Questions for bear eaters.

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Dhurtubise
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Questions for bear eaters.

Unread postby Dhurtubise » Tue Sep 30, 2014 3:00 am

I've never hunted bear, but I'm about to do it to help a friend out. He has an apple orchard and he has bears that are coming every night to break his trees, eat his apples and soil his orchard.

I have a couple of questions regarding bear for food and a few about how to hunt them.

The only information I have is that sometimes they show up at sunset, but they are there all night and gone in early mornings (don't know if there is shooting light).

Bear Meat Questions

1. What size of bear is likely to produce the best table fare.
2. Is bear meat good in roasts, steaks, chops, ground? Or am I likely to have to eat it all in jerky, sausages and other meat products?
3. What other animal could you compare the bear meat to?
4. Should all of the fat and silver skin be removed from the animal? Is the fat really gamey?
5. Is it recommended to hang a bear, like you would a moose or a deer (or a steer)?
6. Recommended recipes?

Bear Hunting Questions

1. I have a friend that also wants to take a bear off the site. Once a bear is taken, is it unlikely to get another daylight opportunity at another bear? Is it better to wait to see a couple and take them in unison?
2. If the bear are coming for apples, is it worth baiting with fish (we just cleaned a bunch of fish last night). Would this put up their guard because something is changing in their environment? I was thinking that it might get them there earlier.
3. If we manage to shoot one or two, what can I expect in terms of tracking requirements. I heard they're tougher than deer. I'll be using the .303 or 30-06. Will it likely drop, or go for a few hundred yards?
4. Are their vitals located in a similar spot to the deer - right behind the shoulder?

Thanks. I appreciate your help and input.

Daniel.


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Re: Questions for bear eaters.

Unread postby natvbearhntr » Wed Oct 01, 2014 1:22 am

can only help with a few of your questions. By no means am I an expert with bear hunting but these are my experiences over the past 4 years.

For me I do not like eating bear meat unless it is blended and made into sausage or snack sticks. I hear people talk about how good roasts and steak are but I cannot eat them. From what little I have had I cannot compare them to any other kind of meat. I have always been told you should not leave a bear hang very long, get it gutted and get it in the cooler. I think it would be tough to take 2 bear at one time and probably not the best turn out if you try to get two hunters to shoot at the same time. In my experience after bear are shot in a particular area that area goes cold for a week, maybe two. I don't think using fish in your situation would help draw in bear. They are already coming because they know the apples are there and I don't see fish being any more of a draw or over powering the smell of the apple orchard.

Good Luck.
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Re: Questions for bear eaters.

Unread postby Hodag Hunter » Wed Oct 01, 2014 1:48 am

Bear meat is very good but must be cooled asap. I will try and track the bear that night if possible and skin the hide the same evening to allow faster cooling.

They are greasy to clean ..,,,, similar to a raccoon if you ever skinned a coon.

Remove all fat, it is not like venison with silver skin but white chunks. The meat left is marbled with small amounts of fat and gives the bear great flavor if cooled properly and cooked properly.

My family prefers bear over venison. The chops are awesome. We steak the best parts of the hind end and grind the rest for hamburger. No need to mix with pork or beef like venison.

I would place a bait in the orchid to get the shot angles/opportunities to better your odds.

Bear die faster / easier than deer if double lung hit. Shot 7 bear all with the bow. 5 died within site. One went 60-80 yards and the other was a poor hit with adventures tracking job. Caught up to it that night a live and had to shoot again to finish it off. If poorly hit can go a long ways with little blood trail. Their fat and hide absorb a lot of blood and fat can plug a hole.

Their shoulders are extremely tough and advise not to hit there. Lungs are tight to shoulder and slightly higher than a deer. I aim tight to shoulder and horizontal center of bear.

Good luck.

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Re: Questions for bear eaters.

Unread postby Black Squirrel » Wed Oct 01, 2014 3:12 am

Shot my first bear last year. It was some of the best wild game I have ever had. I shot it with a bow. it ran 60 yards or so and died. I was with Mike foss at NWO. We got the bear out of the woods, skinned and in the freezer in less than 2 hours. Like Hodag said, I believe that was key to haveing great tasting meat. Mike had a guy there (willey from the fourm here) that skinned it and deboned it, cut it into steaks for me.
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Re: Questions for bear eaters.

Unread postby PLB » Wed Oct 01, 2014 3:46 am

Hodag Hunter wrote:Bear meat is very good but must be cooled asap. I will try and track the bear that night if possible and skin the hide the same evening to allow faster cooling.

They are greasy to clean ..,,,, similar to a raccoon if you ever skinned a coon.

