Bear Reuben

[pd]

This is really interesting (the corned bear sandwich looks excellent, by the way).  Out of respect for Cory's opinion, I wonder why bear elicits such a response.  For example, does bear meat from a Spring hunt tend to tasted differently than from an Autumn hunt?  I have heard guys say that a bear feasting on salmon tastes terrible.

Going way back (80 years or so), my Grandmother insisted that bear meat was the best, the tops.  In those days, I don't think that there was much choice, so that might have influenced her opinion.

You old salts weigh in here, please.  Why the divergence of opinion on bear meat?

[h20hunter]

I was told spring bear is leaner.....mine bear was pretty fat compared to last years fall bear. My only experience is positive. However, from guys that have killed more than two I've been told they taste like what they eat. A grass/berry bear is good....a garbage, carrion, or rotten fish bear is putrid. Luvsmystang shot one that he couldn't even choke down the meat in a burger/bear mix.

[Goldeneye]

Never had Corned bear, I bet it is good. Have done corned goose and that is wonderful. I had my bear hams smoked like pork and it was something to die for. 

Corned Goose?  Sounds like I might have to try that.  Considering I'm going back to Saskatchewan next month.  I should have a large cooler full of goose, crane, duck, and huns when I return.

This intrigues me greatly...

[D-Rock425]

Stangs bear was a little funny tasting. 

[h20hunter]

Never had Corned bear, I bet it is good. Have done corned goose and that is wonderful. I had my bear hams smoked like pork and it was something to die for. 

Corned Goose?  Sounds like I might have to try that.  Considering I'm going back to Saskatchewan next month.  I should have a large cooler full of goose, crane, duck, and huns when I return.

This intrigues me greatly...

Sounds pretty damn good to me.

[nocklehead]

That looks awesome! I humped the hills for 3 days so far and havent made contact yet....

I bet most guys who dont like bear meat dont treat their bears like meat which makes it worse. 

[ICEMAN]

I bet most guys who dont like bear meat dont treat their bears like meat which makes it worse. 

Exactly. Or like the guys who catch a trout, hook it to a stringer, drag it in the sun all day in the oily warm chop, and then clean it 8 hrs later warm. They then claim that all trout suck.

Treat it like food guys. Would you buy a steak and then lay it in the bed of your truck and parade it around all day before placing it in the fridge at home?

Non fish eating black bear meat is awesome, and that corned bear sandwich looks excellent!

[Southpole]

I bet most guys who dont like bear meat dont treat their bears like meat which makes it worse. 

Exactly. Or like the guys who catch a trout, hook it to a stringer, drag it in the sun all day in the oily warm chop, and then clean it 8 hrs later warm. They then claim that all trout suck.

Treat it like food guys. Would you buy a steak and then lay it in the bed of your truck and parade it around all day before placing it in the fridge at home?

Non fish eating black bear meat is awesome, and that corned bear sandwich looks excellent!

That thought entered my pea brain as well. How about the guys that shoot a bear when it's 75-80 degrees out. Unless you're driving a rig with a refrigerated unit on the back or killed it next to a snow bank, I can't see how a guy can get the meat put away in a cool place before it starts to spoil.

[RadSav]

This is really interesting (the corned bear sandwich looks excellent, by the way).  Out of respect for Cory's opinion, I wonder why bear elicits such a response.  For example, does bear meat from a Spring hunt tend to tasted differently than from an Autumn hunt?  I have heard guys say that a bear feasting on salmon tastes terrible.

Going way back (80 years or so), my Grandmother insisted that bear meat was the best, the tops.  In those days, I don't think that there was much choice, so that might have influenced her opinion.

You old salts weigh in here, please.  Why the divergence of opinion on bear meat?

Bear are very much what they eat.  Perhaps more than any other big game animal.  If eating berries they taste sweet.  If eating skunk cabbage they taste and smell like skunk.  If eating dead old rotten salmon they taste like that too.  High mountain bear that have been eating on ripe huckleberries is one of my favorite foods of all time.  Especially if they have been eating berries for months as in a mid October bear - Mmmmm Yummy!!  On the flipside we took a 548# old boar out of a skunk cabbage swamp near on old style garbage dump.  Tried to get my dog to eat it...the look on his face was like, "I'd rather eat my own poop thank you very much!"

One of the most important things when butchering a bear for tasty table fare is to completely bone them out!  Seems much of the offensive odor and taste comes from the marrow.  You also want to trim as much of the fat off as possible.  The kidney fat is good and mild, but the exterior fat is not.  The other thing I might add is bear is not like elk or beef...do not hang it for a week and expect the aging to improve the quality of the meat.  The faster it gets butchered the better IMO.

I can not say much about eating spring bear as I have eaten very few.  But of what I have eaten it has all been good!  This years spring bear was eating clover and he is quite excellent.  Not sweet, but one of the best eating bear I've had in a long time.

[DOUBLELUNG]

FWIW, I killed my first bear last year.  Was field-dressed and in the truck within 30 minutes, within an hour was lying on 100lbs of ice with another 50lbs in the cavity.  Skinned and boned out within 7 hours, and the fat-free trimmed meat was refrigerated within 7 hours.  17 year old dry sow.

I have fed my 13 year old (now 14) son meat from dozens of mule deer, whitetails, pronghorn, elk and moose.  The bear is his favorite, even over beef - BUT we weren't too crazy about grilled steaks - in stews, patty sausage, tacos, spaghetti sauce, burger it is superior to any other meat. 

Most of us have heard that bear fat goes rancid pretty quickly, so i do think getting it cooled down fast is important.  At least in older bears, the muscle fibers are large and there is more intramuscular fascia than ruminants - which i think is why either moist heat slow cooking to break down the collagen, or grinding produce the best results. 

While this is the only bear we've eaten entirely, I've had meals from lots of other bears - some good, some not.  However, a buddy who has killed 20+, and who's family of four prefers bear over all other meats, says the fish eaters are good too, it is just trickier to skin them without ever letting the hair touch the meat.  I can vouch that that is the difference between good pronghorn and bad, so makes sense to me.

[CoryTDF]

Bear meat makes me gag! never had good bear.

Worse i bet if ya eat with your mouth open...

Yes SIr!