# Bear Meat?? Good or Bad??



## hunterjb6

After reading a comment on a previous thread, about what bears like to eat and what we feed them. The question then arises what effect does that have on the taste of bear meat. For example if you deer hunt and shoot when up in God's country in the north, they seem to be much tougher and more gamey tasting. If you shoot one in the southern lower where there are a lot of crops for them to naw on all year they are not as tough and seem to have a much better taste.  It would be great to hear everyone's take on the taste of bear meat, Good, Bad, or indifferent on the issue. I have heard so many guys say no they won,t touch it others say its great. Does it effect the bears like it does the deer? If the bear have more opportunity to food plots and farm fields does the meat taste better? Opinions Please?


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## pkuptruck007

hunterjb6 said:


> After reading a comment on a previous thread, about what bears like to eat and what we feed them. The question then arises what effect does that have on the taste of bear meat. For example if you deer hunt and shoot when up in God's country in the north, they seem to be much tougher and more gamey tasting. If you shoot one in the southern lower where there are a lot of crops for them to naw on all year they are not as tough and seem to have a much better taste.  It would be great to hear everyone's take on the taste of bear meat, Good, Bad, or indifferent on the issue. I have heard so many guys say no they won,t touch it others say its great. Does it effect the bears like it does the deer? If the bear have more opportunity to food plots and farm fields does the meat taste better? Opinions Please?


 
bear meat is similar to beef, except it is a bit sweeter tasting.
Depending on the bear, and the time of year, might or might not be 
lean, or stringy....

I have had limited chances at it, but take it when I get the chance.

I like it, and so does my family.


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## Spartan88

Like any wild game what is done with the meat after the animal is down makes all the difference IMO. Dont ride around with the bear in the truck bed for a week showing your pals after its shot and it will be just fine.


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## Rustyaxecamp

Tastes great.

Many of the bad taste stories are related to back when there were numerous open dumps and bears regularly fed on garbage.

Get them cool ASAP and get them butchered, you will enjoy it.


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## thumbteacher

Totally agree Erik.....both bear i have taken (both in Canada) have been great.... slow cooker for the better part of the day.....standard roast seasoning... and wow.... everyone liked it...


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## Rooster Cogburn

Bear meat is quality stuff. Like Rusty noted, you need to skin it right away and cool the meat asap. If the temperature is above 45 degrees or so Its best to quickly quarter it up, wrap the quarters in heavy-duty trash bags and put them in the freezer. Once frozen you can take a quarter out at a time and process it, at your leisure. Make sure to remove all fat once it thaws enough to whittle it off the meat. We generally cut roasts, and filet out the backstraps. It also works well 50/50 with venison for sausage.

Also agree with Rusty about the quality of the meat compared to when there were open dumps. Not near as many parasites found in bear now days, either.


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## PLUMBDOG

OH YEA a couple of years ago a friend of mine got a bear and cube and marinated the back strap and made kabobs on the grill . it was reeeealy good . hope to get my own freezer full of bear this year .


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## Joe Archer

The bear that I have tasted has been pretty good. The one knock on it for me though is that it needs to be cooked to well done. Because bear eat raw fish and meat they can carry Trichinellosis. 
<----<<<


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## hunterjb6

Thanks for the info fellas, I did not really think at all about making some 50/50 sausage with any of it. It has been over 20 years since I have got a bear and when I did my partner really could have used it so I gave probably about 98% of it to him so, I am looking forward to hopefully putting one in the freezer this year. So would I be better to keep it in roasts and stakes or does it mix well for burger? (We use a lot of burger)


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## Spartan88

Bear burger is better than venison imo, I make spaghetti sauce and meatloaf or just plain burgers on the grill. I like to mix blue cheese before slapping the burgers on the grill.


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## hunterjb6

Good to know because I love a good 1/2lb burger!!!!:evil:


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## swampbuck

Bear is excellent...........Diet does not affect the taste of meat from any species.......Think about it, does pork taste like sh**! Thats an old wives tale.


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## ART

My experience with it has been it's very good- beef like-if you eat it when you cook it. When I reheated it, it was pretty rank.
My bear was over 11 years old, and definitely needed the pressure cooker treatment.


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## CMR

My only time eating bear meat was when I had some bear jerky (not the dried stuff, more like steak strips). 
It was really greasy and kinda turned me off of it.


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## Thumb Hunter

I got my first bear last fall, and found the meat to be delicious. The only bad part about it was when I realized there was no more in the freezer. I didn't find it greesy or tough at all. Can't wait until I get a chance to go out for another chance at hunting.


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## gooseboy

had burger and steaks, just flat out awesome stuff...havent had a roast so not sure what to say about something I have never tried...


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## old professor

You may have heard the expression: YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT! Well, that is true for bear. The first bear I killed many years ago had been feeding on a dump. The meat was so bad you could not cook it in the house. The taste was so bad, even the dog would not eat it, cooked or raw. Since then I have killed nine other bears that have fed on natural foods or sweet baits and their meat has been very tasty! I love the steaks and roasts and we make summer sausage with pepper jack cheese that brings rave reviews.


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## Rooster Cogburn

Old Professor, care to share your summer sausage w/pepper jack cheese recipe?


