What to do with a bear?

[JakeB]

So I'm somewhat entertaining the idea of making a spring bear hunt out west. I know the odds are pretty low of actually getting a bear, but what if I do? Are they good to eat? Morally, I'm not sure if I would shoot a bear if I couldn't eat it. I'm not sure if thats a thing or not and I really don't care what others do that's just how I feel.

What about the "trophy" side of it? Are bear head mounts really a thing? I'm not really sure if I'd even want one. Do people skull mount them like a deer? The hide, my wife is pretty good with most things I'm just not sure I could get a bear rug past her though.. I had enough trouble with a bobcat fur.. Is there anything else you can do with the fur?

It would be a spot and stalk type DIY hunt, If I'm lucky I may see a bear or 2. I'm really just looking for another reason to get back to the mountains. And the bear tag is actually pretty cheap.

[Bowhuntercoop]

1.Make bologna and sausage. Best stuff I ever made was outta the bears i shot. 2. Get a new wife and get a full body mount haha. I have 2 full body mounts and they are amazing attention getters and convo pieces. Seriously though you can do a rug cheap. The other option is a half body mount. They look like the bear is walking outta the wall. I’m not really a fan and would just do a full body mount. My small one is 190s ans big one was just under 600, they both look fantastic.

[Uncle Lou]

When I read the title my first thought is EAT IT.

Then I read spring. I don't like the thought of eating bear coming out of hibernation, but that comes from some farm time. You ready animals for the plate, and fall naturally does a good job of finishing wild game for the table. Never had a spring bear, so I will let others weigh in on how good they would be on the table. But if there is a season I am never against going for it. Mountain adventures are great and Rugs are nice

[Noreast10pt]

Mine became sausages and a full body mount.
Surprisingly a full body mount was cheaper to do than a rug.

[Dewey]

Bear meat is delicious.

Never had one from spring but it’s worth trying. Still way better than anything you can buy in the store.

Also makes a great mount. I have a 3/4 mount and a rug.

[ghoasthunter]

So I'm somewhat entertaining the idea of making a spring bear hunt out west. I know the odds are pretty low of actually getting a bear, but what if I do? Are they good to eat? Morally, I'm not sure if I would shoot a bear if I couldn't eat it. I'm not sure if thats a thing or not and I really don't care what others do that's just how I feel.

What about the "trophy" side of it? Are bear head mounts really a thing? I'm not really sure if I'd even want one. Do people skull mount them like a deer? The hide, my wife is pretty good with most things I'm just not sure I could get a bear rug past her though.. I had enough trouble with a bobcat fur.. Is there anything else you can do with the fur?

It would be a spot and stalk type DIY hunt, If I'm lucky I may see a bear or 2. I'm really just looking for another reason to get back to the mountains. And the bear tag is actually pretty cheap.

i like bear just as much as deer you get way more out of one too. i love bear steaks and back straps on the smoker. smoked bear ribs with a nice sticky sauce. bear brats, sausage, bologna, kielbasi, its all great. and you can save all the fat render it and make great tasting grease for the frying pan. everything on a bear is good. you can make broths from the bones. i once made pork roast and a bear roast on smoker for a family get together and didn't tell anybody. everybody cleaned the plate with the bear meat first. they looked at me like i was Hannibal Lector when i told them but everybody liked the bear more than the pork lol. one thing is vacuum seal all of it bear wont last super long if you wrap it. i have pulled out 4 year old steaks i vacumed sealed and it was like brand new. and pull that hide as fast as you can and get it cold they will turn bad if they sit too long. dont be afraid of it you can cook it like any pork recipe and it will be great. if i would put a flavor on it id say its like a nicely aged beef with a pork texture.

[JakeB]

1.Make bologna and sausage. Best stuff I ever made was outta the bears i shot. 2. Get a new wife and get a full body mount haha. I have 2 full body mounts and they are amazing attention getters and convo pieces. Seriously though you can do a rug cheap. The other option is a half body mount. They look like the bear is walking outta the wall. I’m not really a fan and would just do a full body mount. My small one is 190s ans big one was just under 600, they both look fantastic.

