Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Bear Hunting => Topic started by: uncoolperson on March 18, 2009, 08:19:22 PM

Title: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: uncoolperson on March 18, 2009, 08:19:22 PM: before I attempt to pretend to hunt bear I'd like to give some a shot, if it didn't settle with me I wouldn't feel right tossin the meat away and/or basically getting a bear for the fur alone.

anyone around whatcom skagit have any they'd give out for free/moderate $$?
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: Pathfinder101 on March 18, 2009, 10:40:16 PM: Even if you don't like the meat, you can make it into jerky. Make sure you cut off ALL the fat. THe last nasty thing that bear ate (and they will eat some nasty stuff) will be in his fat cells. You will wind up throwing away some meat, but if it has fat, cut it off. Just brine it longer than you would other meats (4 or 5 days) and mix your brine with fruit juice instead of water, then smoke it with fruit wood. Good stuff. I jerked out my whole bear a couple of years ago. Most people couldn't tell it was bear meat. (We tried throwing a steak on the grill just for kicks. It was terrible.)
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: M_ray on March 18, 2009, 10:49:54 PM: Go bear hunt and kill one! trust me if you don't like there are plenty on here including me that will take it off your hands! ;)
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: Aneoakleaf on March 18, 2009, 10:56:24 PM: Pathfinder....... :dunno:... Bears are scavengers but eat lots of grass and brush. I've never had a bear that taisted bad. Yes, as soon as you get it home you take all the fat off and take the meat off the bone. Our 5 kids and all our family have loved it. One of the 8 bears I killed was so tender my husband said it was as tender and good as the home made bread that I fixed with it. Later that bear was aged as 16 yrs old. Another one was gray haired, but still ate great. :chuckle: We always had the locker cut all the steaks and roasts they could get then mixed the burger with pork suit. It was great! :drool: You have to care for your bear like any wild game . of corse all my bears were taken with an arrow so maybe that was the differance?
Uncool ...you can't leagely buy ANY bear parts in WA. :dunno: Don't even try it! :dunno: :dunno: :dunno: Annie
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on March 18, 2009, 11:14:52 PM: You can buy and sell Bear Hides.

You CAN NOT buy, sell, or trade, bear claws, or teeth unless attached the hide. I was told they had to be attached to the entire hide by F&G.

I am not sure about meat however. Though I still wouldn't try and buy bear meat. Chances are it is illegal.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: Aneoakleaf on March 18, 2009, 11:23:53 PM: Quote from: Michelle_Nelson on March 18, 2009, 11:14:52 PM
You can buy and sell Bear Hides.

You CAN NOT buy, sell, or trade, bear claws, or teeth unless attached the hide. I was told they had to be attached to the entire hide by F&G.

I am not sure about meat however. Though I still wouldn't try and buy bear meat. Chances are it is illegal.
I don't know. :dunno:..maybe tanned bear hides.. Don't go by what they tell you on the phone :yike: Read it for your self in the rules.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: SHANE(WA) on March 19, 2009, 12:51:09 AM: you can sell hides tanned or not
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: Gutpile on March 19, 2009, 05:49:46 AM: Quote from: Aneoakleaf on March 18, 2009, 11:23:53 PM
I don't know. :dunno:..maybe tanned bear hides.. Don't go by what they tell you on the phone :yike: Read it for your self in the rules.

You are incorrect. You can buy and sell hides.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: billythekidrock on March 19, 2009, 05:56:37 AM: Should I repeat it?

Yes, you can sell the claws and skulls if attached to the hide. Green or tanned.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: cohoho on March 19, 2009, 08:00:52 AM: I can't speak for WA bears but I have had some nasty tasting bears, (guess I'll have to go and shoot one to see how they taste here on my own record). Once their on fish they taste like crap, no matter how careful you are with meat. Spring bears are yummy though.....
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: uncoolperson on March 19, 2009, 08:48:37 AM: Quote from: cohoho on March 19, 2009, 08:00:52 AM
I can't speak for WA bears but I have had some nasty tasting bears, (guess I'll have to go and shoot one to see how they taste here on my own record). Once their on fish they taste like crap, no matter how careful you are with meat. Spring bears are yummy though.....

