bear season

my girlfriend's mom has a cabin in dahlonega and has about 11 acres and has a bear problem. She asked me to come and hunt. So how does one go about hunting bear? If I do it will be with stick and string.

does bear

meat taste good? I see the season starts sep 12 and all you have to do is report to the WRD and of course no bait.

I'd get real far up the tree if I were you.

Best way to hunt bear is with a group so you will have some help with the draggin. Let me know if you need any help.
Vin

...By all means hunt with a group if you hunt with a bow! If you get a bear they can help pull it out, and if the bear gets you they can help pull yo out.*wink..

interesting points

maybe there is a reason my girlfriend wants me to go???

hunt a bear just like you do a deer during bow season. find food. If you do shoot one and need help dragging one out let me know i live in dahlonega. Im sure she is having a bear problem there are alot of them this year

Meats real greasy/fatty. Have the whole thing ground into sausage.

sweatequity said:

maybe there is a reason my girlfriend wants me to go???

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And we have a winner!

Never hunted bear before, but I would suggest these few things. Hunt from a stand where the bear frequently travels. I would say go for a double lung shot. Avoid the shoulder. Give it plenty of time to bleed out. Approach with caution once you find it.

ed'sboy said:

Meats real greasy/fatty. Have the whole thing ground into sausage.

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That is not necessarily true! While your individual experience may have been less than satisfactory, many others will disagree. Bear meat, like all game, must be handled properly for the final product to be of best quality. By that I mean field dressed immediately, cooled quickly and strict cleanliness. Sausage is a good choice but other cuts and methods of preparation are good too, steaks, roasts and burger for chili or other uses are excellent too.

Coastie said:

That is not necessarily true! While your individual experience may have been less than satisfactory, many others will disagree. Bear meat, like all game, must be handled properly for the final product to be of best quality. By that I mean field dressed immediately, cooled quickly and strict cleanliness. Sausage is a good choice but other cuts and methods of preparation are good too, steaks, roasts and burger for chili or other uses are excellent too.

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Well said....Bear meat is excellent if handled properly....

josh chatham said:

hunt a bear just like you do a deer during bow season. find food. If you do shoot one and need help dragging one out let me know i live in dahlonega.

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Ditto. I can be up there in about 20 minutes

Coastie,

I think it's safe to say that bear meat is greasier and fattier than most other meats. With that being said, I never expressed an unsatisfactory experience with bear meat. Ate outstanding sausage for the better part of a year! Can't wait to get some more.

I can testfiy to the correct handling.
My tenderlions and back straps were good. I did not remove all the fat from the part i had canned. I could not eat it. It felt like you took a spoon full of grease and ate it. Nasty.

I live 11 miles from Dahlonega and will come help you drag it out and skin it properly and then mount it for you anyway you would like. Just let me know.

www.bagginbuckstaxidermy.com

Be real careful here....

If girlfriend's mom has a bear "problem," I'm guessing it's coming and raiding some type of food source. (cat or dog food, bird feeder, trashcans, etc)

Take away the source of food, and the bear will probably go away.

Hunt the bear while it's coming to this source of food, and you're hunting over bait.

Just saying.

You better take these boys up on the dragging help. Getting a bear out of the woods is like trying to drag 250#s of jello in a trash bag.

early season it's HOT. You simply HAVE to get the guts out asap and if possible rinse him out a bit.

Bear meat is an aquired taste (wether it's prepared right or not) You simply cannot allow it to sit and cook in it's own juices (entirely too much grease even with the fat trimmed) Like hogs it depends alot on what they been eating. One thats been cleaning up wild blue berries, ginseng, sourwood berries and acorns is your better eater. Ones tipping trash cans?? aint gonna taste as good.

Other than sausage the best way is to chunk it up and put it in a stew. We par boil it first then add it to home made stews. It really soaks up peppers and other flavorings alot better than most meats do. That said I'll trade 150#s of bear meat for ONE whitetail backstrap. And if ya think I'm jokin try me, I'm sure there's still that much left in my freezer from last year.

Hunt him like ya hunt deer. Be super careful of wind currents, and set up on him. They tend to "ho hum" around a bit if they're coming to a food source in a more rural area. And like a cat they don't make much noise coming in. When looking for bear sign?? I look for fresh scat. As in if there's not flies hovering over it or a bears butt 8" above it?? it's too old.

Sit very very very still. More than likely you will not hear them coming at all. Dont be afraid if they happen to spot you in the tree. They are very nosey and like to investigate. My advice take someone with you that you can out run.

Bear fat, rendered out as grease has a longer shelf life than lard. Can be used to make some of the best pie pastry, biscuits, etc. The cracklings that are left over are as good as any pig fat cracklings. Also good for chapped skin, oiling down your guns, hair grease and comes in handy anytime you want to make homemade soap.

That said, I'd sure love to have some more bear fat as I'm getting low on mine.

Will trade for bear grease if anyone is interested. Know you can't buy it right?

The meat is good, but you have to get all the excess fat off the meat before you cook it. I've made some fine stew out of it. Steaks marinated and grilled is fine too. It's just like a rich beef flavor.

Bearcat62