# Why hunt bears?



## truemule (Sep 12, 2007)

Some of the recent bear threads have got me excited and think about the next few years.

I'm not asking this question to start arguments about if it is right or wrong. For the last few years I have read the bear proclomation and not put in for a tag because I just don't know enough answers to my questions. I think it would be an awesome hunt. I even have an area that I think would produce a decent bear. So I need some help answering some questions?

1-Aside from the skull and maybe a hide what is gained from a bear hunt besides the experience? 

2-This could lead off of answers in number one. Do you eat bear meat? if so do you butcher them or are there local butchers who will take a bear?

3-If all you are doing it for is trophy (skull or mount), what do you do with the rest of the bear?

4-Do you gut a bear on the hill like you would a deer?


I'm sure I will come up with more based on some of the answers. Thanks for any help/replies?


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## luv2fsh&hnt (Sep 22, 2007)

I have not been on a bear hunt myself but is something that is on my bucket list and the overwhelming majority of people I have talked to that have taken bears say the meat is very similar to pork and is quite tasty. As far as your other questions I can't answer because I have no first hand experience.


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## EmptyNet (Mar 17, 2008)

I don't bear hunt, not that there is anything wrong with it, just haven't done it yet. I think those are some really good questions, hopefully when north slope or one of the other guys that has some notches in their belt will give some input to the topic.


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## gdog (Sep 13, 2007)

I've hunted bear once and ended up taking a nice boar with hounds. My personal choice, but I won't hunt like that again. It's all about the chase and the dogs...I'd run a bear with dogs again..but I would take my camera. The shot and kill were very anti climatic for ME.

...my $.02's


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## truemule (Sep 12, 2007)

gdog said:


> I've hunted bear once and ended up taking a nice boar with hounds. My personal choice, but I won't hunt like that again. It's all about the chase and the dogs...I'd run a bear with dogs again..but I would take my camera. The shot and kill were very anti climatic for ME.
> 
> ...my $.02's


The area I am looking at would be a treestand over bait. I think I would like this better. I'm not to keen on the dog thing but some people love it.

FB-
If it ends up I can't eat it when I finaly get a chance at one I'll look you up. But is its good eatin' you'll have to fight me for the scraps.


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## elkaholic226 (Feb 13, 2009)

My bear i took into town by where i hunt and my dad lives, and they had a big bar-b-que that night and they all loved it! they said it tasted just like pork. I loved hunting bear over bait with a bow it was a rush. and it is a hunt that must be earned nothing is given alot of work and prep. so in my oppinion it was a very rewarding hunt. but i hope soon we can read all about your bear hunt and how rewarding it was to you! good luck. p.s just ask North Slope or Kevlar if they would do it again. I bet they would be in the truck waiting for you in a heart beat! :lol:


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## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

I think these are good questions. While I haven't killed a bear myself, or eaten one I think it makes a taste difference on when the bear is harvested. Alaska has laws regarding meat salvage on bears. If it is early spring, the law requires (I think until the end of may) at least in some areas of AK. I've heard the taste changes and fall bear that have been feeding on rotten salmon can taste quite bad. I have also spoke with a lot of Alaskans who eat bear regularly, they have all said they would gladly eat deer instead, but it gets them by. 

If you don't salvage the meat, you're left with skull and hide. I suppose you would only gut a bear on the hill like you would a deer if you were planning on salvaging the meat and would think it a good idea - depending on the pack out.

I have yet to kill a bear and am looking forward to when I get that chance, but personally I don't plan on killing too many bears in my lifetime mostly because of the nature of the hunt. I don't intend to salvage the meat unless it is required by law. Because of this I won't shoot a bear every year, probably only a few over my lifetime because it does seem like kind of a waste to me as far as only taking the hide and skull. But I don't look down or disagree with anyone's decision to kill a bear every year. It's just how I feel at this point in my life...but that could change after I kill my first bear.


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## elkaholic226 (Feb 13, 2009)

you could always donate the meet to the food banks. win/win for everyone.


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## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

Bear are a trophy animal. Nobody shoots a trophy buck or bull just because of the meat, likewise with bear. How many serious big game hunters that you know that shoot an animal only to give away the meat?? Sure you can eat them, but if filling your freezer is your primary goal, skip the premium elk and deer and bear tags, and stick with the antlerless hunts. Just my opinion.


