some of the critters that wander in the yard

[Wobbly_Alaska]

I wanted to share a little here of what will appear unexepectedly....

This Griz was literally drug into cam by a larger sow with cubs he met on the trail. the battled for nearly 1/2 a mile before ending up out side the tent. my oldest was sleeping in. at 8 foot he was whooped by a sow that was considerably larger then he... i shot him at 6 foot with my 300 wm...

this 3 year old boar literally walked up to me as i answered my cell phone that was ringing on the hood of my truck. my daughter grabbed the .243 and shot him at 5 yards dead square in the chest. his hide was thin but sure ate good!!!

[BBR12]

Good gooobly goo. Man I would be packing some serious heat everytime I went outside if I lived there. By the way how does bear meat taste.

[Jeramie]

Wow, although that could be scary that would be a blast!

Ive heard bear is very oily and strong. Especially if youre use to tamer game like Whitetail.

[joeaveragehunter]

Intense!

[layin on the smackdown]

Its a darn good thing your daughter can shoot...wow...not really the top of the food chain up there are you?

[92xj]

That's awesome!

[Wobbly_Alaska]

Wow, although that could be scary that would be a blast!

Ive heard bear is very oily and strong. Especially if youre use to tamer game like Whitetail.

I harvest 2-3 bears a year solely for the meat. it is a wonderful treat for our table. HOWEVER. much depends on WHERE they are harvested and the meat care that Immediately follows..

bear meat does not like hot temps as it does make the fat turn rancid very fast. it needs to be handled the same as pork, field dressed asap. bagged into good cotton breathable bags. and cooled. Here in interior AK there are no salmon streams for them to be in for the most part and are good clean animals, and i would not harvest one that has spent the summer eating out of community dump sites or others as they tend to taste like pampers.

compared to deer or moose caribou, black bear is #1 on many tables.

cooking bear meat is done SLOWLY... because it is a tighter meat then other game animals. if you look at the steak of a cow or other and look at the grain of the meat..( like rings in a tree) bears have many many more rings then other game and take longer for it to break down. we grind much of it into burger, or stew it out.. i always save 1-2 rear hams to be cured into ham and slow smoke them to 165 deg. (wow getting hungry here) the ribs of the bear are small and i cut them and brine them like a game bird, lightly salt and brown sugared, smoke them a few hours and then will cook them in a crock pot or dutch oven all day on the wood stove. and the heavy rib meat is turned into a bacon that is second to none. I do all of my own processing so i know what i have into it and the care of the meat is extremely important to us. as that is what fills our freezers for the year.

Grizzly on the other hand is hit or miss... the large boar in the photo we turned 2 hams (150lbs ) into Italian sausage and it was fine. though he was in rut and full of adrenaline from fighting, he was very MUSKY and unsavory as roast or steaks. a lot can be cured with Fennel and coriander seasonings. I would strongly recommend every one try their bear before leaving it behind for scavengers.