Where Hutchy is he can shoot every bear in the country in theory under the authority of his trappers licence so long as its on property for which he has permission to trap.

it kinda sounds like he is habituated and is haveing are hard time living off wild foods. he could become a threat to other things if he is not dealt with. it sucks but some times it is the right moral thing to do. if eating the meat is a problem find some one to donate it to. good luck with him make the right desision based on your facts good and bad. i personly like head shots on bears. unshaterd skulls is for trophy hunters.

Got ya, must not be the same in NW ONT.

This! Ye'll have to forgive me, guys. But, 'we' have no bears and no concept of eating one. It's ... I dunno. Giraffe? Heck, yeah! Obviously! It's just some over grown, stretched out, weird, deerish sort of thing, after all. But, bears???

Okay. So then, I think; Ye talk about them eating berries and things? Hmm. Okay ... But, Brown bear sounds off the menu? Is that for real, or a joke that's gone way over my head? My line of thought here is that brown bears, when big enough, get called Grizzly's. And Grizzly's are far more carnivorous? (Forgive me. I'm getting Way out of my depth here! I don't really have a clue what I'm on about! )

So; How does bear compare to badger?

This really must qualify as one of the craziest conversations I've ever entered into! LMBO!

We have bears every year in our yard. They move in from the back country to eat the apples on the old farm next to me I think they would be great eating if I was to shoot one.

My house is 200 yards from my trapline. I can act as an agent of someone else to kill a bear that has threatened humans or destroyed property, or I can shoot or foot snare them during the open season under the authority of my trap license. There is no limit on bears, and I am on three registered lines. I could kill twenty bears this year legally if I wanted...

In the case of a nuisance bear, a quick phone call or test to my Conservation officer explaining the situation, and I am free and clear. Even in summer, if I had a legitimate nuisance bear, can you imagine a CO telling me to let it rot and not use the meat? I mean it could happen, but my experience has been the opposite. Aint no one begging for bear meat here mid summer.

It seems to me that for some reason people are particularly more snobby about wild game than farm-raised meat. If you've ever eaten store-bought pork, I'm sure you've eaten much more disgusting meat that garbage black bear. The only difference is we're used to it, because many of us have never had wild pork to compare it to. It's all mental and based on your expectations. I know a guy who doesn't like venison unless it tastes like beef, because he's got it in his head that that's what good meat tastes like. He grinds 100% of his venison into burger mixed with beef fat because thats the only way he likes it.

If you quit basing everything on comparison and take meat for what it is, and realize that it's OK to season or sauce it differently, it'll open your horizons. There are some meats that are delicious cooked as a plain steak, such as beef or venison. There are others that I prefer as sausage or roast, such as bear and pork. That doesn't make them inferior in my mind, just need to be treated differently.

To answer Hutchy"s question, I'd have him hung in the garage opening morning.

I have shot a few dumpster diving bears and they are just about as edible as a 4 year old boar hog. I hold my fire until I can get a bear under 150 out of a cornfield, those you can eat (and cook in the house without the boar stench). We are allowed 2 bears per fall here in New Jersey.

Eric, is that because they are dumpster diving, or because they were large bears?

A 350 pounder will be in the 9 year old range. Dumb ones don't usually get to live that long.

This guy is pretty smart about his thieving.


I bet he doesn't outsmart a foot snare

Hutchy, both. I have shot bigger ones and 100 pounders that were dumpster divers and all were distasteful. That is why pigs can be fed garbage but must be finished with corn to be edible. Bears that have been eating acorns or other nut crops are usually good to eat also. I shoot them in cornfields as then I pretty much know what they are eating. Always gets you in good with a farmer when he sees you come out with cornfield raider.