Anyone ever kill a rotten bear??

[jrebel]

So me and my son both got bear this week.  I shot mine Friday night (200-250lbs), gutted within 10 minutes of shot.....skinnned a half hour later.  I shot it in the evening 6 pm ish as the storm was rolling in; temps mid 70's.  Temps where we were camped were getting down to the low to mid 40's at night.  We hung it over night and then took it to the cooler in the morning. 

Both me and my hunting partner thought the bear smelled funky from the first contact.  I didn't think anything of it because it was a bear.  The funk was more pronounced as we skinned it.  Long story short.....today I went to cut both bear up.  My sons bear was fantastic.  My bear was so funky it would have knocked a buzzard off a crap pile.  We found a big tumor in one of the arm pits to.  Needless to say this bear is not getting eaten by me.  4 bear shot by my family and only funky one so far. 

I am positive this was not a handling problem.   The bear was cold, dry and cleaned quickly. 

Anyone else ever shot a funky bear? 

jrebel

[h20hunter]

Stang on here shot a spring bear that was even to funky for crab bait.

[Jonathan_S]

Never shot one that I didn’t enjoy. Have eaten a fish bear that was unpleasant.

Out of the half dozen bears I’ve popped, the tastiest factors in order were handling, diet, age

[hunter399]

This is just my  here .
But as bear populations peak there are some bears that are just unhealthy.As they all compete for food .Some bears are gonna eat anything to make ends meet .Making them stink something nasty .
I wouldn't eat it myself.

[Doublelunger]

Sounds like you did everything right. I personally wouldn't eat it.

[huntnnw]

I’ve killed a lot or helped on many and only 1 bear I killed about 15 years ago sounds like the bear you killed. We had it skinned quartered and on ice within 2 hours of killing it. Opened cooler in the morning and about puked ! Still full of ice .

[Boss .300 winmag]

Did you dissect the tumor?

[jasnt]

Sounds like infection moved to the blood. May have died anyway.  I killed a coyote once that had porcupine quills under the skin and one eye that was poked out and infected.  Thing stunk so bad a buddy was gagging while I skinned it. After tanning it still stuck!!!!

[jrebel]

Did you dissect the tumor?

I cut it in half and it was solid.  It was cresent shaped 1/2 diameter (tubular) and 2-2.5" long.  Consistency was like an unriped banana.  White inside.  Very weird.   

[hollymaster]

Killed a town bear once that was gross.

[jrebel]

Here is the picture of the face / hide / paw.  It died in the thickest briar thickit it could find so we gutted and got it out before pics were taken.  It was a tall lanky bear with lots of fat.  One weird thing I noticed when skinning this bear is his stool was greyish black with a sandy texture.  No berries, grass, or any other notable food source.  I am pretty sure we bumped him off a carcass as there was a smell of decomp in the woods where he was.  We went back to find the carcass but couldn't.  I imagine it was a deer carcass due to archery season being in full swing. 

[Tiger1358]

I shot a bear last September around this time. Shot it around 7pm in the evening and found it around 8 am in the morning, and the meat was great, not even a single strange smell when skinning and gutting.
Your bear already had some problems. It sucks putting so much time and effort into it and finding that out late, but it's hunting, you don't know till you kill it.

[birddogdad]

sick maybe? wonder if wdfw would be interested in dissecting and testing ? i wouldn't eat it... just me...

[lamrith]

So me and my son both got bear this week.  I shot mine Friday night (200-250lbs), gutted within 10 minutes of shot.....skinnned a half hour later.  I shot it in the evening 6 pm ish as the storm was rolling in; temps mid 70's.  Temps where we were camped were getting down to the low to mid 40's at night.  We hung it over night and then took it to the cooler in the morning. 

Both me and my hunting partner thought the bear smelled funky from the first contact.  I didn't think anything of it because it was a bear.  The funk was more pronounced as we skinned it.  Long story short.....today I went to cut both bear up.  My sons bear was fantastic.  My bear was so funky it would have knocked a buzzard off a crap pile.  We found a big tumor in one of the arm pits to.  Needless to say this bear is not getting eaten by me.  4 bear shot by my family and only funky one so far. 

I am positive this was not a handling problem.   The bear was cold, dry and cleaned quickly. 

Anyone else ever shot a funky bear? 

jrebel

Yes,
My bear last year was that way, it smelled off as soon as I was skinning it, to the point I did not bring the meat out of the field.  I froze the skull and took it to a local processor to freeze while I finished the elk hunt.  Kept it frozen till I handed it to the Taxi for the Euro. 

Taxi called me the night I dropped it off, wanted to make sure I did not keep or eat any of the meat.  Said it was the most odd smell he has ever smelled in all his years of Taxi.  Was not spoiled meat/poor handling smell, but just wrong. MY bear looked healthy, though thin summer coat that turned out not worth doing anything with.

[Bushcraft]

The meat of the first black bear I killed smelled a little "off" when I was skinning it.  I wondered if the boar had rolled in something dead or if they just smelled that way.

I remembered reading somewhere of people test-cooking bear in the field before deciding whether or not it was worth bringing home.  So, I cut a fillet out of the backstrap and cooked it on the spot with some olive oil, salt and pepper.
Holy crap...disgusting! I could not finish the first bite. 

I hauled out the head and hide but left the meat for scavengers.

Every bear since has been very good.  The best one tasted like it had been marinating in alpine blueberries.