Post by: Fishhuntmike on January 16, 2013, 01:19:32 PM
As a child, my grandma always told me that bear lard makes the best pie crust. I didn't really think too much about it at the time, but as im growing older I decided I want to give it a try. Ive shot several bears in the past and never tried using the lard for cooking. So this year I decided to go after another bear in a spot I first hunted 29 years ago near the Idaho/Canadian boarder of Washington. My goal was to do a solo backpack hunt with my 11# Shiloh Sharps 45-110 saddle rifle. I also wanted to test out my brand new Eberlistock J34 pack to see how well it can pack in camp and pack out bear+camp. Finally, I just had to try bear lard huckleberry pie!
I drove 5 hours from my home to where I would park and start hiking. When I got there in the early afternoon under warm, wind free, sunny skys I was a little annoyed at all the vehicles I drove past. It was archery deer hunters I was guessing mostly and perhaps some huckleberry pickers. The huckleberry crop seemed to be the best that I could remember, not being a regular to this place. I packed a gallon of water with me knowing I would find little or none. I hiked up a mountain and along a ridgeline mostly at timberline and the berries were everywhere. I set up camp about 3 1/2 miles in. Then I hiked the last bit with my gun to an overlook where I shot my first bear 22 years ago. It was a beautiful setting! And I saw no one at all on my way in, so I had the place all to myself!
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I think the near full moon played a part in why I did not see any deer or bear that evening. I wasn't too disappointed though since the idea of packing a bear out of a hole in the dark didn't excite me that much.
The following morning I awoke about 45 minutes before sunrise and scrambled out of my tent. I quickly ate some granola bars and hiked a short distance to my overlook and immediately spotted 3 bears in my binoculars. The closest one was over a half mile around the basin on the opposite side and the two others were even further. None were below me in the bowl where I took a stand. I quickly memorized the big dead tree to the left of the bear and started hiking around the basin staying as high as possible and out of sight. When I got around the sun had just illuminated the area where the bear was and I could not locate it. I went beyond that bear to the other two I saw and they were also gone. It seems that they head for cover as soon as the sun comes out. I decided to hike over the next ridge after that and get to where I could find some more slopes that the sun hadn't got to yet. I was about 1 1/2 miles beyond my camp when I spotted 3 more bears. One of the bears (closest one) was slowly working its way down into the timber maybe 10 minutes ahead of the sunshine. I quickly started getting closer and I could only get glimpses of it through the trees in my rangefinder. I kept fiddling with my sight settings as I got closer and finally just set it for 100 yards since I eventually lost sight of it. Then I just still hunted down the timber where I last saw it and then heard a scratching sound so I froze. A few seconds later I saw the bear walking towards me at an angle so I quickly aimed through an opening in the dead branches and shot it. The bear (est 175 -200lbs) went about 50 yards and I shot it behind the front shoulder facing me and it came out in front of the back opposite rear leg.
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Three grueling hours later I packed that bear (boned out meat) out of a hole 500 feet down the 1 1/2 - 2 miles back to my tent. I was now out of water! I dreaded the idea of attempting to hike all the way back to the truck with the bear and camp and realized I need to put the meat in the shade and hike down 500 feet or so and get another gallon of water. So thats what I did, but it was closer to 1000 ft. That night it rained and was really windy, but morning was quiet and beautiful.
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I packed up camp.
Put everything in my pack (it worked pretty well!).
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And huffed the last 3 1/2 miles back to the truck. So no bears that day. I brought provisions to make a pie back at the truck but I was hungry and too tired to stay any longer so I picked some huckleberries and took them home with me.
I rendered some of the fat in a little pan.
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Made a fresh huckleberry pie (small one)
Put it in a dutch oven.
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Cooked it for 1 hour with 7 briquets on the bottom and nine on top
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And it came out perfect! The crust was fantastic! Rich and buttery without any animal taste. Better than a crisco crust pie.