[url=https.cc/jwJTwCx5][/url]

Bowhuntercoop,

Nice full body mount! Good bucks too! As much as I’d love a full body bear, I’m not really sure where I’d put it haha. Maybe in my bed room after my wife leaves me? in all seriousness I really don’t have the room for a full body mount unfortunately.

If I do end up with a bear I might get with you for your bologna recipe, I’ve heard about wild game bologna it’s just not very common down here.

When I read the title my first thought is EAT IT.

Then I read spring. I don't like the thought of eating bear coming out of hibernation, but that comes from some farm time. You ready animals for the plate, and fall naturally does a good job of finishing wild game for the table. Never had a spring bear, so I will let others weigh in on how good they would be on the table. But if there is a season I am never against going for it. Mountain adventures are great and Rugs are nice

Uncle Lou,

I don’t know anything about bears, the trip would probably be April-May ish so I guess that’s still pretty early. If it came down to it I’m not sure if I’ve ever cooked anything bad smothered down in onions and a little garlic for a few hours. Worst case I cook it for the guys at work

It’s all about the adventure, I’m somewhat indifference about ever killing a bear. That’s just my excuse to get out there with a rifle in my hands. Getting a bear would be icing on the cake.

Mine became sausages and a full body mount.
Surprisingly a full body mount was cheaper to do than a rug.

Noreast10pt,

I’ll have to check on some prices so I know what I’m dealing with. If it came down to an expensive bear mount/rug or more OOS tags/trips the tags will get the nod.

Bear meat is delicious.

Never had one from spring but it’s worth trying. Still way better than anything you can buy in the store.

Also makes a great mount. I have a 3/4 mount and a rug.

Dewey,

Would you mind posting a pic of your rug and 3/4 mount when you get a minute? Is the rug a “head on” rug? The 3/4 mount I’m assuming has head and front legs?

[JakeB]

So I'm somewhat entertaining the idea of making a spring bear hunt out west. I know the odds are pretty low of actually getting a bear, but what if I do? Are they good to eat? Morally, I'm not sure if I would shoot a bear if I couldn't eat it. I'm not sure if thats a thing or not and I really don't care what others do that's just how I feel.

What about the "trophy" side of it? Are bear head mounts really a thing? I'm not really sure if I'd even want one. Do people skull mount them like a deer? The hide, my wife is pretty good with most things I'm just not sure I could get a bear rug past her though.. I had enough trouble with a bobcat fur.. Is there anything else you can do with the fur?

It would be a spot and stalk type DIY hunt, If I'm lucky I may see a bear or 2. I'm really just looking for another reason to get back to the mountains. And the bear tag is actually pretty cheap.

i like bear just as much as deer you get way more out of one too. i love bear steaks and back straps on the smoker. smoked bear ribs with a nice sticky sauce. bear brats, sausage, bologna, kielbasi, its all great. and you can save all the fat render it and make great tasting grease for the frying pan. everything on a bear is good. you can make broths from the bones. i once made pork roast and a bear roast on smoker for a family get together and didn't tell anybody. everybody cleaned the plate with the bear meat first. they looked at me like i was Hannibal Lector when i told them but everybody liked the bear more than the pork lol. one thing is vacuum seal all of it bear wont last super long if you wrap it. i have pulled out 4 year old steaks i vacumed sealed and it was like brand new. and pull that hide as fast as you can and get it cold they will turn bad if they sit too long. dont be afraid of it you can cook it like any pork recipe and it will be great. if i would put a flavor on it id say its like a nicely aged beef with a pork texture.

Good stuff, sounds like bear meat is definitely eatable. I’ve heard of people shooting them and not keeping the meat. Really not my style. I was just wondering if that was the norm with bear.

Thanks!

