Bear meat

[Tonyjoe]

I am new to the area. I am in the Army and have recently moved to West Point and am looking for a bear to put on the wall next to my AK black bear. The black bear I shot in Alaska was awesome and it had some of the tastiest meat I have ever had. I know one of the main reasons for that was because the area I got him in was an area where the bears ate almost 100% berries. I had heard if I shot one who lived near a salmon stream he would taste fishy instead of sweet like mine.

Does anyone eat their bear they harvest in NY? If so do you find a problem with the meat tasting bad because of their diet? I want to ensure the meat is not going to be bad before I spend the money on a butcher to process it and I end of with bad tasting meat.

Thanks,

Tonyjoe

[cbx46]

I shot a bear a few years ago and the meat is delicous my wife loves the chopmeat cut with beef burgers but my bear also ate prob primarilly berries no dumps, camps, curbside garbage,etc...

[the blur]

I heard it's not too good. have to turn the whole bear into sausage, which is why I don't take one. Especially the bear over bait in maine or canada, eating greasy oil.

[cbx46]

Maybe bear over bait but here in NY with no baiting and depending on what they eat mine was delicious I made chilli for camp with chunks of black bear and venison the bear dissolved in your mouth. My bro actually had one he guessed at 250 at about 45 yrds outside a swamp on Sunday but it presented no shot and that is a tricky spot things can go MIA in that swamp quite easy.

[pawle76]

The most important thing to remember when making bear is getting every bit of fat off the meat. The fat is what makes it taste bad.

[Tonyjoe]

I am hoping to see one while I am out deer hunting. I will probably not actively look for one, but if the opportunity presents itself I will not complain. I got lucky with my Alaska bear and shot him in the spring right after hibernation. When he was processed they had to add beef fat so he was not so dry. Best meat ever though.

[cbx46]

My brother saw one in our property on the 16th. Probably only 225 but 1st bear with a bow thats what mine was he said he will take it if he sees it again.

[Uncle Nicky]

I've killed a few bears in Canada & 1 in Maine...the meat tasted just fine to me, not as strong as deer, just a little chewy. I was warned to make sure it is cooked through & NOT to make smoked items (jerky, ring bologna, slim-jims) out of it because bears often have trichnosis; not sure if it's true, but didn't want to chance it. Good luck getting one out of the woods, feels like you're dragging 300# of dead weight.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

much like deer the meat taste is effected by what they eat. I took one in Canad and it was a bait hunt.....the outfit only used grain and meat for bait....meat was wonderfuland my daughters favorite. My father took one 2 years ago in the very southern range of the NZ bear area. Is is Ag land and the bears had been eating corn all summer and early fall. That was even better than the one I took in Canada....now that said...prior to those two I had tried bear twice and I know both were taken up north in proximity to dumps....they stunk when you skinned them and the meat tasted like crap.

I have read that bears can have trichnosis.....but like I tell everyone that says they do not like venison "how do you eat your beef".....my opinion ...venison or bear cooked more that medium is junk....tough and gamey.....I do both bear and venison medium rare to medium.

[Pygmy]

Culver... I am a big fan of rare to MR game meat also, depending on the CUT, of course.

However, bear meat ALWAYS has the risk of trichinosis. Think about it. Hogs eat ANYTHING...Bears eat ANYTHING...

Read up on it.. It is a nasty affliction.. It involves wormlike creatures living in your muscle tissue, possibly including your HEART muscles.

I think I'd eat my deer, elk , caribou ,moose and antelope rare, and use my bear meat for recipes that involve cooking it slow and well done, like stews.

Eating bear less than well done is risky.

[Mr VJP]

If the bear was eating wild where it was taken, and it is properly handled after the kill, it should taste good. It is very important to cool the meat as quickly as possible on a bear. Bear fur insulates very well and the meat will spoil very quickly if not cooled fast. That's why bear are often skinned in the field right after they are gutted. All of the above advice is also important, but cool that bear meat as fast as you can too.

[Fantail]

Hunted and lived (mostly) in NY my whole life and never filled a Bear tag. If I took one I would probably be quite carefull processing it.

[rong]

just read an article on the campfire about some fellas getting trichonosis,doesnt sound like it was fun,they did trace it back to undercooked bear meat in a hunting camp

[Jafo]

As for trichinosis, if you freeze most meat below -20 it kills the parasite BUT NOT in bear meat:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/trichinosis/DS00689/DSECTION=prevention

I am assuming the parasite must live in bear fat?