Anybody eat bear?

I've got a good sized boar hanging around now for about a week, and thinking about slipping an arrow through him. I've never eaten bear and have been told by some it is great, and by others it ain't fit to eat, so give me some feedback. I'm not gonna kill him if I'm not gonna eat him. I've eaten most things including monkey and dog, so my palate is not to particular, but my wife is a little bit more particular and wouldn't eat beaver.

I love it and prefer it over whitetail venison.

I have eaten it ,been a few years since anyone in the family drew a bear tag

like most things who is fixing it and how it was handled from the moment the heart stopped beating till it hit your fork has a lot more to do with it than anything while it was alive.

I've only shot one, I thought it was good. Didn't seem to far off from venison. My wife thought it was 'soft meat' pre cooked. I think it depends on what it's eating.

I like it. Consistency somewhere between pork and beef. I prefer it cooked to pink. Great for roasts as well.
It also makes terrific jerky.

Osky

The ones I had were pretty darn good.

Makes great smoked sausage and pepperoni sticks.

I've taken bear in Maine and Idaho. It seems to be a local thing whether or not folks think they are worth eating. The folks in Maine love eating bear. Idaho not so much. They seem to consider bear to be infested with disease. If a hunter insists they will bring back the meat, otherwise just the hide.

I took a bear in Maine that had been run for hours by hounds. I liked it fine if cooked in a slow cooker with carrots, patatoes, onions, but the wife didn't care for it. The meat has a more rubbery texture than beef, venison, or pork. I hope someday to take a bear here in Va and see how we like it.

X2 especially on the jerky.
But roasts are good and make good sandwiches when cold....with a dab of horseradish !

Never had a bad one

I’ve tried it in a roast and a stew. Roast was good, and anything in a stew is good. Mine were bush bear. I’ve heard it depends what they eat. Garbage dump bear being a no go.

It should be cooked well. Like wild boar, they can carry trichinosis. I don't mind bear.

I'd have to think if you've had monkey and dog meat, bear meat would have to be a step up. I've had bear at our local game feed and i thought it was pretty good.

The best eating ones come from near landfills where they have been able to bulk up on Huggies and Pampers.

I mean you have eaten dog. Monkeys are practically a close cousin to some people, so I can't see you having a problem with bear.

I have eaten all of them I’ve harvested they taste good to me

Bear meat is good and good for you. I prefer a spring bear to a fall bear but both are fine eating.

I haven't shot one for a long time, IMHO it made the best polish sausage.

Superb meat. Excpecialy if it's been feeding in grain fields.

Definitely worth eating. I like it better than venison. Bear roast is my favorite thing to do with it. I agree with others that it needs to be taken care of well after harvest. Get it skinned and cooled down right away.

Outstanding meat, softer, sweeter in our opinion. Roasts, steaks, and breakfast links for us. Absolutely love it, Wisconsin and Ontario bears we have harvested and eaten.

It's mine and my Wifes favorite meat

like Osky said taste is between beef and pork.

My family and I have eaten enough of them to say they taste like the best pork we have ever eaten. We take very good care of our bear starting as soon as they hit the ground. If you can skin and quarter them and get them in a hanging cooler as quick as possible they will be great. We go so far as to pack them with ice on the way to camp from the woods. I think a lot of folks that think bear is not good have not truly taken good care of the meat. Even save the ribs and throw them on the grill for a real treat!

Moosetrot

We killed a small bear last week. I got the heart, fillets, and a couple of slabs of fat. I pickled the heart with onions and turned out good. I butterflied the fillets. Sprinkled salt and pepper on them. Left them in fridge for a day. Coated with flour and pan fried. Pretty darn good. I cubed the fat and rendered into grease/lard. The left over cracklings were a good treat. I bet you could take the belly slab and make a good bacon? Bear is like any other meat. It's all in how you prepare it.

I've eaten 100± bear and I've never seen ANY resemblance of anything pork?

