Anyone tried bear?

[Elk97]

Bear is some of the best and worst meat I've ever had (different bears).

 

[diamond10x]

Killed my first bear this past fall. After eating that one, I’ll be doing my best to put at least two bears a year in the freezer between myself and my wife.

Another thing with bears, that fat can be added to ground venison or rendered to cook with.

 

[japan2020]

Some is real good, some hardly edible, regardless of meat care. If proper meat care is a given, it’s all about what they have been eating as far as I can tell. Good bear makes some great eating.

Yes I have heard that before about what they eat. I think it is one of the reasons why Seagull is supposed to taste quite bad - because they literally eat anything, including a lot of stuff from refuse!

 

[BeastOfTheTrees]

Tastes better than a baby seal but not as good as a spotted owl

Myyyy Heeero

 

[KMW]

Bear meat is my favorite of all wild game meats. I've eaten bears killed over bait in Canada and grain/mast fed bears from PA and could not tell a difference. They all tasted good.

 

[flytrue]

My first bear was youngish and about 170 lbs. That one was good. My latest heart was a 300 lb+ boar that stunk. Is it common for big boars to stink? It had been eating acorns.

 

[Wrench]

I think it's real good. Had a balck bear from Colorado processed into sausage, breakfast sausage, hamburger and chili meat...only thing I didn't care for was chili meat...thought it was too gristly. All the other meat was great. It is a little greaser then beef. My family liked it all. Makes great tacos.

The true test of a meat grinder is a big boar forearm muscle group.

 

[rclouse79]

It took some convincing on my part, but bear is now near the top of the favorite wild game list for my family. I have had three different spring bears and have yet to get one that wasn't excellent table fare.

 

[rclouse79]

The true test of a meat grinder is a big boar forearm muscle group.

I was surprised to discover the front shoulder on a boar is almost as big as the hind quarter. One forearm is enough for dinner for my whole family. I prefer to cook it low and slow and then separate out all of the jelly. Running it through a meat grinder seems like a good way to burn out the grinder.

 

[Redjones]

Just wondering if the fat off a spring bear worth rendering,I'm wondering about it taste wise.
Seems a fall bear would have obviously more fat and not as strong or bitter but I really don't know.
I'm leaving for Canada in a week and if I get lucky and kill a nice boar I don't want to go thru the process if its not going to be worth it.

Thanks......Greg

 

[roosiebull]

Just wondering if the fat off a spring bear worth rendering,I'm wondering about it taste wise.
Seems a fall bear would have obviously more fat and not as strong or bitter but I really don't know.
I'm leaving for Canada in a week and if I get lucky and kill a nice boar I don't want to go thru the process if its not going to be worth it.

Thanks......Greg

it will not be a matter of good or bad, but a matter of "is there enough fat on this bear to even mess with?" if it has enough fat, it will be good... we have killed spring bear with no fat, and others that looked like a berry fed bear in Oct

 

[Munkish]

My family in Alaska said it basically depends on what the bear has been eating. They said berry fed bears are good, salmon fed not so much.

 

[BowMan86]

I got my first bear this spring in Alaska. It was a couple year old sow. We cooked up the backstrap in camp that same night. I have had just about all the big game animals in North America and this was by far my favorite. I have always been put off at the thought of eating bear, but now that I have had it, I cannot believe how similar to beef it tastes (at least my bear). I have heard fall bears on salmon can taste pretty bad, but I feel like a lot of people that downplay bear meat have never actually had it. I was one of them before this past Spring. I don’t doubt that there are some bad tasting bears out there, but if they havnt been feeding on rotten fish and you take good care of them in the field, it is some of the best meat you will have. I have several buddies up here now that I know have taken spring brown and black bears and they all agree it is great tasting meat.

 

[Redjones]

Ended up killing my first bear this Spring,really wanted try rendering some of the fat,but there really wasn't enough to mess with.
Got a chance to try some backstrap and it was great,not strong,kinda sweet.

Greg

 

[BackcountryBloodline]

The true test of a meat grinder is a big boar forearm muscle group.

If you're not making slow cooked shanks out of those you're missing out fella!

Something to keep in mind is bear fat can go rancid fairly quickly even in a deep freezer so be sure to get the meat as fat free as possible before packaging, I think that's where a lot of claims of bad bear meat come from.

 

[Moserkr]

For me personally, I put bear up there with elk, and far above mule deer. My wife, non-hunter and picky about gamey tastes, loved bear meat. It reminded both of us of grass fed cow meat, and the bear was from the high country. I live around garbage bears and steer clear far and wide of them to eat. Only disappointing thing about bears is trichinosis, although I cooked and ate the first one’s straps med rare with wild mushrooms n onions. Sooo delicious and we dodged a bullet. Id rather hunt mule deer, and would rather eat bear. Elk and sheep before them, and mountain goat last lol.

 

[NEWHunter]

All of the bears my family has shot here in WI have been great.

 

[mgray]

My wife isn’t the biggest fan of any game meat, but we both shot WI bear about five years ago and she loved it. They both tasted good. I’ve heard they are greasy but ours were both great. To be fair, both bears probably grew up on a healthy diet of doughnuts and cookie dough. They probably had diabetes.

 

[Goatie]

I’ve eaten two different bears for a combined total of nine meals. They were each amazing tasting wild game meat until I found out I was allergic to bear. Such a bummer.

 

[Cedarsavage]

It's great I prefer it over venison