My brother and I are planning a black bear hunt to POW Island in late April of 2003. I am wondering about meat quality of the bears at that time of the year. Apparently if the bear is shot June 1st or after the meat does not need to be salvaged because it will be fishy tasting and nasty. But if shot in late April or early May would the meat likely be good eating? My brother is much more concerned about this than I am. I would not get too worked up if the meat were not great eating. I would figure on giving it away up there. He would be very disappointed to go all that way and spend all that money and then shoot a bear that was not good eating. We have eaten bear meat from the bears we shot in WA State and liked it very much. I am more interested in a trophy hide for a rug and a big skull. He wants meat. He said that he would be much more agreeable to go and less disappointed if the bear meat were not tasty if we could also do some fishing and hopefully bring back a bunch of fish meat. So my second question is this: would the stream fishing be any good at that time of year or would we be too early? It is my understanding that the salmon would not be in the streams yet but are there other fish? Thanks, Rufous.

I have harvested spring bears from late april early may along southeast alaska and the meat was teh best bear I have had.
no fat, not strong like fall bear, and tender. Our bears were only a week out of hibernation, and the best hides are before they can get a chance to rub, or eat much.

Shoot one over green grass, and you will likely get one that has just come out of hibernation.

freezing for 30 days at 0 degrees takes care of trichinosis also....

I hunted the blackies in Alaska a couple of years ago, and our guides told us that the waiver of trying to salvage meat after June 1 was due temperature. It becomes hard to keep the meat from spoiling before you get out of the bush.

Bear meat, like almost any other meat, will get some of its flavor from what the bear has been eating. If the diet is grass and berries, it will probably taste ok. If a bear has been eating fish or a rotting carcass of another animal, it might not taste so good. After you shoot one, I guess you could always check the stomach contents to see what it had been eating.

We hunted over bait, using chicken grease from a fast food restaurant and dry dog food as bait. We weren't able to save the meat, but I always wondered if it would taste something like chicken.

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I know the next rifle will be perfect.......

Cut them backstraps up and fry 'em pronto.
Best meat this side of the pond except maybe moose.