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## archerben (Sep 14, 2007)

In my opinion, bears are one of the funnest animals that you will ever hunt. I have never run a bear with dogs, rather all of my bear hunting has been with a bow over bait. I have been involved in one or more bear hunts every year for the past several years and will continue to do so as often as the oppurtunity arises. I've taken two bears myself, one of which is lifesized in my living room, the other I just had the hide tanned. As far as the meat goes, I've only ever tried spring bears and I've found they have a sweet flavor to the meat, but they have a lot of gristle. I generally give the meat away when I take a bear and I have never had a problem finding people to take it as some people absolutely love bear meat. As far as whether or not I will hunt bear again...at the very next oppurtunity!


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## pickaspot (Sep 19, 2007)

I have 5 points and should draw within the next couple years! Can't wait!


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## Artoxx (Nov 12, 2008)

I have actually known quite a few people who hunt deer that give away the meat. But as for other big game, not many. With Antelope being the only exception I can think of. LOTS of people have given me Antelope over the years. Usually first timers who didn't know what they were getting when they drew their tag. lol
I have heard it said that by the time you eat enough Antelope to decide that you actually do like it, you are out of Antelope.

I have personally never hunted much less shot a bear, but my theory is this. You get TWO trophies for the price. One skull mount to rig up any way that turns you on. AND a hide that you can have mounted any or all ways from lifesized to rugged to wall hanging or whatever.

I HAVE had the meat from at least 5 bears given to me and I can honestly say that I LOVE it.
As nearly as I can recall it was 4 spring bears and one fall bear. All from southern Idaho, so no salmon flavor in the fall bear. 
I personally don't think I agree with the pork comparison, though I guess that could be more accurate than I remember. I don't tend to eat much of anything else BUT bear meat if it is available so I have never really given it the taste comparison.

Kind of like saying rattlesnake tastes like chicken. *I* don't think so, but if that is the way YOUR brain processes the flavor okay.

I will happily take any and all bear meat from anyone who wants to give it away, assuming that you haven't let it spoil or anything like that, so keep me in mind if you have more than you want, whatever the reason.

I remember giving the leg bones to my roomates dog the first year I got some and that dog was in HOG HEAVEN. Bear bones are much heavier and stronger than cow or deer bones, and that dog worked on one thigh bone for nearly a week solid. Crapped white powder for DAYS. :twisted:


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

RJ Max4 and his family hunt the hell out of bears in Idaho.... maybe he'll chime in. I know he's got some beautiful rugs out of them, don't know if he ever got his lifesize mount but his dad had a basement full of bear rugs that were just thick gorgeous coats. My wife wants one for the wall, but I'm not sure when it'll happen.


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## REPETER (Oct 3, 2007)

Good questions. Mine would be where to start researching for a future bear hunt? Is there good resources to learn how to bait, where and how to set up, what kind of pit-falls to watch out for as a newbie? I would definitely eat the meat. Not many types of animal that I wouldn't eat if prepared half way correct. Just ask Nortah


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## legacy (Sep 30, 2007)

Good post! I have never hunted bear, and have never really had a strong desire to do so. That may be due to my lack of bear hunting knowledge. I know someday I WILL want to hunt them, therefore I have been accumulating bonus points. As I've learned more, I've become a bit more excited about doing it. It's definately something I will do ATLEAST once.


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## vato-loco (Jun 8, 2009)

i met an older guy on the elk hunt last year said he had shot 4 bears in his lifetime, said that bear meat makes the best sausage hes ever tried. he told me it had a pork like texture, so since then ive wanted to hunt one to make some carnitas de oso if its possible to do so. i think i need to get some dogs first though. i dont wanna hunt from a treestand


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## kk11 (Sep 17, 2007)

I hunt bear a lot, I have hounds and think it is one of the funniest, hardest hunts I have ever done. It is not about the kill with me, I have killed one, but I have many pictures of them. Bear sausage is very good.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Some of the recent bear threads have got me excited and think about the next few years.

I'm not asking this question to start arguments about if it is right or wrong. For the last few years I have read the bear proclomation and not put in for a tag because I just don't know enough answers to my questions. I think it would be an awesome hunt. I even have an area that I think would produce a decent bear. So I need some help answering some questions?

