What to do post bear kill?

[metataylor]

So I am a relatively new hunter and I am hoping to get a black bear in NW Montana this spring season. I will be going with my brother in law who has hunted for ~20 years but he has also never killed a bear. Are there any good resources on field dressing / processing black bear? I looked on the Youtube channel and I found tons of videos on bear but nothing after the shooting. I learned how to gut deer from randy's videos so I am hoping there is something similar for black bear

 

[Idahoarcheryhunter]

Stuck n the rut did a really good video on YouTube about how to skin one out for a rug super helpful.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Skin out the bear and keep the head and paws attached unless you know what your doing, removing the quarters, loins, neck meat as you go. In the spring bears don't have a ton of fat so it's not too different from doing a deer. In Montana you have to keep all edible portions... and should anyway since bears are delicious, you will need to take the unfrozen hide to MFWP to be check post kill, typically they are only open during business hours during the week, so keep that in mind if you are using weekends as travel days and have a plan. I did a hunt in idaho a couple of years back and got a game wardens cell phone prehunt and was able to meet up with him in the field to do a check on a sunday so I could drive home for work monday. One problem you may run into is processors are usually closed in the spring or only doing agriculture butchering and won't want to do your bear, I know there is only one processor in the bozeman area open april-may who will do bears (not a issue if you do everything yourself).

 

[metataylor]

Thanks for the advice. I actually live right next to MFWP building (within a block) so that should be pretty easy , what do they check for with the hide? I plan on doing everything myself I just wanted to make sure there was not anything in particular that was unique or special about Bear. Some people say to leave the hide on certain animals, some say to debone asap, just wanted to get a feeling.

 

[Bambistew]

Watch videos or talk to a taxidermist on how to skin the legs/feet. Most people make the mistake of cutting the back of the ankle in the wrong spot resulting in a weird rug shape, and more work for your taxi.

Go with gutless and go slow. Bears are dirty, try to keep the meat as clean as possible.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Totally agree with Bambi the back legs can be confusing definitely worth watching a video, also it's way harder to keep the hair off the meat on a bear than a deer in my experience. The fwp will just ask where it was harvested, record the gender, and pull a tooth.

 

[flyingvmt]

Skin out the bear and keep the head and paws attached unless you know what your doing, removing the quarters, loins, neck meat as you go. In the spring bears don't have a ton of fat so it's not too different from doing a deer. In Montana you have to keep all edible portions... and should anyway since bears are delicious, you will need to take the unfrozen hide to MFWP to be check post kill, typically they are only open during business hours during the week, so keep that in mind if you are using weekends as travel days and have a plan. I did a hunt in idaho a couple of years back and got a game wardens cell phone prehunt and was able to meet up with him in the field to do a check on a sunday so I could drive home for work monday. One problem you may run into is processors are usually closed in the spring or only doing agriculture butchering and won't want to do your bear, I know there is only one processor in the bozeman area open april-may who will do bears (not a issue if you do everything yourself).

This brings to light a question I have regarding processing your own bear meat. I always do all my own processing on deer/elk/antelope. With such a huge chance of bear meat containing trich., what are the chances of not cleaning tables and equipment enough and having trich get into other meat later on? Not especially worried about it in the spring as much as in the fall when processing could be back to back....

 

[Deleted member 28227]

This brings to light a question I have regarding processing your own bear meat. I always do all my own processing on deer/elk/antelope. With such a huge chance of bear meat containing trich., what are the chances of not cleaning tables and equipment enough and having trich get into other meat later on? Not especially worried about it in the spring as much as in the fall when processing could be back to back....

I'm really careful whenever I process anything... kinda a neat freak... so I butch all my animals the same way. I don't use porous cutting boards (wood) I wear double layered nitrile gloves and use bleach to clean off the counters when I'm done, and I clean out my grinder thoroughly with boiling water. Just be careful and you should be fine.

Also concerning trich I typically freeze my bear for a couple of months before consumption (mostly because I try to eat from the bottom of my freezer and I sous vide all the bear meat we eat WAY longer than necessary. I would be really curious to see a study on long term freezing and trich most studies only run a week or so and show that several of the strains don't go inert... I have always wondered what the effect of freezing for 3-6 months has on it.