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Hope it was worth reading. The load was a 0.325" meplat 540 grain (20:1 lead:tin) bullet of my own design with 93 gr swiss 1 1/2 fg +.060 wad, homemade lube, br2 primer, Starline stretched 45-110 brass.
Mike
Post by: combs338 on January 16, 2013, 01:21:23 PM
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Post by: Quackwhacker on January 16, 2013, 05:26:31 PM
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
Post by: yote on January 16, 2013, 05:39:30 PM
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Post by: lokidog on January 16, 2013, 05:59:25 PM
Post by: Fishhuntmike on January 16, 2013, 06:47:34 PM
Mike
Post by: Dan-o on January 16, 2013, 06:48:37 PM
Post by: huntnnw on January 16, 2013, 11:50:02 PM
That country is awesome and the bear population is ridiculous..wish more people would do their part and take bears
Post by: ICEMAN on January 17, 2013, 06:03:57 AM
Love the story and pics!!!
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on January 17, 2013, 06:14:40 AM
Post by: Harborhunter on January 17, 2013, 11:43:05 AM
Post by: KimberRich on January 17, 2013, 11:53:39 AM
Post by: Machias on January 18, 2013, 03:57:09 AM
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Post by: Ripper on January 19, 2013, 12:29:18 PM
Post by: pd on January 19, 2013, 09:36:52 PM
My elder brothers often told me about "Grandma's Bear Grease Sugar Cookies," which they (supposedly) ate as young boys. My mother (her daughter) strenuously insists that this never, ever happened. It is now a legend in our family. On the flip side, an uncle insists that his family only used bear grease for boot leather, but that it smelled horribly, and rotted the leather.
Good job, and nice story.
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on January 19, 2013, 10:09:08 PM
Post by: JLS on January 19, 2013, 10:22:20 PM
Post by: Fishhuntmike on January 20, 2013, 02:46:36 PM
I'm not planning any spring bear hunt this year. Looking forward to another backpack bear hunt this fall however. I'll be looking for another small one with good fat on it. I made summer sausage with this one using hickory chips and pork fat and it is better than deer or elk sausage in my opinion. Also made some bratwurst with apple wood. Mmm.
My goal this year is to shoot one with my new Shiloh sharps rifle in 44-77 (44 2 1/4 SBN) using the traditional paper-patched bullet. The 44-77 was the first chambering in the sharps bpcr rifle and was the most popular caliber at the time (early 1870's) until the 45-70 came out.
Post by: Machias on January 21, 2013, 09:52:06 AM
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Post by: johnr060 on March 02, 2013, 07:06:18 PM
Post by: TheHunt on March 08, 2013, 07:20:07 PM
Post by: Fishhuntmike on March 10, 2013, 07:03:54 AM
I think I just used 1/3 cup lard and 1/2 tsp salt to each cup of all purpose flour. Keep all the ingredients ice cold and don't over mix/knead. I usually use about 4 tb ice water for each cup of four.
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on March 10, 2013, 09:33:47 AM
Just substitute bear lard for crisco in any pie crust recipe.
I think I just used 1/3 cup lard and 1/2 tsp salt to each cup of all purpose flour. Keep all the ingredients ice cold and don't over mix/knead. I usually use about 4 tb ice water for each cup of four.
Thanks Mike! :tup: :tup:
Post by: NWWA Hunter on March 10, 2013, 10:14:27 AM
Post by: ICEMAN on October 22, 2013, 06:37:26 PM
One of my favorite stories on here...
Post by: Call em in on October 22, 2013, 06:50:44 PM
Post by: CAMPMEAT on October 22, 2013, 07:07:38 PM
Post by: ICEMAN on October 22, 2013, 07:21:11 PM
Post by: quadrafire on October 22, 2013, 07:28:52 PM
That is a nice rifle by the way!!
Post by: Windwalker on October 23, 2013, 05:24:09 PM
I have a sudden craving for pie now... :chuckle:
Thanks for bumping this story back up Iceman.
Post by: Kc_Kracker on October 27, 2013, 01:22:37 PM