Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game *Caution* Bear Meat

Good to see I am not the only one to multi purpose a handy gadget

Trichonosis (sp) is nothing to mess with. And its rarely cured, only if caught very early (very rare) can the cycle of the organism be halted. Once it completes a partial life cycle in your body, you have it. It can be kept kind of dormant, with drugs, but it doesn't stop the cists from forming in your muscles. This combined with potential brain damage can be very debilitating.

My first bear shot in NW MT was tested by MT FW&P as part of a study. It came back positive. All the meat went in the dumpster. No sense messing with Trichonosis. Super cooking will kill it, but why take the chance, once you read about the effects and how incurable it is. I will never eat a bear that has not been tested.

Lots of other animals can carry Trichonosis, anything that eats or feed on an infected carcass can get it. Cats, coons, skunks, bears, etc, can all get it. And then their carcass, becomes a carrier for the next poor SOB that eats it.

And yes some areas have a much higher density of infected animals, just ask your local fish and game department. Most have a clue what's going on. In the mid 90's NW MT was a hotspot for the disease, I suspect it still is.

I hope things work out for the best.

Some years ago a hunter in Salmon, Id shot a bear and made sausage out of it which he gave to all of his friends. He got the whole bunch of them.

TFF!

However, reliable sources have it that Steely is pretty darn generous when it comes to kids.

John

You are a [bleep] weirdo.....but VERY funny! I think we need to organize a Rendevous in your neck of the woods for a Meet and Greet.

Heck I always used the chop saw to cutmy frozen Salmon into steaks. Mmmmm! Salmon dust

Bear ribs can be pretty meaty and I bet they were cooking/roasting them with little light or no light. The meat is dark and one has to really make sure it is cooked well.

Get well soon Jason, hope you have a healthy recovery.

MtnHtr

One reason to pressure can bears and hogs,,, plus they taste good that way

Where would you get the meat tested ?(butcher shop or some state agency )
Would a meat smoker kill the tricinosis ?

Unless you're talking about one of those cookers that adds smoke, no. A smoker for making jerky, etc. just dries the meat, but doesn't cook it. It won't get nearly hot enough to kill the stuff.

Most hot-smoking takes place at 200+ degrees for fairly long periods. It only take 47 minutes at 125 degrees to kill trichinosis.

A golf-ball sized sample of Montana bear meat can be sent to Montana State University for testing. The incidence of bears having trichinosis is anywhere from 3% to 10%, depending on the part of the state. If your bear is trich-free then the meat is safe to cook like beef, deer or elk.

HA! B'ar oil! HAHA!

Forward stereoscopic vision = predator. I dont eat fellow predators.
never ate a dog or a cat. never ate a bear, coyote, puma, ect.
what you can consume and what you should consume are vastly different.

Thanks Mule Deer,that was exactly the info. I was looking for
Tim

But its damn tasty! Good to know...hopefully the little 2 year old I shot and ate half of this year wasn't crawling with it :|

Reminds me of being very drunk, at age 18, with a huge dead hog, a brand new chain saw, and the Shriner's Lodge bar-b-que pit, complete with a chain fall for hanging the hog. The boys I was with couldn't sharpen a knife, and neither could I, so I used the chain saw. I didn't use bar oil though...we used Wesson oil. We pigged out on that pork, and it seemed good at the time (but we were all drunk). I remember waking up with a huge hangover the next day, and seeing meat dust dripping from above the chain fall. I felt like puking.

I am so glad I am not 18 any more. BTW, I quit drinking 32 years ago...I could handle my booze, but not the memories that it's over-use created for me.

Apparently some of us have no concept of moderation. Thankfully I ain't one of them.

There is humor in most anything.

"Moderation in all things, including moderation"

Lazerus Long (aka Robert Heinlein)

So does bear meat in general cook up reasonably well? I see quite a few bears every year chasing blacktail but never had the urge to pull the trigger if Im not gonna eat it.

My family prefers it over venison, but I hear the taste depends on what they eat. Some here on this board don't care for it.