I know I talked to Griffith's here outside of Hot Springs last year, and he said he wasn't going to skin anymore because their skin was so thin it was easy to cut through it. After the skin is off, meat is just meat.

 

You might check with Arkansas Quality Meat Processing in Centerville. I know in the past he would take bear.

 

You folks actually eat those things?

 

From what I understand, Kruse Meats in Avilla will process just about anything. Call them first though. You can Google them and it will pop right up.

 

Fergusons in atkins. Hour away but worth it.

 

Wildlife Illusions in Jacksonville will. I killed one 3 years ago and brought it to them just gutted. Doubt I will get another one processed though. YUK! I tried evrything I knew to make it taste good. Just couldn't do it. Ended up giving it all away

 

I've eaten a lot of bears and they all tasted great. You have to get them skinned, quartered, and on ice immediately. You also need to cut off all the fat when you're processing the meat.

 

These ribs were as good as any I've ever had in my life.

 

I've had Bear twice one time it was gamey and the second was different but tasty and the Guy that killed it skint it quartered it up put it in ice and covered it with water threw in a heaping handful of Ice Cream Salt and 4 or 5 bay leaves ,soaked it for 3 days draining the bloody water off each day then adding more ice, water and Ice Cream Salt then he cut it up and froze it even made bear burgers that were good.
That's the way I do all my Deer and Hogs now and I've processed Boars that'd bump 300 lbs. and they was as tasty as 100 lb ones. You can do a coon the same way and their eatable then ,without the ice, water, salt and Bay leaves their pretty rough tasting to eat even BBQed.

 

I've eaten a lot of bears and they all tasted great. You have to get them skinned, quartered, and on ice immediately. You also need to cut off all the fat when you're processing the meat.

Immediately like in a few hours from time of kill?

I was debating on how to best go about it if killed in the warmer weather of early season.
So far the plan is to have a hoist/block/tackle (like you skin deer with) that I can pack out into the woods, gut, skin, quarter, butcher on the spot and place in a cooler with ice.

If I am lucky enough to get one I would also like to have the skin tanned for a blanket or throw or something along those lines, but I will get with a taxidermist on the best way to approach that before season.

 

Immediately like in a few hours from time of kill?

I was debating on how to best go about it if killed in the warmer weather of early season.
So far the plan is to have a hoist/block/tackle (like you skin deer with) that I can pack out into the woods, gut, skin, quarter, butcher on the spot and place in a cooler with ice.

If I am lucky enough to get one I would also like to have the skin tanned for a blanket or throw or something along those lines, but I will get with a taxidermist on the best way to approach that before season.

For a warm weather hunt I would have 2 coolers with ice waiting in the truck. You could freeze several milk jugs and use them that way you could re-freeze if you didn't use them. Study up about how to properly skin a bear for whatever taxidermy you want to do. If you kill one fill out your tag, check the bear over the phone, take some pictures, then start gutting and skinning. For warm days I would try to get them on ice within 2-3 hours after killing them. The sooner the better. Even on cold days a bear carcass can stay hot for a long time. The taste of the meat is 100% dependent on how it's taken care of. I always got a kick out of feeding my friends bear meat and not tell them what it was until they bragged on how good it tasted.

 

If the bear taste bad or gamey its because of poor handling on the hunters part. The skin is not big deal if you skin a deer you can skin a bear. The bear may have four or five inches of fat on it, that needs to come off the meat and skin asap!

Fat insulates!!!

Its best to debone the meat, the marrow can make the meat gamey. Get it deboned and iced down asap. Bear meat is lean as the fat is between the skin and meat. It takes smoke extremely easy so you can over-smoke the meat easily.

 

I saw the guy on the show meat eater make bacon out of bear meat off the rump. I gotta say it looked pretty tasty. I'd like to try it!

 

Bear Bacon that does sound good. You can make Bacon out of just about anything with fat. We have made beef bacon several times. It not pork but its not bad. The customer was allergic to pork but loved bacon.

 

You do processing? You said customer so I figured I'd ask.

 

Yes we can process them at Romance, Hot Springs, or Vilonia. Just give use a call. Cypressvalleymeatcompany.com. We process just about anything. Exotics, Polar Bear, you kill it we can probably process it for you.

 

Awesome! Good to know!

 

Polar bear, darn man you wanting to do Federal pen time?

 

Like said, get the fat off of it asap. Skin it like a deer and qtr, ice down for days, draining the blood.

Very good meat. Not gamey but very "strong" or rich.

 

Polar bear, darn man you wanting to do Federal pen time?

Polar bear , Grizzly bear they look the same when you take the fur off. It could be an albino grizzly.

 

I've eaten a lot of bears and they all tasted great. You have to get them skinned, quartered, and on ice immediately. You also need to cut off all the fat when you're processing the meat.

Exactly.. My family LOVES bear burgers. Gotta get them on ice quickly... Can't parade them around for a day then skin. Bear meat is very good...