Butchering bear
 

I'm going on a bear hunt in a few weeks, and i need some pointers on how to butcher a bear. I have cut up my own deer for years, i have that down pretty good. Do you cut up a bear the same as a deer? For example: hind quarters and back straps are steaks, tenderloin is cooked whole, the neck is cubed up for stew, and the rest of the carcass gets picked clean for the meat grinder. Can bear be cut up the same way? I keep reading that bear is best cup up into cubes for stew. I know that fall bear is like a coon caught in the fall....covered in gooey fat lol and it ALL has to be trimmed off. Any pointers?

Never done a bear, but I believe the muscle groups are the same. Seems like you would butcher the same way.

Good luck coongitter, I cut them up pretty much like a deer, except i like to leave the back straps attached to the rib & spine and cut them into pork chops. Bear ribs aren't as tallowy as White-Tail. The main difference between deer and Black Bear is you have to take care of bear meat quicker, it won't keep as long, I would get ice in the cavity right away if you can, and get them quartered asap. Black bear is delicious if butchered properly.

Same way. As for cubing. Don't bother. You can grind the undesirable cuts into burger. The fat burns right off in frying. Bear chops are delicious when baked with cream of mushroom soup. Roasts in a pressure cooker with 1 cup of water and 3 beef bullion cubes and seasoning of your choice. Made just like a beef roast. It falls apart and delicious. Trim the fat off steaks and grill is also good.

I have never killed a bear, I have no interest in doing so. However, I have eaten pretty much bear meat from bears killed by friends. My wife makes bear roasts the same way she makes beef roasts and if you didn't know it was bear, most people would not know the difference. One Thanksgiving Day in 1975, for dinner we had wild turkey, bear meat, venison and wild blueberry pies that had the crust made with bear lard instead of Crisco. One heck of a meal.

I cut as much as the fat off as possible and you can render the fat into cooking oil for cooking/baking. I agree if you didnt know it was bear you would think its beef.

Most people here just grind it all for burger. I did grill up tenderloin and it tasted better than any Tbone beef steak.