Hunting 2014

[FireFighterZero]

You got that right Cory. Is that a manners stock Jesse? Nice looking rifle.

Is black bear good to eat?

 

[Tucker943]

No.

 

[cory]

Hard to believe.

 

[Tucker943]

I've had one good bear meal. A guide/camp owner in Eagle lake, Maine named Dean, did a slow maple glazed bear roast. It was good at best. Much like pigs, bears take on a flavor that ties right into their diet. That plays into it. Stripping the meat beforehand of the white silver skin that lines the meat really helps take the gross taste out. But overall, it still tastes like crap. Bears also carry trichinosis. You BEST cook it thoroughly.

 

[FireFighterZero]

My friend ate bear sausage once. He said it was like a tube of petroleum jelly. Dog would not eat it for the grease.

 

[Tucker943]

There's bacon on a bear for anyone interested in acquiring useless knowledge.

 

[treesmith]

I've heard it tastes much like coon...which is a bit greasy for my taste.

 

[Treepreacher51]

Looks like a perfect shot on the first one. Did either of your bullets exit? I can't imagine that 168 gr bullet not passing on through on a broadside shot. Nice deer and beautiful pictures.

Neither were pass through. The 4x3 was just under the skin on the opposite shoulder.
The forked horn was quartering away from be. I shot him about mid ribs. Bullet went through both lungs just missing the heart, stopping in the left shoulder.

I shot a bear a in 2010 that was delicious. I shared some at the west coast WA zip fest GTG.
It was bear that never saw a dumpster in it's life and ate very few fish. Diet/habitat are key. They can be good eating but many (most) are overpoweringly gamey.
.02

 

[Tucker943]

By the time we kill them in PA, they are clinging tight to oak and beech stands for the most part. Neither bring out the best taste in a bear. I'd be curious what a bear killed while living on berries tastes like.

 

[cory]

Now i'm starting to believe.

 

[Treepreacher51]

You got that right Cory. Is that a manners stock Jesse? Nice looking rifle.

Is black bear good to eat?

Sorry, Jim, missed this. It's a HS precision stock.

 

[woodworkingboy]

The worst game food I've ever had was Boar balls. I'm not sure if my hunter friend was playing a trick on me or what, but after cooking them up on top of my wood stove, bad doesn't even come close to the word to describe the taste.

 

[Limbrat]

I can't even imagine Jay. I've eaten a lot of wild pork and the quality of the meat varies greatly from animal to animal and it's not just the size or age of a boar. I've eaten some 300 lb plus boars that were not strong at all. Some half that size stunk so bad that even skinning them was an olfactory torture test. Sows are good regardless of size. Bears, I've never had any that I could say was good. Strong, tough and stringy. And by the way, an acorn or corn fed coon cooked up right is very good.

 

[Tucker943]

Acorn fed domestic hogs fetch outrageous money per pound.

 

[Limbrat]

Neither were pass through. The 4x3 was just under the skin on the opposite shoulder.
The forked horn was quartering away from be. I shot him about mid ribs. Bullet went through both lungs just missing the heart, stopping in the left shoulder.

I can see that on a quartering or shoulder shot Jesse. They usually don't go far shot like that though. I've been shooting hogs in the head both with the muzzleloader and rifle for many years and can't ever remember an exit. A couple of good things about head shots, you don't need an exit or a blood trail and there is zero meat loss. Shot a few deer in the head years ago but their noggin is pretty fragile. I thought it kind of demeaned them so I stopped it. I know that would sound weird to a non-hunter.

 

[cory]

Shot a few deer in the head years ago but their noggin is pretty fragile. I thought it kind of demeaned them so I stopped it. I know that would sound weird to a non-hunter.

Not at all. Much respect.

 

[Tucker943]

I stopped taking head shots after I happened upon a tormented deer with its muzzle shot off. Anymore I just break their shoulders with the right bullet. I end up with vitals and they anchor right to the ground, dead or alive. Which in turn guarantees a quick kill.

 

[mccauleytree]

Ever since I got my new lab pup I want to get into duck hunting. Any tips for a first timer?

 

[treesmith]

I don't take head shots. I have missed more than one trying for a neck/head shot, and they turned just as I squeezed off. I typically go for a double-lung ribcage shot to ruin zero meat. I have had to toss both shoulders too many times to try for a shoulder shot.

My son-in-law and his family take head shots regularly, but they typically hunt swamp land where shots are under 75 yards, and they will whistle so the deer looks up and freezes...then pop them between the eyes.

 

[Limbrat]

A fine sow hog I took with the crossbow and a really wide archery buck one of the other club members shot. The tree trolley does double duty as a great game hauler as well.

 

[cory]

How far did the hog go after the hit? Do you anticipate good eating out of this one or don't you know till it hits the plate??

 

[Tucker943]

Ever since I got my new lab pup I want to get into duck hunting. Any tips for a first timer?

Yes. Call me this week.

 

[mccauleytree]

Yes. Call me this week.

Will do!

 

[Limbrat]

How far did the hog go after the hit? Do you anticipate good eating out of this one or don't you know till it hits the plate??

Cory, the broad head cut off the top of the heart and she still went about 120 yards. Hogs are tough. We already ate the backstraps and tenderloins and they were fabulous. The sows are always good, the boars, you can usually tell before you touch them. If he has a really strong boar hog smell the meat will taste like he smells.

 

[cory]

Hogs are tough.

Glad you had some good wild meat out of the critter.