yeah, my only bear experience has been alaskan bears... I'd like to make sure it's nothing like that before I pretend to try to put one down.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: whacker1 on March 19, 2009, 09:08:29 AM: My only bad bear experience has been with Alaskan fish eating bears. Even if you remove the fat - they still taste fishy. Hard to explain. The bears in the lower 48 are some of my favorite. I call it the dark pork. I usually recommend cooking it on an open flame to let any fat that is left cook off the meat. If you cook in a pan it can taste funny based on cooking it in its own fat grease.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: NRA4LIFE on March 19, 2009, 09:13:55 AM: Bear meat makes excellent ham. Sausage too. I'v only had the meat from 3 or 4 WI bears, none from WA (yet). They were all quite tasty. Put a roast in the crockpot with a couple bottles of Guinness. Very tasty.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: boneaddict on March 19, 2009, 09:14:43 AM: You canoot buy or sell game MEAT. I'm sure someone can hook you up for a taste though.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: Shannon on March 19, 2009, 09:28:33 AM: I am in Burlington. PM me and I will hook you up. I still have some of last springs bear. I can give you burger, steaks, jerky meat, whatever you want. I am the only one that eats it in my house. My four year old does also but he can't put a dent in the stock pile in the freezer. I have gone on a spree of eating it to make room for the spring bear I get after I draw this week. :)
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: Pathfinder101 on March 19, 2009, 10:11:47 AM: Quote from: NRA4LIFE on March 19, 2009, 09:13:55 AM
Put a roast in the crockpot with a couple bottles of Guinness. Very tasty.

I will have to try that one. Sounds good.
All I know is that the one I shot 2 years ago tasted like @$$. I threw a steak on the grill at my superbowl party and 4 of us each had a couple of bites. All hunters, all eat plenty of wild game, all several beers into the game... all agreed that the rest of that bear should go into a jerky brine... who knows, maybe I shot her after she had been gorging on a rotten elk for a week. :dunno: so, I brined her up, jerked her out, and munched happily on her for the rest of the year. fed her to a couple of guys I know that refuse to eat bear. After 3 or 4 pieces I told them it was bear and they couldn't believe it. I plan to shoot another one this year, so I will experiment more with different ways to cook them.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: saylean on March 19, 2009, 10:16:42 AM: The biggest thing with bear meat....

gotta get all the fat off you can, and ya gotta eat it hot (if your cooking it).

Bear meat takes real well to spices for jerky/sausage.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: uncoolperson on March 29, 2009, 09:02:58 AM: did up some bear burgers last night. Thanks

gonna have to do some serious looking into getting myself one.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: RailRob on March 29, 2009, 09:30:30 PM: I have only had it once, thought it was ok..I would get it all made into burger..cant go wrong with that!!
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: fishing is for fools on April 17, 2009, 09:01:08 AM: Not all bears are good. The bears that eat dead fish carcasses in AK do not taste very well at all.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: uncoolperson on April 17, 2009, 09:14:47 AM: okay, maybe I messed something up.

worked awesome in burgers
not as awesome in chili
less good in strogenoff

Thanks to shannon I have more than enough to try different things.
(thanks again!)
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: saylean on April 17, 2009, 09:23:20 AM: I just had my first bear burgers the other day...

cant say I liked it. I ate it, but I can think of other burger I like better. So it will be all summer sausage, jerky, roast and breakfast sausage from here on out for the bearskies.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: NRA4LIFE on April 17, 2009, 09:31:43 AM: The meat from the bears we killed in Wisconsin had a slight sweet taste to it. Never really knew if it was from all the berries they ate or from us feeding them twinkies and ding-dongs for 2 months.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: EastWaViking on April 17, 2009, 09:33:18 AM: Had my bear made into German Sausage and it was the best I'd ever had. I also heard the smoked hams are real good.
Title: Re: I want to try some bear meat
Post by: BENCHLEG on April 18, 2009, 08:36:35 PM: i know of someone that likes to use bear fat for pie crust. i have never tried it but she likes it.