Got my first ever big game animal. Black bear 9/6
 

Well last weds. started the bear hunting season and I set the bait out that day as I have weds off. We have had a very warm september so far this year in NH, and I kept hearing that the bears werent moving. I checked the bait last saturday and nothing had hit it. I didnt even chance hunting it that day and just added more bait and put more mollases around the bait. I was not able to get to my site on sunday as I had to work and then went to a fair in the afternoon. Monday morning I had to work 5am-1pm and as soon as I got out I went home and showered got some jerky and a drink at the store and filled the 5 gal buckets with bait and headed a hour to my site. I got to the site and too my surprise the entire thing was demolished and all the food was gone. I reset the bait area and put another 10 gallons of bait down and got into the stand around 3pm. After a few hours of nearly dosing off, at 5pm I see some movement. Its funny because I didnt hear anything (man if I could only be that quiet going through the woods). The bear starts to move to my bait and he just stands sniffing the air broadside and I decide its now or never. It was hard to tell how big he was or wasnt as I was not experienced and no one I know hunts bear. There was also nothing for any comparison(should have thought of that). Well I put him down right where he was which made me feel good as I was nervous with it being my first time with an animal bigger than a squirell. He ended up weighing in at 112 dressed so I was told he was probably 140lb to 150lb live weight. I was kinda bummed but the conservation officer said its hard sometimes for even experienced black bear hunters to tell. He also said not to feel bad and it was a good first big game animal and would help me in choosing my next.

So here he is in a 107 gallon tub that was packed with ice until i could get him to the butcher yesterday. Its the only one I have as I was so worried about the meat spoiling the night before that I just wanted to get it on ice as quikly as possible.

Since this is also my first animal that I have sent to be butchered.... Does anyone know how much meat I should get off it? Ive read online about 40-50% of that 112lbs? does that seam about right? I just want to make sure the butcher doesnt short hand me.

Congrats on your kill!!!!
Dan

Congradulations on your hunt. The meat cutter isn't likely going to short
you. First, not that many people eat bear meat as compared to say, pork,
beef, chicken or turkey. I don't know if you asked to have the trimmings
or scraps saved. I was a meat cutter years ago. The procedure I was taught:
1) weight the meat as soon as it comes in the shop, 2) tag it with the owners
name, and place it in the cooler. On the work order card record the following:
species (deer, elk, moose), license number, owners name, phone number and
address. 3)How you want your meat processed (cut, wrapped and frozen etc.)
How many steaks per package, size of roasts, amount and size of ground meat,
sausage etc. Depending on the animal, some customers wanted the meat boned
out (in other words, take all the bones out). If they had a smaller freezer, they
didn't want it full of bones. The customer was always quoted a price per pound
based on how their meat was to be processed. There is always a certain amount
of shrinkage due to loss of moisture, blood etc. while cooling. All trimmings and
scraps were saved, whether the customer wanted these or not. This was our
proof that the customer did not get short changed. At the time of pickup, if the customer did not want the scraps, they were disposed of. The customer was
always charged for the weight that the animal came in on. A few things that
effect the percentage of meat are: 1)how much fat is on the animal, 2)was the
animal shot up bad, 3)after harvesting the animal was it dressed out and cooled
down properly. These things result in more or less trimming or waste. Hope this
helps.

Hey congrats on your first bear. Doesn't sound like too bad of a first bear to me. Heck I went bear hunting for the first time last season spent about $1000 on outfitter, gas and other supplies and didn't even see a bear as big as the one you shot. Not sure how big or what a respectable bear is where you hunt. I've been told that here in Minnesota the average bear is about 150 field dressed and maybe 3 years old. Also it sounds like you pretty much did everyhting yourself. I would say you did well. Now just hold out for a little bigger one next season.

Wow, great story. I shot one in NH a few years back on the last day with 1 minutes left of legal shooting light and it didn't come close to being as big as yours. You should be proud of your bear. I knew mine was small before I shot it, just didn't know how small it was lol. I'll be back at it on the 17th in NH. I hope to get a shot at something bigger this year. Congrats on your bear!

If you are not baiting, I will give you a tip. I work in a milk factory and have truck drivers coming from northeast kingdom vermont every day, and they were seeing bear almost daily up in the franconia notch. One day a driver saw 7 and saw one mother hit on the side of the road. The drivers said it was the most they had seen in a summer in a while. This is where I was going to hunt after the baiting season was over.

I have a friend that is running a bait for me. It will be a short hunting trip in NH. Hope to fill my tag first day. I'm hunting in Maine starting the 20th. Thanks for the tip!