 8:30am, bear was quartered, in game bags and in the back of my rig by 9:30. Meat went from game bags into plastic bags(with game bags still on)and in bucket of ice by 10:30. Meat stayed in ice in relatively cool vehicle until 2pm then it got unwrapped and un bagged and into the fridge over night. The next day at 2pm I removed meat from fridge confirmed it was not wet (it was dryish or tacky), and I wrapped it in plastic wrap where it sits now five days later.What are you thoughts on what has been done so far and what are you recommendations for processing it moving forward. Thanks

[mtndew]

Get the plastic wrap off it. Even if it seemed dry when it was wrapped, the meat needs to breathe.

[billythekidrock]

You need to butcher that thing asap. Bear suet/fat can go sour in a hurry.
As stated, get the plastic off and either butcher tonight or put it in the freezer.

Unless you have a cuber, there is not much sense in making steaks. Clean up the backstraps and wrap them whole for roasts. Cut the hams off and clean them up for roasts. Cut the neck meat up and clean it for roasts.....get the picture? Clean up the ribs and cut in half. The rest gets added to deer/elk burger or in sausage.

[windygorge]

after the kill and 6 days later you decide to ask what to do with the meat.......wow.   are you for real??

[DoubleJ]

Yea, this might not turn out so well.  Might have a bunch of dog food.  If the meat isn't edible for you like it has already spoiled (real possibility) don't throw it out.  It will still make good dog food.  Please please please, regardless of it's state at this point, please don't waste it.

[wt]

I thought putting it in the fridge (initially unwrapped) and keeping it at 45degrees would be no different than hanging it in the walk in at the butcher. Can one of you that blew a gasket speak to that? ie windygorge and  DoubleJ. Thank you for the processing tips billythekidrock and mtndew. I'll get the suit off it and freeze it ASAP. I hope it turns out well. Does bear meat never get aged like deer or elk?

[DoubleJ]

I didn't blow a gasket, I was just worried about the meat being wrapped in plastic.  Putting the meat in the fridge is the right thing.  Leaving it wrapped in plastic doesn't sound right.  Everything I was taught was to let the meat breathe.  If aging the meat in plastic is how you do it, it's probably fine.  I just worry about the fact that bear fat is not like deer or elk fat and will spoil much faster, even in the fridge, or so I'm told.

[wt]

DoubleJ, ok no blown gasket,  I thought I was doing everything in my power to preserve this game(I don't take it lightly), but it sounds like I 'm gonna learn a lesson hear potentially. I think you are correct in letting it breath that's why I did it initially until the temperature was brought down to fridge temp. But it looks like you continue to let it breath (it looked like it would dry out so I covered it). So I'm hoping to learn something from the members here, I have always taken my game to the processor the same day or next day in the past. Any helpful guidance is welcome.

[dscubame]

In the future leave any plastic out of the equation.  It is also ok to let the outside dry out and crust  if necessary.

[billythekidrock]

I thought putting it in the fridge (initially unwrapped) and keeping it at 45degrees would be no different than hanging it in the walk in at the butcher. Can one of you that blew a gasket speak to that? ie windygorge and  DoubleJ. Thank you for the processing tips billythekidrock and mtndew. I'll get the suit off it and freeze it ASAP. I hope it turns out well. Does bear meat never get aged like deer or elk?

I never "age" a bear. I try to get it cool to the bone over night and butcher the next day. If it is hot and we are camping then I will bone it and put it on ice right away and froze within a couple days.

[Hunterman]

Treat your bear just like you do your deer...GET IT TO A COOLER FASTER THAN ASAP.. In this HOT weather,,get the skin off RIGHT NOW, and cut off the fat faster than that.. DO NOT EVER PUT FRESH MEAT IN ANY PLASTIC,,,EVER!! Unless you boned this bear out, chances are it will be bone soured, and spoiled.. Bear meat will go bad faster than fast..This is going to be a hell of a learning experiance for you..You should of asked these questions before you went bear hunting..

Hunterman(Tony)

[billythekidrock]

  I just worry about the fact that bear fat is not like deer or elk fat and will spoil much faster, even in the fridge, or so I'm told.

Try this little experiment:
Take a piece of beef fat and rub it between your fingers and notice how long it takes to melt. Do the same with deer or elk and then try it with bear fat.

Bear fat will melt almost immediately.

I have had well wrapped deer/elk roasts with a little fat that after 2 years were just fine, but 2 year old bear roasts wrapped the same was not very good. Obviously you want to remove as much fat as possible, but sometimes it is near impossible.

[DoubleJ]

DoubleJ, ok no blown gasket,  I thought I was doing everything in my power to preserve this game(I don't take it lightly), but it sounds like I 'm gonna learn a lesson hear potentially. I think you are correct in letting it breath that's why I did it initially until the temperature was brought down to fridge temp. But it looks like you continue to let it breath (it looked like it would dry out so I covered it). So I'm hoping to learn something from the members here, I have always taken my game to the processor the same day or next day in the past. Any helpful guidance is welcome.

Here's what I do with my game.  Some agree, some do it different.

1.  Kill it (goes without saying)
2.  Get it cool as soon as possible.  Sometimes you're close enough to home to just gut it and get it in the fridge, sometimes you need skin it, bone it out and ice it down on the trip home.  Just get it cool as quick as possible.
3.  I age mine in the fridge.  I think it's called wet aging.  I normally get it home, skin it, bone it out, put into game bags and put in the fridge.  I have 4 shelves in my "deer aging fridge" (just a fridge I kick the beer and soda out of to age an animal) and I put one bag on each shelf and spread the meat out as much as possible inside the bag
4.  each bag gets flipped over once a day so the bottom doesn't sit in fluid more than a day.  I do this 5-7 days.  It's important to me to keep the meat at 36-38 degrees (As taught by my dad)
5.  Between 5-7 days, you smell the meat.  When it just starts to have that "twinge" of smell where you think it might be going bad, it's time to process and freeze within the next 24 hours.
6.  Cut and wrap and freeze.  If using vacuum seal bags, partially freeze your steaks, roasts, etc for 2 hours BEFORE bagging.  Ever vacuum seal a chunk of meat and see the blood in the bag and then when you thaw it out the blood is everywhere?  That's because the vacuum sealing sucks the blood out of the cells and then the meat sits in that spilled blood.  Partially freeze the meat first and then vacuum seal and the vacuum won't suck the blood out of the meat.
7.  As far as drying out, each piece of meat will have some dried meat on the outside of it.  It doesn't go too deep in that amount of time.  When you're cutting your meat into roasts and steaks, just trim that dried meat off and throw it in the burger pile.  No harm.  Your roasts are still big and the dried meat is fine in burger.  You won't even notice it.

[DoubleJ]

As far as bear, I don't know for sure about aging or anything.  I've never shot one but, based on my deer experiences crossed with the info on this board, I wouldn't wrap it in plastic and definatly get the fat and bone out

[billythekidrock]

Uh, I don't agree with letting a piece of meat rotate in "fluid" for 5-7 days. That is a good way to promote bacterial growth.

You would be better off hanging it overnight somewhere a tad warmer, BUT dry. We mix 50/50 water and vinegar to rub down the animal. Then use a clean towel to dry it off. Then put it back in the fridge.