Remove all fat, it is not like venison with silver skin but white chunks. The meat left is marbled with small amounts of fat and gives the bear great flavor if cooled properly and cooked properly.

My family prefers bear over venison. The chops are awesome. We steak the best parts of the hind end and grind the rest for hamburger. No need to mix with pork or beef like venison.

I would place a bait in the orchid to get the shot angles/opportunities to better your odds.

Bear die faster / easier than deer if double lung hit. Shot 7 bear all with the bow. 5 died within site. One went 60-80 yards and the other was a poor hit with adventures tracking job. Caught up to it that night a live and had to shoot again to finish it off. If poorly hit can go a long ways with little blood trail. Their fat and hide absorb a lot of blood and fat can plug a hole.

Their shoulders are extremely tough and advise not to hit there. Lungs are tight to shoulder and slightly higher than a deer. I aim tight to shoulder and horizontal center of bear.

Good luck.

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Re: Questions for bear eaters.

Unread postby Uncle Lou » Wed Oct 01, 2014 1:04 pm

I have only shot 2 bear, both in Michigan and both off of bait. One was ~ 150 the other ~130. The bait was primarily sweets. The bear were absolutely delicious. I cooled them quick and skinned them and cut the meat pretty quick.

I don't think they will lower your cholesterol, but again, very tasty.

I will leave the tactics to those better at hunting them than I
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Re: Questions for bear eaters.

Unread postby Dhurtubise » Thu Oct 02, 2014 3:52 am

Thanks guys. I'm looking forward to getting one after hearing how good they are. Thanks Hodag Hunter for taking the time to be so thorough with your answer. Gonna get me one sweet apple fed bear! Sounds like steaks, roasts and hamburger will be on the menu. Maybe a few sausages.

How much meat can you expect to get out of a 150 lb bear?
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Re: Questions for bear eaters.

Unread postby Mike Foss » Thu Oct 02, 2014 7:20 am

About 60 pounds. if that.
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Re: Questions for bear eaters.

Unread postby Uncle Lou » Sun Oct 05, 2014 12:20 pm

Mike Foss wrote:About 60 pounds. if that.

I would have said maybe 1/3 but I wont argue that.

I always get a kick out of the guys that take their deer to the butcher and come home with a couple of boxes (plenty of bone and plenty of ground with ?? who knows what in I)t. I cut my own deer and put 120-150 boned out deer in a couple paper grocery sacks and there isn't much more than a spoonful left on my carcass and some guys tell me I should take it to the butcher I would get more meat. :think:
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Re: Questions for bear eaters.

Unread postby olivertractor » Sun Oct 05, 2014 12:40 pm

Bear chops in a slow cooker with some veggies pretty hard to beat! Like already said the way it's processed is key, quickly cooled, de- fat as much as possible

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Re: Questions for bear eaters.

Unread postby ihookem » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:47 pm

I had some bear from 2012 and tried to fry it. Was freezer burn and smelled. My sons bear never tasted very good. We cut it into jerky, mixed with deer. It was a bit different than the deer but still very good.
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Re: Questions for bear eaters.

Unread postby PLB » Wed Dec 17, 2014 11:30 pm

Bear burger :L:

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Re: Questions for bear eaters.

Unread postby Trailcamaddict » Thu Dec 18, 2014 2:19 am

My wife and her family have shot 5 or 6 bear over the last 15 years. A 30-06 or .303 are fine guns for bear, I don't think any of the bear ever dropped in their tracks. We always had to track at least a little bit. Most of the time they will let out a "death moan" so it gives you a good idea of where they went down, but you still should do a proper tracking job. Bear are harder to track than deer. Their padded feet don't leave much for impressions in the ground and sometimes the fat of a bear will plug up wounds even on a fatal hit. With that said we still find them!

We have shot 2 bear from the same stand as close as 2 days apart. They are very sensitive to new scents, so if you shoot one, be sure the people tracking and recovering the bear are the same ones that the bear are used to having in the hunting area. If different "buddies" are brought in to help the stand will likely go dead for a while.

As far as table fair is concerned - bear meat is our favorite wild game meat! :L: Others have said to get it cleaned, de-fatted and cool right away which is true. Bear is a more fatty meat and tastes better if you can get the meat cooled right away.

One thing not mentioned that really makes bear meat taste better as burger meat is to cook it in a fashion that allows the fat grease drippings to fall away from the meat. Grilling works the best. If you cook bear burger in a pan, the fat that is marbleized in the meat comes out and cooks and to us, makes it taste goofy. We have also had good luck broiling bear steaks. Again the drippings fall into the broiling pan water.

Bear roasts in the crock pot on the other hand are cooked without issue and turn out tender and delicious. Just add a little water and your favorite veggies to bottom of the crock so it doesn't get too dry.
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