I know in AK there is a big fine for wasting meat like moose or caribou. But how about Brown Bears, do they require you to bring out the meat on a brownie? How about a black bear? Polar Bear? I like black bear meat and have never tried brown/grisely or polar bear. Can you waste bear, goat, sheep, and what other "big game" meats in Alaska?

In most areas you dont have to salvage Brown Bear meat. Black bear meat you have to salvage in the spring only in my area. Any other Big Game animal you must salvage ALL EDIBLE MEAT!! When I am done boning a carcas the ravens are PISSED!! My skin too lite to hunt Polar Bear?

I just had grizzley bear hamburgers from an interior Girz tonight.My girlfriend put Lipton onion soup mix in them they were yummy.Interior bears have few fish to eat .They usually dine on baby moose , baby caribou,roots and berries.Its nice if you get them before they are dining on moose gut piles also.I made about 50 lbs of summer sauage also that was yummy.The interior griz I had given to me was kinda plain like beef.It was very tender and when I told my girlfriend I was going to feed it to the dogs she said no way.I like it the way she fixes it.We also had country fried griz steaks they were yummy.The best bears in Alaska to eat are blueberry fed black bears.Its some of the best wild meat I ever tasted.

dgr416 is right, they're not that bad if it's a berry bear and from the interior-I've eaten...well tried eating coastal brownies, even in the spring, somthing about them that my tounge doesn't like, maybe it's cause they've all been tough old buggers

-Ron

cut the loins out of them an make them like pork chops , if it is a coastal black or brown par boil the meat first with 1/2 cup of cooking sherry in the water them bake the loins wrapped in bacon an wrap the whole thing in foil tightly. The rest of all bear meat except a good berry blackie is crab bait!

JohnnyB ----- I am reading a book now on the history of Brown Bear hunting on Kodiak Island and it states that the meat is and was eaten by the natives. In the fall the meat would be extremely fishy to the taste because of the Salmon eating they do. Where I hunted and took my the Brown Bear near Cold Bay the Aleuts said that the Bears were reincarnated and if you ate the meat you would kill the soul of the Bear and maybe be killing the soul of your Grandfather or other kin. They were very serious about this beleaf. They also said that if the other Bears ate the carcass of the dead Bear, then the soul of the Bear would carry on and on. They also considered themselves a part of the food chain as well as the Bears. The white hunters being the intruders that upset the food chain by removing game from it. You be the judge, who is right and who is wrong, who is disturbing the food chain or maintaining it. Good shooting.

Caution:
Ak. Fish and Game biologist estimate that 100% of BEARS in Ak. have trichinosis. If your going to eat it, be sure to cook it very well done.
My dogs won't eat Brn Bear meat. That tells me something. I'd eat my old boots before I'd eat Brn Bear meat.
The Interior bears may taste ok, because they don't eat salmon, but the ones around here stink like hell.

Not all bears have trich. You can have the meat tested also. A friend of my had his last black bear tested and it was trich free.

There are some areas that the bears are 100 infested but not everywhere in the state.

At least that is what I have heard.

If a high percentage of bears, Brown or Black have trichinosis, it would be very dangerous to skin, gut, processs these animals. If you cut yourself while processing these bears, your a DEAD MAN. I would worry about this more than eating the bear, as cooking will most likely eliminate the problem, but blood transfere during cutting the bear is highly likely. Wear rubber gloves and be very careful. Being a bear skinner in AK would be more dangerous than being a craber. I did not know tricinosis was so prevelent.

I usually cut myself a time or two when I'm skinning something....so this had me worried.
A quick search showed this from the CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/trichinosis/factsht_trichinosis.htm

Trichinellosis, also called trichinosis, is caused by eating raw or undercooked meat of animals infected with the larvae of a species of worm called Trichinella. Infection occurs commonly in certain wild carnivorous (meat-eating) animals but may also occur in domestic pigs.

How does infection occur in humans and animals?

When a human or animal eats meat that contains infective Trichinella cysts, the acid in the stomach dissolves the hard covering of the cyst and releases the worms. The worms pass into the small intestine and, in 1-2 days, become mature. After mating, adult females lay eggs. Eggs develop into immature worms, travel through the arteries, and are transported to muscles. Within the muscles, the worms curl into a ball and encyst (become enclosed in a capsule). Infection occurs when these encysted worms are consumed in meat.

Can I spread trichinellosis to others?

No. Infection can only occur by eating raw or undercooked meat containing Trichinella worms.

Keith

Keith...Thanks for the info. on Tricinosis. I can rest alittle easyier skinning now. I think I will look up Tullaramia (sp) to see how dangerous skinning rabbits is.