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## BuckMark

Shot a bear in Southeast Alaska last fall. Bear had been eating salmon since late summer....The guide thought I was crazy for taking any of the meat home (excess baggage charge to fly 60lbs home). Well....I should have listened to the guide!!! Although the meat looked beutiful, it all tasted like ROTTEN salmon!. It was gross-dog wouldn't even eat it! Talked to some others who say that spring bear meat is good (eating berries all spring)-but don't ever waste your time with fall bear from Alaska!
Mark


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## autumnlovr

I swapped some caribou for bear meat and sausage a few years back & it was quite tasty. It was a spring bear from Saskatchewan if that makes a difference. The one meal I remember most was made by crock-potting the cubed meat with onions and portabello mushrooms in a semi-sweet red wine sauce then served over thick noodles. If I remember right, I put some sweet basil and rosemary in with it.


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## MSUSPARTANPRIDE

Bear meat Makes For Some Great Breakfast Sausage. Would Gladly Take Any Anyone Is Getting Rid Of. Yum


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## friZZleFry419

I had it twice , tasted like racoon too meh .


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## Luv2hunteup

I served up a bear roast during deer camp this fall. The only thing left was the smell.  One hunting buddy didn't want any because he had tried it one time and didn't like it. His opinion is forever changed. Cook it right and it's great.


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## ken powell

Take the best fed beef steer, shoot it, throw it in the back of your truck, drive it around for a few days in 50 to 60 degree temperatures, then eat it. Same applies to bear meat.....


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## beardog

ken powell said:


> take the best fed beef steer, shoot it, throw it in the back of your truck, drive it around for a few days in 50 to 60 degree temperatures, then eat it. Same applies to bear meat.....


nuff said!


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## youp50

At one time I lived to bear hunt. Kept some pretty good hounds and have been on over a hundred bear kills.

Standard operating procedure was get the bear out of the woods, take care of the dogs, take care of the bear, take care of yourself. In that order.

I will tell you this. There are some boar bears that are rank. The stench is in the meat. Even after all the dumps are closed. Part of taking care of a bear means cutting a small piece of meat and test cooking it. If you fry it in the house and the house stinks or cook it on the grill and it taste rank, dump the carcass. It will never be any good.

You have done nothing wrong. Just the way it is. Of all the bears I have had the opportunity to eat all or part of there were two that were not fit to eat. Michigan bears taken in the fall.

There were two we did not try to eat. Both wounded by a previous hunter. One had an infected shoulder, the other shot in the muzzle. You would not have needed anyone to tell you not to eat these bears.

+1 to being able to ruin a bear by not cooling it. Peel it, remove the kernels, quarter it and freeze it. Take care of it after the season is over, plenty of time to attend to such things then.


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## TrekJeff

Those who say bad must have had some that wasn't taken care of. Just like any game, preperation starts at the second it hits the ground. The first time I had bear was all I needed to want more. Tasted like the best beef I've ever had. You ask good or bad, I say excellent.


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## brushbuster

swampbuck said:


> Bear is excellent...........Diet does not affect the taste of meat from any species.......Think about it, does pork taste like sh**! Thats an old wives tale.


I'm going to dissagree with you there swampy. I have had bear in alaska that have been gorging on old dead fish carcasses ( not fresh run salmon but dead rotted fish) and it tasted like s#$% I have had spring bear from quebuec and it was probably the best tasting meat i have had. I have had bear in the fall in mich. and some was bad tasting and others were good.On all occasions the meat was properly dressed and allowed to cool properly. I think alot has to to do with time of season and diet.
Ever eat a coyote? Just get 5 feet from that thing and you'll soon realize that stanky thing is gonna taste like sh#*


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## swampbuck

Its really pretty basic biology........The digestive system breaks foods (nutrients) down to the molecular level, That are then absorbed and carried by the blood to other parts of the body for storage or further chemical change, and then to the cells. Those molecules are not carrying taste or smells, They are carrying vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids.

It is possible that a unbalanced diet may produce a higher level of a specific nutrient in the cells, affecting the flavor. If the animals diet was limited to one specific food scource(the importance of variety of foods)..... But the taste of the food scource is not transfered to the meat.


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## solohunter

IMHO;
My sow from this year is great, but then I fed it a ton of donuts, seriously about a ton,,, and cake icing, trail mix, fruit fillings, circuis peanuts,,,,,,,
It was also lung shot, 6pm,, no guts poked, and on ice within an hour or so, skinned by 10pm at taxidermist, carcass packed on ice till 930am delivery to processor, ( at DNR 9am) 
I like to have my venison, hung skinned and washed out within an hour and have no issues with out of rut deer. A buck in full rut will taste like it smells, 

leaving any animal hang for days lets anything on the hide seep into the meat, warm weather accelerates the marinating, all the body fluids,,, cant taste good after a couple days


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## youp50

If you want the best tasting bear there is, take a young boar out of an apple orchard. Take him clean and cool hm off fast. Take out the kernels.

If you want to save money and freezer space, test the quality of the meat prior to investing time or money in processing.

If you want to make a blanket statement concerning meat quality, try to wait until you have had more than one or two bears to sample.


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## countryboy93

yeah its realy good i like it anyways


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