West Side vs. East side Bear

[funkmasterfresh]

This is my first time I'm hoping to go out hunting. I'm planning on scoring a deer/bear tag and bagging whatever I can find, if anything.

I'd really like to stick to the peninsula if I can. I like the idea of hiking the forest and being a bit more in the thick of things. It's way more my element and it's what I grew up in. Not to mention it's closer to me currently.
My boss told me to stick to east side for bear though. He said bear on the east feed on berries whereas west side bear typically go for fish. You can apparently taste the difference.

I believe him, I'm just curious how much of a difference it actually makes. Am I going to be severely bummed out trying to stomach my first bear if it came from the peninsula?

[TooTallMike]

I got my bear last year in late Aug on the west side... Was eating berries when I spotted it.

[WSU]

Westside bears eat berries too.  Find a big patch of ripe berries and look for bear poop. 

[opdinkslayer]

  Bears will eat almost anything they can get their lips on. Grass & skunk cabbage in the spring transitioning to popping stumps & berries closer to season. I know plenty of people that eat west side bears and really like it. Logic would say that the higher elevation bears taste better due to feed.🤷‍♂️

[Mtnwalker]

Last bear I killed was 10 miles from salt water. He was delicious

[1Guy]

Smoked bear ham one of the best things I ever ate 

[Slow-drifter]

Lived on the peninsula my whole life, and can honestly say I've never seen evidence of a bear eating fish, unless it was pre-ban and someone was putting carks in a stump. Every one I've killed has been delicious.

[funkmasterfresh]

Far out. That gives me some confidence in my decision.

I know people like to keep honey holes in general, so I'm not looking for any specific spots. But I'm scouting X-Maps for GMU 638 and 636 seeing what areas I want to scout out, are those units even worth my time? I saw low hunter numbers in the harvest reports but also decent success rates. Is it just because you have to hike past a lot of the logging gates?

[RobinHoodlum]

Ditto what slow-drifter said. Not a lot of fish or garbage Bears in Washington. Bear meat is generally excellent table fare. Not saying you won't have a tough one from time to time. But, a lot of misinformation regarding bears being too gamey, fatty or only good for pepperoni. Just need to care for it properly and get rid of excess fat.

[funkmasterfresh]

My dad swears bear is the worst meat, but from what I've been reading (scored Steve Rinella's big/small game books) and the general consensus from talking to others so far is it's great, you just have to be a smidge picky on what you bag. And to ensure you freeze it whatfer trichinosis.

In all reality I'd rather bag a blacktail, but the skills to bag them seem much higher, and restrictions seem much lower on bear so I'll I'm going to focus on that front.

[JimmyHoffa]

I think bear is pretty good.  Only a few rivers where bear seem to get into fish anymore.  And most of those are near or after bear season closes. Aug/sep/early oct the rivers are usually pretty low. The pinks spawn low in the rivers so not really a problem.  The kings come back in such low numbers I doubt the bears are getting much. I see the silvers start to move in around late oct or early nov and dependent on rain. Then the season is nearly over.

[WSU]

The only bad bear I've had (it was really BAD) was one that I took to a butcher straight from the field because it was August and I wanted to cool it down.  Probably should have bought coolers and ice.  I assume they ground it fat and all.  It was eating berries but about every 3rd bite would make you want to puke.  I assume that is from lack of trimming the fat but I don't know.

[Bango skank]

The only bad bear I've had (it was really BAD) was one that I took to a butcher straight from the field because it was August and I wanted to cool it down.  Probably should have bought coolers and ice.  I assume they ground it fat and all.  It was eating berries but about every 3rd bite would make you want to puke.  I assume that is from lack of trimming the fat but I don't know.

They charge by the pound.  Of course they just ground all the nasty crap into there.  Bring coolers full of ice, bone that sucker out and remove fat, get meat on ice.  Butcher at home.  Save money, far better product.

[dilleytech]

The only bad bear I've had (it was really BAD) was one that I took to a butcher straight from the field because it was August and I wanted to cool it down.  Probably should have bought coolers and ice.  I assume they ground it fat and all.  It was eating berries but about every 3rd bite would make you want to puke.  I assume that is from lack of trimming the fat but I don't know.

Bear fat is delicious. And butchers generally suck.

[dilleytech]

My dad swears bear is the worst meat, but from what I've been reading (scored Steve Rinella's big/small game books) and the general consensus from talking to others so far is it's great, you just have to be a smidge picky on what you bag. And to ensure you freeze it whatfer trichinosis.

In all reality I'd rather bag a blacktail, but the skills to bag them seem much higher, and restrictions seem much lower on bear so I'll I'm going to focus on that front.

Bear meat is great. But remember it’s the cooking it well done to 165 that’s Important not the freezing part. I have come to the conclusion everyone who says bear meat is bad made that decision because someone else said it was bad. “It’s bad because everyone know bear is bad” old wise tails kinda things. All my life I have never had bad tasting meat..

Maybe a coastal brown bear living off salmon is a different story or something..