? for those who hunt Bear (or cougar)

[RichH]

I've never had any desire to hunt cats but I do enjoy bear quite a bit. The last one that a buddy of mine harvested was processed like a pig with the hams sugar cured and it was wonderful. I've not eaten bear steak though I wouldn't mind giving it a go.

[Merle]

sureset,
Bear makes great sausage. Make sure that you trim off as much of the fat as possible,
and grind the meat extra fine. Sometimes you may want to add a little pork to it, if you want a milder flavor. Here is a source for sausage seasonings and recipies. http://www.eldonsausage.com/
[img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Dogfish]

I have read, and can't vouch for this as fact, but I hear that Cougar meat is pretty tasty.

The city of McCleary has an annual Bear festival where we serve bear stew. It is actually quite good. It was so good, that I married the bear festival queen of '89!

Andy

[SureSet]

I am not an avid Bear hunter, but every few years I see one out deer or elk hunting and then tell myself I'll buy a tag next year. I get one or two tags, end up seeing nothing and then quit buying them beacuse they take up too much room in my wallet. The cycle then repeats, and I see one and have no tag.

My questions has to do with whether or not it's worth actually harvesting one if I did have the oportunity. I know nothing about processing one, about the only thing I think of is a tanned bear hide or head mount. Do game processing places do Bear meat? Is it good eating? Are there diseses I need to worry about? Questions, questions, questions...... For that matter the same goes for Cougar. I'm just trying to figure out whether I enter the "cycle" again or not!

Steve

[birdhunter]

SureSet,

As far as bear goes, any place that processes deer/elk will process bear. Bear is good meat, albeit sometimes greasy. It reminds me a lot in taste and texture of pork. We make most of ours into sausage and it turns out great. There are diseases you need to worry about for bears. Just like pork they can have trichinosis (sp?). These are little white worms in the flesh. Harmless if cooked well, but I don't know that I'd still eat the meat. Be careful handling bear meat and keep an eye out for them. Wear gloves! More common in some areas than others.

As far as cats go, I've killed cougar, but I've never eaten any of them. I haven't heard good things about their table fare and I was only interested in depredation, the rug/skull, or avoiding becoming dinner. I suppose you could eat them, but..... [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img].

So bears are good eating and make great rugs or skull mounts. Cougar make great rugs as well, but I wouldn't eat them. For the 11.50 or whatever it is for a tag, I'll buy one. On the off chance I do stumble into one of them and I'm not closing in on some other game, I shoot it. There are more and more of them now a days since the ban, so I think anything I can do to reduce the numbers might help some. It's all about getting the opportunity and if you have it, I say take it.

[MoJet Driver]

I too have heard that cougar backstraps and hams are pretty tasty. I dunno, I'm pretty sure I'd have to have a couple of shots of Maker's Mark to whet my appetite first.

[local_hooker]

I have a buddy that guides bear & cougar hunts in Headquarters Idaho, she won't touch bear meat, and she won't give away a single package of cat meat?? I like cat. I have eaten three bears and if I kill another I will make it all into sausage. The last bear I ate was a 412lb. black bear and it was horrible, a younger bear would probly be better table fare.

[SureSet]

Thanks guys, it does solve my dillema, I guess I'll start buying tags each year for both.

Something about eating cat seems a little strange, but I guess the same could be said for allot of animals. I'll figure out which tastes better afterwards....

Steve