[Dewey]

1.Make bologna and sausage. Best stuff I ever made was outta the bears i shot. 2. Get a new wife and get a full body mount haha. I have 2 full body mounts and they are amazing attention getters and convo pieces. Seriously though you can do a rug cheap. The other option is a half body mount. They look like the bear is walking outta the wall. I’m not really a fan and would just do a full body mount. My small one is 190s ans big one was just under 600, they both look fantastic.

[url=https.cc/jwJTwCx5][/url]

Bowhuntercoop,

Nice full body mount! Good bucks too! As much as I’d love a full body bear, I’m not really sure where I’d put it haha. Maybe in my bed room after my wife leaves me? in all seriousness I really don’t have the room for a full body mount unfortunately.

If I do end up with a bear I might get with you for your bologna recipe, I’ve heard about wild game bologna it’s just not very common down here.

When I read the title my first thought is EAT IT.

Then I read spring. I don't like the thought of eating bear coming out of hibernation, but that comes from some farm time. You ready animals for the plate, and fall naturally does a good job of finishing wild game for the table. Never had a spring bear, so I will let others weigh in on how good they would be on the table. But if there is a season I am never against going for it. Mountain adventures are great and Rugs are nice

Uncle Lou,

I don’t know anything about bears, the trip would probably be April-May ish so I guess that’s still pretty early. If it came down to it I’m not sure if I’ve ever cooked anything bad smothered down in onions and a little garlic for a few hours. Worst case I cook it for the guys at work

It’s all about the adventure, I’m somewhat indifference about ever killing a bear. That’s just my excuse to get out there with a rifle in my hands. Getting a bear would be icing on the cake.

Mine became sausages and a full body mount.
Surprisingly a full body mount was cheaper to do than a rug.

Noreast10pt,

I’ll have to check on some prices so I know what I’m dealing with. If it came down to an expensive bear mount/rug or more OOS tags/trips the tags will get the nod.

Bear meat is delicious.

Never had one from spring but it’s worth trying. Still way better than anything you can buy in the store.

Also makes a great mount. I have a 3/4 mount and a rug.

Dewey,

Would you mind posting a pic of your rug and 3/4 mount when you get a minute? Is the rug a “head on” rug? The 3/4 mount I’m assuming has head and front legs?

Rug when I picked it up.

Hanging on the wall.

3/4 mount when I picked up.

Hanging on wall at home.

[Bowhuntercoop]

My small bear tucked in the back corner. Currently all my deer and bear and other critters are at my in-laws in Myrtle beach since we moved to sc. Once I finish the remodel of our house and we get moved in I will post new picks and start some kill threads. I know the pa guys been asking me for a while about em.

[JAK]

I had snack sticks made out of mine. And kept the roasts. It was delicious I didnt have room for a full body mount so got a 3/4 mount. Wish i went full felt like i wasted 1/4 of a perfectly good hide.

[brancher147]

Bear meat is good. Spring bear meat is even better when their diet is mostly fresh greens. I like to do sausage or ground meat and have done ground jerky also. I don’t have any experience with roasts. As far as a mount and the hide I don’t have any interest in either but will keep the skull off a big bear sometimes. I usually just dispose or hide and head or donate to a taxedermist. Bears are like raccoons around here and nothing rare or unusual-if they were rare or more of something special I would probably do something with head/hide.

[moog5050]

The only bear I have eaten was a spring black bear from quebec. It was delicious. Better than venison in my opinion.

[Mountain Man]

...I don’t know anything about bears, the trip would probably be April-May ish so I guess that’s still pretty early.

Depending on where you will be hunting, later will likely be better as access could be restricted by snow.

[Theschmitt]

Bear meat is great. My wife loves it . We braise most of the cuts. Ribs are great, many people prefer them over pork or beef. You can not undercook it. You can possibly get trichonosis, which is no joke. As far as morally bears eat each other and fawns so you might as well eat them. Bear fur is extremely soft and desirable so I like rugs.