I'm an avid deer and elk hunter that always has a bear tag while hunting. The liberals outlawed hound hunting so the populations are growing and I'm bound to run into one sometime, but don't target them.

I am wondering if people hunt bears for just the hide or if the hide is secondary to the meat. I suppose that for some hunters the hide is secondary while for others the meat is secondary.

In your opinion do the majority of bear hunters hunt for the hide or for the meat?

Is it poor form to waste the meat because you only wanted the hide?

Is it poor form to waste the hide because you only wanted the meat?

If I get a tag I'll use both.

People tell me as long as the bear is not eating trash or road kill the meat is great.

I'll probably need a pro to deal with the fur once I get it off.

If I went bear hunting I would find someplace to donate the meat to. Someplace or someone.

Originally Posted By MTNmyMag: If I went bear hunting I would find someplace to donate the meat to. Someplace or someone.

that's what I did.
I don't like it anyway's, but the old addage that the bear tastes like the last thing it ate did me in on this one.

This was his last meal.

In the Spring the hides can be beautiful, however, do you want to eat something that hasn't shit for six months?

Originally Posted By HABU: Originally Posted By Marsh_Rat: In the Spring the hides can be beautiful, however, do you want to eat something that hasn't shit for six months? I don't want to eat a nasty assed bear at all. I was hoping everyone would say they just hunt bears for the hide.

Sorry dude. I hunt em for the meat. The hide is secondary. I do however have them tanned just to hang around. Mabe some day a rug...

I think you're going to run into both kinds of hunters. Some want the hide & some want the meat, but most will want both. I was in Ontario bear hunting for the first week of the season. 9 hunters, two guys got bears. I'd expect some dirty looks if you plan to waste the meat.

The second guy to get a bear that week was after the hide. It was interesting to see how the rest of the hunters reacted to that because it never even crossed their minds to not be interested in the meat. That guy had no respect around camp from the other hunters.

The lady at the camp ended up cooking some of the meat for everyone to try and I'll admit it was some of the best meat I've ever eaten in my life. I never expected it to be that good, but it was absolutely delicious. Hard to be any more fresh of a meal than some thing that was shot the day before and then marinated for 24 hours.

Originally Posted By teddy12b: Hard to be any more fresh of a meal than some thing that was shot the day before and then marinated for 24 hours.

I'd never consider shooting a deer or elk just for the hide or for the cape and antlers. Bear, however, seem to have a slightly different "trophy stigma" status, undoubtedly at least partly to the fact that you need to marinade a bear for a day to make it palatable. You could make a bears ass hole taste good with enough marinade. Seems to me that the whole omnivore thing is working against it as well.

A friend of mine tagged one during one of the few recent seasons here in NJ.

He didn't care for the meat: said he could stew it to make it palatable, but that was about it.

That said, the bear population in northern New Jersey has become... "problematic". The state really has to either re-open bear season or stop trying to develop every last acre :-/

-WhyTanFox

I never got to eat my bear, someone else got it from the freezer.

I do have a nice rug though.

I've had bear once--ground bear in lasagna. It was very good. Whether this was in spite of the contents of the lasagna, I do not know.

Doesn't mean I am gonna stop hunting bears. Was out this weekend in fact.

I have only recently (today) considered hunting bear for many reasons. The location I will hunt has a minimal deer population due to coyotes, but is overrun with black bear. The location has 25 miles bordering a national park!

I originally planned on hunting squirrels til deer season. Now I plan on hunting squirrels til deer season, then bear in bear season, and coyotes every chance I get.

As someone new to hunting, please reinforce my thoughts, or break me of my misconceptions.

Lastly, I have lost my job, so a new gun is out of the ?. Here are my available choices and plan for the jobs ahead:

Ruger 10/22 w/ 4x scope Squirrel and Coyotes if I get the chance (is a head shot needed to kill them?)


Vulcan (please refrain from pointing out how much I f'ed up buying this brand AR! I am painfully aware) Coyote


Remington 700 in .243 Deer and Bear (I am concerned that this is not enough gun for a Bear) I am of the opinion that good marksmanship is more important than caliber. That being said, I REALLY do not want to only wound a bear, out of concern for the animal an my own preservation as well!

Please feel free to offer your opinions for me, esp. in regards to .243/bear combo

Extra credit - I plan to wear a sidearm for self-defense from bear/coyote packs, and renegade albinos. (This is legal for me)
H+K Compact .40 S+W that I shoot well or .357 that I am less skilled with?