1-Aside from the skull and maybe a hide what is gained from a bear hunt besides the experience?
Goob: 
A) The experience of harvesting a different type of big game animal is appealing. 
B) Bear meat is edible.
C) I have a friend that has shot 13 black bears, all with a muzzleloader. Seems like a bit much to me. He has every color phase, even an odd piebald one. 
D) A life size mount is an option.
E) Certain bear organs and body parts have value. Most states are cracking down on this practice and don't allow it. I doubt if Utah allows the sale of bear organs or body parts.

2-This could lead off of answers in number one. Do you eat bear meat? if so do you butcher them or are there local butchers who will take a bear?
Goob: 
A) Never took one to a butcher...? We always BBQ'd ours on a spit like you would a hog. Sometimes we would remove the front shoulders and make salami out of them. 
B) To avoid trichinosis bear meat should be cooked well done. That's tough to do, the meat is so red, it never looks done. 
C) Bear fat sucks. Remove it before you cook it or find a way to "cook" it off before you finish preparing it. Don't put bear fat on leather, it will ruin it.

3-If all you are doing it for is trophy (skull or mount), what do you do with the rest of the bear?
Goob: 
A) If it's legal to do so, just leave the carcass, mother nature will dispose of it quickly.

4-Do you gut a bear on the hill like you would a deer?
Goob: 
A) Ah........well.....I didn't know.....ah... 
B) I just gut a bear like I would any game animal. 
C) I have hunted bear out of baited stands in Canada, If there are wolves around you are not allowed to gut your bear in the woods. You must haul it back to camp whole! A gut pile below the baited stand attracts wolves, ruining the baited stand for the next weeks hunting party. Geezus, putting a 400 pound bear, guts and all, in a canoe is quite a challenge.

I'm sure I will come up with more based on some of the answers. Thanks for any help/replies?[/quote]

Goob:
I want to get a fall coastal bear in the Cascades of Oregon, all fattened up with berries. The hides are supposed to be very rough, but the meat is tasty. Non-residents can buy tags over the counter.

Geeze, my computer is whackin' out........?


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

This is a great thread. This is a topic I have been curious about too.
Thanks Wyogoob for answering all the topics!


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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

Shoot. Now I want to try bears too!!! I never knew that bear was good to eat. But I guess if people eat cougar and coyote...


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## Artoxx (Nov 12, 2008)

Bear meat is in the top 2-3 of my list of favorites. And depending on how long it has been since I had it, it moves to number one. Right now, it has been better than 8 years since I ate bear, and I am positive it would be my favorite if I could only lay teeth to some. :roll:

As far as the "organs" goes, I know it is illegal and I am ALMOST positive it is a _federal offense_ to sell them, and just as ALMOST positive that it is against _*INTERNATIONAL*_ law.
Primarily the organ that people sell for fun and profit is the gall bladder. This little gem is reputed, by chinese medicine types, to have MASSIVE aphrodisiacal qualities, and I believe is supposed to make the man bigger, stronger, etc. etc. Haven't personally done any in depth research into this theory or even into what all the faculties are supposed to be line by line. _(O)_

There may be other organs that are desired as well, but I cannot think of them off hand. Speaking of "off hand" :shock: I know they sell the PAWS of poached bears too, but for the life of me I can't think why. Either I never heard, or I have forgotten.

I seem to remember that if you can find a buyer, and get away with it, one of them (gall bladder) is worth enough to at least pay for the license and the gas to get you there. Locally or nearby anyway. A few hundred dollars or so.
BUT, get caught and it is taken a lot more seriously than say, POACHING a trophy elk, ram, deer, or whatever. Even though you killed it legally, it is not yours to sell. 
I suppose if you got the recipe you could try it out for yourself and see if all those little chinamens are right about it. :twisted:

Personally I will just stick to ingesting the MEAT, in steak form by preference, but roasts, jerky, stew meat, or whatever is all good. :mrgreen:


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## smokin577 (Apr 21, 2008)

Hunting baer is a fun way to get out in the open weather by hound stand or your own too feet one heck of a hunt. Best to drop it cleanly and let it get it's hormones pumping. In Alaska the later you get a bear the more fishy it can taste or if a run is going on same thing. As for black bear once you have it down good and clean get it down wrapped and frozen as fast as posible if you are looking for freezer stuffing if not open fire day of or next day is killer too. Dress it out like any other animal you would harvest. 

As far as trophy hunting my grandpappy told us all as we grew up if it is not a trophy for you why is it in your sights.


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