Maybe i should correct myself and when someone asks me what bear tastes like I should say "bear".

Moosetrot

Chicken?

I've eaten in excess of 100 black bears; never had a bad one. Young ones, old ones, ancient ones. Males, females. Spring, fall. Look into rendering the fat; makes the finest pastries imaginable. Bear meat should be cooked pretty well-done to avoid trichinosis. Breakfast patty sausage...

Jack

Pickled bear heart w/onions.


Fried bear fillets.

All the bear around here are grain fed and eat the wild mast. This year wild mast has been slim. Looks like I'm getting a bear tag. Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it.

This is the best time to kill a bear IMO. They’ve been gorging on all the wild fruit since the berries got ripe last summer. Then they moved on to apples, hawthorns, pears and apricots. Thats how it works in my neck of the woods, the meat is great

Any time is good to eat a black bear

Alaskan Brown now.....Never again -right Waggler?

I prefer it not as dry as deer.

good eating

Go get him, excellent eating. Take care of the meat properly.

Really good eating and we enjoy it- this was the first year I took a bear in for processing, first time I case skinned a bear for taxidermy and I was tired by the end of the day. I asked the guy what his specialty was and he said Bear Bacon, I had the whole bear turned into Stixs, Bacon, saved the backstraps and gave it away to anyone that saved bait or helped bait. Numerous comments on the best bacon I've ever had... definitely will do that again.

I eat a lot of bears and I have never found one that was anything like pork at all. It's good meat, just make sure it is always cooked to at least 145 degrees to kill any potential for trichinella, there should never be any rare or medium rare in bear meat. I have quite a few videos on my YouTube channel about processing bears and bear cooking.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLji1C9fBDe5M2RgcLC3tqiA_55J083lNd

I have taken a bear on a bait site containing fish and beaver. Tasted horrible. My last bear taken over doughnuts, fruit and granola was terrific. Next time I will not hunt over meat bait sites.

Bear meat that was taken care of properly and cooked respectfully is some of the best meat we've ever eaten. We've had bears from New Brunswick, CA and NJ, and all of them were delicious. We use ground to cut some fat into our venison if I'm making a meatloaf, meatballs or something like that since we do not add fat into venison. It's my husbands favorite game meat. Makes great sausage, good roasts, pulled bear meat and on and on. I usually do a bear sloppy joe for mentored hunts or field to fork events that is always well received.

Good stuff . I compare it to beef , dark red and a little grainier but always tender . Much better than venison

Taking care of it properly is important as any meat is,it's excellent if you haven't tried bear ribs you don't know what your missing.

Very good. Smoked bear ribs are a favorite. Cans and stores well. If frozen, we prefer to eat it within 6-9 months

Smoked bear ribs are a delicacy.
Years ago when I lived up in the canyon I took bear regularly for meat and hides.
Often when skinning and butchering in the yard,the oler women would come over and help,and would ask for the ribs.I only took the legs,neck meat and backstraps,so no problem giving the ribs to the neighbors.
One day old George,a neighbor brought over a big bowl of fresh smoked bear ribs for me.First time I tried them-Man what a great treat they are.

Both Michigan bears I shot were real tasty. Wife and kid approved too!

Way I understand it, the open dumps back in the day and hunters not cooling them down lead to all the bad raps about it tasting bad.

Fall bears are the best eating, as long as they're not feeding on garbage. I like to make mostly sausage and render the lard for baking, it also makes wonderful soap, now is when they are fattest. MonsterToms has the best tasting bears in North America in his area, peaches and all sorts of fruit. I had some given to me a few years ago and it's wonderful. Garbage dump bears taste like what they eat.

I've eaten bear 3 different times. Twice at a game feed and once where a guy who was supposed to make the best bear around, according to some people. I thought it was the worst wild game for eating there is and I've eaten beaver, muskrat, coon, which I thought were pretty decent.

I concur on fish eating bears.