A friend shot one once. It had been eating carion. No way was I going to eat buzzard type meat but I read some where where buzzard meat was good. Nope.
Just like a giant raccoon. In the Spring, where we hunt, the things are full of worms. I've heard that Fall bears are much better, but I've seen bear carcasses dumped that dang vultures won't touch. If a scavenger won't touch it, I think I'll just stick with cow or deer.
Always wanted to try it and have been told that it really depends on what the bear have been eating. I.E. if they've been scrounging on garbage it's not worth eating but if they've been living in a berry patch the meat is good. But that's all heresay
Lived in Alaska for a while and will eat anything there is, but bear! Do it for the rug or not at all!
They will only eat black bear if it is killed in the spring I think and not the fall, could be vice versa, they will not eat brown bear period ! That should tell you something about bear meat.
Here is the straight skinny on bear meat and trichinosis--from a friend who is a veterinarian, and has a PhD in wildlife disease--
"Correct on bear meat.... but still quite rare. Several things: Trichinosis is not normally a severe human problem. For years, in the days of feeding swine uncooked garbage, it was more frequent. Now basically absent from domestic pork.. rare in wild pigs. The muscle cysts are ‘killed’ if meat cooked to internal temp of 137F, so one need not “cook the crap” out of bear meat, pork, or any other meat. From ‘08-‘12 rare of infection was on the order of 1 case per 10 million people in US..... that’s from ALL sources!"
They will only eat black bear if it is killed in the spring I think and not the fall, could be vice versa, they will not eat brown bear period ! That should tell you something about bear meat.
I think it is just the opposite, meat is good in the spring when they are feeding mainly on grass. In the fall, due to all the spawning salmon, many bears (even black bears) will eat fish. That is when the meat is not so good. However, those bears feeding high up in the mountain during fall on berries is Ok.
For what its worth, the best homemade jerky I've ever eaten was from a young fall bear feeding in grain fields.
I've killed 4 , all fall bears, all were good. One from Maine, one from New Brunswick, two from Ontario. I think they are like hogs, all depends on what sex, how old, and what they have been eating. This last weekend, I ran into one of my son's friends, who told me the smoked bear he had at my house was the best meat he ever had.
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