I love bear meat and I'd like to shoot a bear to get more meat. I spoke to an outfitter located between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg whose prices seem reasonable. He hunts plots of land in between vacation rental subdivisions. In speaking with him, I learned that most of those bears know how to open the bearproof trash cans and they eat alot of trash left behind by vacationers. I suspect that's what brings these bears so close to civilization.

Will I likely taste a difference between these bears and those taken deep inside a forest?

I know I could probably turn most the meat into sausage and not notice a taste difference, but I really enjoy ground bear meat for burgers, chili, and spaghetti sauce.

In the end, I don't want to spend the money to take the family down there for a few weeks and be dissapointed by the quality of the meat. I've already shot 2 bears and had the hides tanned, so BTDT, don't really need more hides laying around.

Your thoughts?

Thanks, Dinny

No idea about trash bear but I do know that bear I have shot over bait tasted different than bear I have killed around agricultural areas. Not necessarily bad but different. Only makes sense to me I guess. You are what you eat.

I wouldn't waste my precious time, money, or energy on anything but a mountain bear.

+1

Especially if getting meat is the main objective. I'd much prefer to be eating a berry-fed bear than a trash-fed bear.

+1

For eating I would stay away from trash bears or bears that are on the fish. Like the previous 2 gentlemen said…..get a berry fed mountain bear.

Good luck.

Thanks for confirming my thoughts. I'll look elsewhere to hunt better eating bears.

Thanks, Dinny

Just scratch burgers off the list . . . taste problem solved.

So many better things to eat than bear.

Most of the bad taste when bear meat is cooked is because there was fat still on the meat when it was cooked. Bears travel long corridors, it’s not uncommon to see a bear 5 miles in rough country with oats, wheat, and corn in his scat where he went to someone’s farm several miles away to eat their horse feed. If you get a bear that’s been eating acorns, which is what they eat in the southern Appalachian mountains primarily and bite into a piece of fat it’s going to taste bitter. Trim away the fat and you’ll be good to go. If you want a bear that hasn’t interacted with humans, I would head west into some of the wild places that still exist, There’s not much left over here. Good luck, hope you kill a big one!

Good info, Colt.

Thanks, Dinny

I know exactly who you are referencing in this post most likely

I assume rocky top outfitters

My advice would be to avoid this outfit at all cost. Trust me

Avoided. Have a better recommendation?

East Tn is not really a great place to go for a guided hunt of any sort. To my knowledge there isn’t any guides or outfit in the area that actually are worth paying for. I’d probably look somewhere else honestly. Maybe the Carolinas?

Most are like Greg at rocky top. Scam artists who are gonna lie to you and put you on a 20 acre tract bear hunting for 5 days. Can’t bait in Tn so good luck

Fishing guides is a different story. We have some great guide services for fishing.