Season not quite over

[peterk123]

So I'm home doing some work when I get a call from my son in law. He and his friend were out on the backside of a nearby mountain hunting grouse. They brought a rifle just in case they came across any deer.

Well no deer. But there was a bear. A big bear. 20 yard shot. It was digging a den.

He sent me the coordinates. Mile in and several hundred feet of up and down and back up. 90 to 100 plus loads for everyone so we could get it out in one trip. Did I say I'm getting too old for this?

 

[AppleSeeds]

More awesome pics from @peterk123!

Is bear meat....good?

 

[peterk123]

Yes. Has to be well cooked due to risk of trichinosis though. We will grind most of it because it makes over the top meatballs and summer sausage. Hauled or a bunch of the fat too. I will render it for cooking.

 

[peterk123]

Cold enough to hang meat finally.

 

[peterk123]

We had the game warden come by to check in the bear. He couldn't believe how big it was. In fifteen years of being a warden he had never seen one this big. He thinks my son in law may have just killed a state record!

 

[peterk123]

My son in law dropped the bear hide with head at the taxidermist today. He couldn't believe the size. He worked on it immediately. Unofficial measurement is 21 and 2/16. After sixty days we will get a certified measurement. We are mainly meat hunters. But I have to admit, this is kind of exciting.

Supposedly only six bears over 21 inches have ever been reported in montana.

 

[Mass-diver]

Very cool, thanks for sharing!

 

[ThePreBanMan]

Don't forget to eat the raw heart. It's how you gain the bear's powers.

 

[Bigfudge16]

Don't forget to eat the raw heart. It's how you gain the bear's powers.

That's the preferred way of becoming a "bear"

 

[peterk123]

Official measurement completed for B&C. 21 2/16. He made the all time book. Puts him in the 8th largest for Montana. Only eleven bears in the all time for Montana (I think). Pretty cool.

 

[MassPete]

Damn. That's incredible. I don't think I could have shot him. Can't imagine how big he looked at 20 yards. Congrats to your SIL.

 

[greencobra]

Yes. Has to be well cooked due to risk of trichinosis though. We will grind most of it because it makes over the top meatballs and summer sausage. Hauled or a bunch of the fat too. I will render it for cooking.

i'm not a big meat eater but i have had bear burgers prepared at one of the woburn sportsmen's game dinners they use to have decades ago. don't know if they still do those but, very tasty, the bear burgers. it was the only way they could feed the most people with what was donated, grind the meat. but yeah, very good they were. i took the recipe (forgot who made the burgers, the chef deserves a shout out) but i hunted bear for years. if i ever harvested one, visions of bear meatloaf using the same preparation danced in my head. just no luck is all. congrats on last years bear.