Daveboone

I have never aged it, doing all my butchering myself. My biggest bears were 275-300 lbs. I didnt notice any difference in the quality of the meat. The recipes that both we and friends like the most cook it like a pot roast. Texture is identical, I put a cup of beef broth in with it. Treat it like any slow cooked beef /pork and you are good. A former hunting partner (sadly now departed) and his wife both loved thier bear. Every spring and fall they went on bear hunts (New Brunswick), both expecting to get one, and they usually did. Meat hunters. They had more rugs than a rug merchant. They went crazy for bear burger, and preferred them medium rare.

I beg to differ. I have shot and kept the meat from five bears, and everyone I have served it to has liked it. The problem usually lies in the field prep. Few hunters treat bear meat ...or the bear, as they would venison. The black coat soaks up sun quickly, and can affect the meat. Just like with venison, very promptly field dress and cool the meat, keeping it as as cool as you can and out of the sun...skin it quickly. Lots of dingbats leave the bear hanging to show it off, which is a horrible idea. Trim as much of the fat as you can. Bears can carry trichinosis, so you want to serve it well, like pork. For that reason most bear meat goes into sausage or roasts, but we get ribs, chops, and burger too. And I have to admit...I have cheated a few times and kept some nice steaks, cooking them as I would venison...serving a nice medium rare. Delicious. Luckily, no trichinosis for me....but I had to try it.

The problem with bears is they always die in the most godforsaken impossible to get to locations, and are a rolling flopping blob to get out of the woods. A tarp makes it much easier...

I have butchered several..really, same cuts as a deer. I would inquire with deer butchers local to you to see if they can do it.. Think more roasts and sausage though, as you want it cooked well due to trichinosis risk.

questions....how big a chunk of land and how many hunters a day do they take? Time of season? Invariably no matter where you go or for what, you always see a lot more small critters than big...its about patience and holding off. Call the place up /go to their website and look for references.

We did Canada (Newfoundland). No draw, license guaranteed through outfitter...mandatory guide.

A moose hunt was a life long dream...specifically a guided fly in hunt. After years of stashing extra cash away and selling off some unappreciated firearms, I was able to go to Newfoundland. Amazing. Weather was very bad, but I was lucky enough to take a young bull with palmated antlers. Three years later I went back..(sold more guns!). An even better time...better weather except it was hot, and moose do not liike hot. I shot a big cow, and was very pleased, but left with even more memories....finding indian petroglyphs, walked up on caribou, had a chance (and passed) at the biggest bear I will ever see in my life... Your antler is cool, but it is worth the effort to go.

I usually will leave the load in if weather is fair, but pull it if it will be in there more than a week OR if it is cold enough outside to get condensation or wet/damp/rainy. The wet weather shouldnt be much of a factore for hunting one or two days (I put electrical tape over the muzzle, and a piece of duct tape over the breech when outside). When you get back to the truck/cabin, paper towel it dry best you can with particular attention to the breech, but certainly err on the side of caution.

guaranteed headache: Welches grape juice concentrate, about two cups of water in a big old red wine jug. Fill with water, shake,put a balloon over the top and let it sit about 10 days. Guaranteed skull popper.

I used to love bow hunting, but didnt like compound. I loved recurve but couldnt shoot enough to stay proficient. I then went largely into muzzleloading. Cap and ball traditional ml for me, but as the weather gets really rotten I will tote my centerfire.

Just call your local permit office and ask them. I am guessing that you just take the serial # and model # information in once you recieve it and they add it (maybe the reciept?)

Good news ....they are probably the two least needed pieces of equipment, even though we get used to them. Undoubtedly you know the ranges of your equipment / stand locations, and Ol' Daniel Boone and Davey Crocket did fine without em.

Central NY is a desert....Runnings has a bunch of stuff, but it is very inline oriented ( I am traditional patch and ball). I get everything online. Track of the Wolf is good, and very quick with shipping. Dixie Gun Works has been around a long time, but their web site stinks and shipping is slow. Primers...I would call locally. Remember, worse case scenario with shotgun type primers...you can use shotgun primers. Just check them for ignition first, especially with black powder substitutes. Ra-lins in Syracuse had black powder last thursday, you might call them if you need powders or primers.

my hope is to go cap and ball all season. My Lyman .54 Great Plains rifle is to be the main gun, but in good weather I hope to use my Pedersoli GPR flintlock as much as possible. Two weeks to go for NT ML season!

I treat my trail cams as entertainment, to see what is in the woods. It does give me a very good idea of what is out there, but without permanent food draws (crops, etc) to attract the deer during hunting season, the deer are very erratic showing up. I hunt just as much as ever, and certainly see plenty of deer...bucks and does, that jsut never show on my cameras, especially late season when the snow is moving them down off the hill to the lowlands.

Since I was a toddler, I pestered dad to take me hunting. Funny thing was, his family never was much into it. From an early age I loved being in the woods....the smells, the sounds, the peace. It has only grown. Every year I look forward to the season even more. I love venison, I love putting my skills/marksmanship to its purpose. I love the calming setting of sitting in the woods with no stress or distraction, with good friends company when possible.

I have been shutting ...shooting Scheutzen (sic?) mostly this summer. I cant tell the diff. with Goex.

I had the original min 14, which I picked up for about 240.. when Service Merchandise closed, way back when. It truly handled like a pistol, was fun, ammo back then was cheaper than rimfire (almost). I just never had a real purpose for it. Traded it for a .44 mag. Sure wish I had it back, but then I still wouldnt have a use for it.

GOEX black powder is manufactured in its own facility. They have had a number of accidents at the facility, most recently just this spring. My guess is the bean counters dont like the liability of the facility. I went back fully to BP this year after years of frustration with substitutes. It is so much more reliable, easier ignition, and really, simple to clean up from. And you can not use substitutes with flintlocks.

I have long used the Lyman manual. Usually I find a good movie on tv and settle down with it on my lap (it is mounted on a piece of hardwood). That and priming I can do in front of the tv which helps reduce the tedious chores. The weird part of trimming....45 acp cases actually get shorter! I dont know if this is the case for all ranges of loadings, but it is a weird exception.

I really do not pay any attention or could care about such things as the new rankings, etc. that are now on the site. That said, I am a bit confused how after 10 years active participation I am a rookie? And granted...despite how active someone may be or how long on site, it is no reflection on someones actual experiences or acceptance on the site.

A large part of the ADKS, as already mentioned, doesnt hold many deer. Just not enough forage in the pine forests, and they dont like the abrupt terrain in the high peaks either. You need to find the transitional forest/ borders, etc. I have had alot of folks mention they see alot around the villages...of course. Nice lawns, golf courses, parks, etc.

I think most folks start with one eye closedand with experience/developed reflexes, transition automatically to both open if they shoot enough.

Depends somewhat on the weather...primarily the wind and how warm it is. If it is cooler, likely a back hardwood ridge about a 1/4 mile back from my camp. Breezy or warmer, my favorite stand which is very close by located on a active pathway. I really would hate to shoot anything opening morning though, no reason to go out for the rest of the week (ML season).

You have a .308. Use it. The 22-250 is designed from the ground up as a varminter. Yes, with the proper bullet ,placed you can certainly kill a deer...as you could with a .22 long rifle rimfire. But with all the variables out there, twigs, angles, last microsecond goofs with the trigger, it will be very unforgiving. You have a proper rifle. It would be irresponsible not to use it. FYI I have owned several 22-250s, in different configurations, handloaded for all of them I love the cartridge for its given purpose. I also have, reload and use .308s....several over the years. It is a fine capable round. Any reasonable shot it is capable of taking cleanly.