After the Kill

[ZeroTucker]

What do you guys doing with your bears? Every bit of Bear meat that I have had is nasty... Maybe it just wasn't processed well?

I know I would love to have a sweet bear rug with head and all but that is EXPENSIVE!!!! and it would be such a waste to kill one just for a rug.

[halflife65]

Sausage is good.  I also ground it up and mixed it with beef fat or pork fat and then ate it in spaghetti sauce, tacos, etc.  It was pretty good that way.

You can also get a shoulder mount - I have a rug and shoulder mount (include a white blaze on his chest) and the shoulder was definitely a lot less expensive.  I also have the skull of one of the bears.

[Whitelightning]

I got my first last year, I made steaks and roast just like I do with deer. I really like it not gamey, my kids like it also.

I am having the hide rugged hope to get it back soon.

[bigtex]

What do you guys doing with your bears? Every bit of Bear meat that I have had is nasty... Maybe it just wasn't processed well?

I know I would love to have a sweet bear rug with head and all but that is EXPENSIVE!!!! and it would be such a waste to kill one just for a rug.

Every bear I have had is GREAT. I usually do jerky, peperoni, sausage and hamburger. And mount the head.

[Huntboy]

Summer sausuge, and it was really good.

[skier2480]

I also cut it up into steaks and roast. I BBQ the steaks and season them just like any other stead and to me tastes great. My wife won't touch it after I showed her the pics of the hunt including gutting and skinning. OH well, more for me!  


I just have the skull cleaned and mounted. It's pretty cheap.

[Grizzly95]

I am hoping to arrow my first bear this year, or get my wife on one. It is her first year hunting. Gonna try up outside of Newport if anyone has any tips  My cousin has a place and they have been coming in to his stand.

[saylean]

Im bout like everyone else on here. I have the meat made into summer sausage, breakfast sausage, roasts, pep sticks. Use the hides either as mounted rugs or just tanned, use the skulls as bleached deco art...

[LCG]

I'm a meat hunter and dont care about rugs or mounts. Bear is pretty good if you get rid of all the fat. I treat it just like deer ecept we add more hot spices when cooking. The heat seems to kill of some of the gaminess. Bear chili is great as is sausage.

Don

[HereDuckyDucky]

I don't think bear tastes great or tastes awful.  It's not that simple.  It depends on a lot of factors:  the bear's age; what he's been eating; what time of the year is it; how was the meat cared for; etc.

I've had bear steak that taste like duck liver; and I've had bear steaks that were better than beef fillet.

In my experience, if you get a young bear (250lbs or smaller) that smells like a winery when you open it up (berries / fruit), and you take care of the meat properly, you'll have some of the finest wild game you can find.

Old bears are tough.  Bears that have been eating animal matter taste like it.  Etc.

...but even those bears make AWESOME summer sausage!!!

RW

[Michelle_Nelson]

HereDuckyDucky there are a LOT of Old bears that will never get over 200lbs.  There are also fairly young Bears that are over the 250 mark.  Going by just weight is not a good indication if it is a young Bear or not. 

Field care and what the Bears have been feeding on I think play the biggest part on what a Bear is going to taste like.  If they have not been feeding on fish that Field care is #1.  If it is hot out the fat on a Bear even if it has been skinned can go rancid pretty quick. 

So far I have prefered my Bear made into sausage, and stix.  I am not a big steak or roast eater is the main reason.  i prefer meat in taco's, spagetti sauce, stir fry, etc.  The occational back strap steak.   

[Kain]

Anyone ever try to sell the hide?  It seems like I saw some black bear skins on the list when I was looking at fur prices.

[halflife65]

Is selling the hide legal?

[Kain]

Is selling the hide legal?

Yes

http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/00766/wdfw00766.pdf  Page 73

3. Purchasing or Selling
Wildlife or Their
Parts:
Non-edible portions of
wild animals and game
birds may be sold or
traded (antlers, hides,
teeth), except for bighorn
sheep; mountain goat;
velvet antlers of deer or
elk; or the gall bladder,
claws, and teeth of bear,
except those claws
or teeth permanently
attached to a full bear
skin or mounted bear
or the raw fur of a wild
animal or the wild animal
itself, if the wild animal,
has been trapped in
this state with a body
gripping trap.

[halflife65]

Ah, so as long as you didn't trap it, if I'm interpreting that correctly.