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Is bear meat worth the effort?


nycredneck
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So while scouting a place to hang my archery deer stand I came across quite a bit of bear sign, I have seen them there before and guess they still are. Question is, I will be hunting alone and unless I shoot a small one to drag downhill to a road I will have to quarter it and bring it out in pieces, I'm not 20 yrs old anymore and it's all uphill. 

  So is bear meat that good and worth all the work I will be doing, then theres the butcher cost? 

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Speaking from zero experience , I have never taken a bear and am over 50 and I would love to get just one no matter how much I would have to work to get him/her to the butcher .... quartering sounds about right and who cares about the cost !  IMO

Edited by GreeneHunter
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I would say it all comes down to how much do you want to kill one.

 

I've had bear, not much different than deer, a little tougher. You have to be careful to make sure it's cooked through, since it can contain trichina worms (trichinosis), and it's not advised to make jerky or cured sausage out of it.

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OK then, aside from eating it raw I will shoot, dress and get it a butcher ASAP. then cook it well done. Is there any way to have the meat tested for Trichinosis? I guess the bears get it from their diet.

I would assume it would be pretty pricey to have it tested. Just cook the meat through (160+ degrees) and don't try making jerky or slim jims out of it, and you'll be fine. It's not the same as cod fish or swordfish worms, the larvae are too small to see. Wild hogs/boars, and any animal that eats carrion can contain trichina worms.

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Got my bear in 2010 and ate all of it.  Mine was 300 pounds and living in the forest eating mostly nuts and berries.  I know guys who took bear that lived near a garbage dump, and that really affects the taste of the meat.  A bear tastes like what it eats.

 

It's also very important to cool the carcass down as quickly as possible.  The meat will start to turn quickly if it isn't cooled fast.  So gut it quick and skin it in the woods if it is warm out, especially in the spring.  If it's big, quarter it and carry it out.

 

Cook it well and you will not have to worry about anything.  It is also a good idea to trim all the fat off the meat when you cook it as the fat tastes gamey and will make the meat taste that way as well.

 

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Its delicious! Ive taken 3 bears in 11years all were tasty and worm free, I actually find it to be more tender than venison but to each their own. Tric is found in pigs too

I don't think you can tell they're worm free unless you roll the dice and eat it cooked rare..........unless you sent a piece of it to a lab for testing.

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OMG, on 28 Oct 2014 - 5:18 PM, said:

This is what I heard, Get it butchered and let it sit in the freezer for 6 months, then it is safe to eat. 

 

Not true.....

 

Some worms are freeze resistant.

 

And most folks don't freeze cold enough (20 days at minus 5* for pork)

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