Field care for bear?

[brewer12345]

Will be chasing elk in the September muzzleloader season and the state offers bear tags good until you fill your elk tag. I know little about bear hunting, but would oppotunistically shoot one. I know all the fur and blubber make caring for the meat harder. Other than gutting them in the field, what do i need to do? Skin in the field? Something else? It might be pretty warm at that time and place.

[Randy Bohannon]

Like any other animal I kill,skinned,meat removed put in clean cloth bags,bones,guts right where it fell. With a bear I would be prepared with several really sharp or replaceable blade knives,be familiar with skinning techniques for whatever the end result you want. Bear skin rug with head,no head,just a skin,with or without claws ? It will take several hours to do it right,be prepared to do it right. I would not worry and keep as much of the fat as I could. Wonderful lube and baking grease once rendered and expensive when you can find it.

[white eagle]

yep care and pride in you kill goes along way
in making fine table fare

[Markopolo]

they are pretty much the same as anything.. clean kill, keep meat clean.. are you required to salvage meat there? here we are required to salvage meat durring spring hunts, and not fall hunts. that is because of the fish the bears here get into.. i would love to get a non fishy fall bear just for the fat to make tallow, and BP lube.

just do your best to flesh put the cape well, roll it up just like everything.. dont over think things..

have a great hunt..

[brewer12345]

No fish to worry about. More likely they would be eating acorns. Is skinning in the field a must?

[DeputyDuke]

I have only taken one bear. I have helped with a couple more. We had ready access to vehicles and more importantly, ice! We filled the cavities of the freshly gutted bears with ice. Then skinned them as soon as we returned to our lodging, then cut them up and into the freezer. If I were in the field without ice, I would skin, quarter, bag and hang in the coolest place I could find. I think bear is good eating, and a bear hind cured and smoked as a ham was wonderful.

[brewer12345]

This will be about an hour drive from the house. How far we have to haul it to the truck, well, that is the $64,000 question for a variety of reasons. When I shot a doe there last fall on a rather warm day, I lugged the field dressed carcass to the truck, shoved some from milk jugs of ice in the cavity, and high tailed it back to the house. The meat was great. Probably try to do the same with a bear or elk if we get one.

[waksupi]

For a good hide, you need to skin it immediately.