Bear Meat

[DVW]

Bagged this a couple of days ago. Some new friends came over and helped me cut it up for the freezer, which was greatly appreciated. Now to go and see if I can fill my second tag. This has been taking some time away from the barn and razor making, but it is worth it.

[Johntoad57]

Bagged this a couple of days ago. Some new friends came over and helped me cut it up for the freezer, which was greatly appreciated. Now to go and see if I can fill my second tag. This has been taking some time away from the barn and razor making, but it is worth it.

I'm not sure that I understand the killing of innocent animals, (especially Bears) and getting enjoyment from it. I'm very glad that you harvested the meat to be used as food. I would understand better if you were going to track and bag a human being. The skills it takes to assassinate a human are at a much higher level and they are of a greater challenge. That I can understand.

However, if that's your thing, so be it. Remember, I said that I didn't understand this concept. I didn't say I was against it. So please, don't take it the wrong way!

[DVW]

No worries. To each his own. Here is why I do it. I don't buy beef from the store. I harvest bear and deer to feed my family. Have been dong that for over ten years now. There is an enjoyment to being outdoors, to using your skills to provide for your family, to knowing where your food came from and how it was processed because you did it yourself...

If you have ever tried to hunt bears without dogs or bait, then you know how hard it actually is. As a friend of mine once said, it is like fishing without any bait on your hook.

[Johntoad57]

That concept I can totally understand. Getting out in the woods has a certain aire about it.

As a kid, I hunted a lot in the Mountains of West Virginia. It was exciting! Then I went into the Military. Once I got out, I went back to West Virginia to go hunting. It was the worst experience of my life. We were in Durbin, WV and went Black Bear hunting. I did kill a bear. The moment after I pulled the trigger, all these thoughts of guilt of what I had done and my past came back into my head. I have never hunted in my life again. That's been 50 years ago.....

[STF]

No worries. To each his own. Here is why I do it. I don't buy beef from the store. I harvest bear and deer to feed my family. Have been dong that for over ten years now. There is an enjoyment to being outdoors, to using your skills to provide for your family, to knowing where your food came from and how it was processed because you did it yourself...

If you have ever tried to hunt bears without dogs or bait, then you know how hard it actually is. As a friend of mine once said, it is like fishing without any bait on your hook.

I've eaten a lot of unusual things in my time but never bear, I would certainly eat it and when I think of the assembly line abattoirs it is nearly enough to make me vegetarian (I said nearly).

I think if everyone had first hand knowledge of where their dinner came from there would be a lot less meat eaters.

When she was a very young, my daughter thought sausages came from a sausage tree. She wouldn't have eaten them if I had burst her little bubble for her.

I have been told that bear isn't super nice and tough but like I said, I haven't tried it yet.

[randydance062449]

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I never tried bear meat but I certainly would!

[outback]

I've eaten all types of N American game. The bear I had was roasted, pulled apart, and BBQ sauce added.

Went back for thirds...!! Not too shabby

[DVW]

I eat fruit bears (they live mainly off of wild berries and fruit from old abandoned home steads), and they are very good meat. I'm told that bear whose main diet is fish are nasty to eat, but I've never tried one to know for sure. I also avoid "garbage" bears and spring bears.

I know where the berry patches and old orchards are. So I watch the bear scat for signs of what they have been eating. This guy was up on a mountain top with all the berries. The berries are about done now and the fruit is starting to ripen, so he was moving down the mountain. I basically live in the middle of the national forest in a small community of about 100 people and spend about three to four months out of the year tracking and watching the bears and deer.

It's work but it is rewarding, much in the same way as making my own knives, razors, soap and canning my own fruit and vegetables. I appreciate all those things more when I make them myself. I have to eat everyday, and everyday I am thankful for the meat and canned veggies when I remember the work that went into them. I have to shave multiple times a week and I am thankful for the razor and the deer tallow shaving soap that I made for that purpose. This is why I make skinning knives, kitchen knives and razors but not fantasy knives. I have no use for a fantasy knife. I want to make things that have a purpose and that I can use. It makes the daily routines of life rewarding.

[outback]

Your living the life I've always wanted.

[Johntoad57]

You have to have a certain mindset to live that kind of life. Growing up, it was much like that. That's why I got the hell out of there! I wanted to experience the world and live life; the high life. I did! It almost consumed me!

And now in the Autumn of age, I think about how simple and desireable that life was. I would not survive in that realm now so I can only think about it. Good Stuff!