 

[1_pointer]

I'm really careful whenever I process anything... kinda a neat freak... so I butch all my animals the same way. I don't use porous cutting boards (wood) I wear double layered nitrile gloves and use bleach to clean off the counters when I'm done, and I clean out my grinder thoroughly with boiling water. Just be careful and you should be fine.

Also concerning trich I typically freeze my bear for a couple of months before consumption (mostly because I try to eat from the bottom of my freezer and I sous vide all the bear meat we eat WAY longer than necessary. I would be really curious to see a study on long term freezing and trich most studies only run a week or so and show that several of the strains don't go inert... I have always wondered what the effect of freezing for 3-6 months has on it.

I listened to a recent podcast with Hank Shaw. IIRC he stated there is some line running east/west through the country. South of that line and freezing kills trich. North and it doesn't. They were separate species causing the same disease.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Love to hear that podcast if you have a link. My wife has a -100 F freezer at work I have been thinking about getting a bear steak that has been confirmed with Trich tossing it in there for 6 months and then having it tested again... just for curiosities sake.

 

[1_pointer]

The Joe Rogan Experience episode #886

 

[HSi-ESi]

I might be a bit off on my biology, but for parasites such as Trich. they will still "test positive". Freezing wouldn't destroy the cysts - just make it so the Trich can't reproduce in your gut after you eat them.

The Trich. test is done through microscopy - so they would still see the cysts.

Trich. is just nature's way of letting us know that we should eat bear in hams, stews, etc. and not rare steaks

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I might be a bit off on my biology, but for parasites such as Trich. they will still "test positive". Freezing wouldn't destroy the cysts - just make it so the Trich can't reproduce in your gut after you eat them.

The Trich. test is done through microscopy - so they would still see the cysts.

Trich. is just nature's way of letting us know that we should eat bear in hams, stews, etc. and not rare steaks

This is my understanding as well, although there has got to be a way to tell if the are inert or not since biologists know you can freeze some and not others. I guess they their could have been accidental human "testing" lol maybe I will freeze a steak and call rinella and see if he wants to roll the dice again.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Info from the Mayo Clinic on Trichinosis prevention, including for wild game/bear meats:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/trichinosis/basics/prevention/con-20027095

Don't count on freezing or any preparation method that doesn't reach an internal temp of 160 degrees to kill the organism.

10% bleach solution to clean grinder parts, cutting boards and other equipment will destroy nearly all infectious organisms you might encounter while processing meat.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Info from the Mayo Clinic on Trichinosis prevention, including for wild game/bear meats:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/trichinosis/basics/prevention/con-20027095

Don't count on freezing or any preparation method that doesn't reach an internal temp of 160 degrees to kill the organism.

10% bleach solution to clean grinder parts, cutting boards and other equipment will destroy nearly all infectious organisms you might encounter while processing meat.

I really hate "make sure meat reaches internal temp of" guidelines because time is just as important a factor (also 160 is overkill)... if you sous vide a bear at 137 for 1 hour it will kill just as well as 10 seconds at 160 (145 if you really want to be safe) I wish a government org would publish tables with temp and time instead, and I do get they are trying to account for idiots and it would require greater effort on their part to produce.

http://honest-food.net/on-trichinosis-in-wild-game/

 

[AtenJones]

I really hate "make sure meat reaches internal temp of" guidelines because time is just as important a factor (also 160 is overkill)... if you sous vide a bear at 137 for 1 hour it will kill just as well as 10 seconds at 160 (145 if you really want to be safe) I wish a government org would publish tables with temp and time instead, and I do get they are trying to account for idiots and it would require greater effort on their part to produce.

http://honest-food.net/on-trichinosis-in-wild-game/

Couldn't agree more. My wife is pregnant right now, so I've been SUPER cautious about all meats I've cooked. Everything says 160, but I had no idea how long it had to be 160 - so I just let it cook there, or hotter, for a few minutes. Now I'm learning that's overkill, but at the time I was genuinely concerned about whether or not it was enough.