What does bear taste like? What does bear taste like? - Talk of The Villages Florida

What does bear taste like?

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  #1  
Old 08-13-2025, 07:15 PM
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Taltarzac725 Taltarzac725 is offline
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Default What does bear taste like?

Do the Florida bear hunters eat their kills? I used to go hiking and the like around Rattlesnake Mountain in Reno, Nevada and went rattlesnake hunting once with B. B. kind of eventually caught onto my tactic of clumsy bumping into rocks thus making our hunt unsuccessful. He did have rattlesnake skins all over his bedroom in comparison to my probably Farrah Fawcett poster in mine. He did not invite me to anymore rattlesnake hunts. He did say that they taste like chicken.

I doubt if bear tastes like chicken.

B's brother kept on taking pieces of himself off in various hunting mishaps. You do not hunt carp with a machete unless you are very adept with one. He wasn't.

Last edited by Taltarzac725; 08-13-2025 at 07:42 PM.
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Old 08-13-2025, 07:41 PM
BillyGrown BillyGrown is offline
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Originally Posted by Taltarzac725 View Post
Do the Florida bear hunters eat their kills? I used to go hiking and the like around Rattlesnake Mountain in Reno, Nevada and went rattlesnake hunting once with B. B. kind of eventually caught onto my tactic of clumsy bumping into rocks thus making our hunt unsuccessful. He did have rattlesnake skins all over his bedroom in comparison to my probably Farrah Fawcett poster in mine. He did not invite me to anymore rattlesnake hunts. He did say that taste like chicken.

I doubt if bear tastes like chicken.

B's brother kept on taking pieces of himself off in various hunting mishaps. You do not hunt carp with a machete unless you are very adept with one. He wasn't.
It’s kind of course, a bit gamie and has the texture of camel. Not my favorite and make sure you cook it all the way through.
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Old 08-13-2025, 07:43 PM
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It’s kind of course, a bit gamie and has the texture of camel. Not my favorite and make sure you cook it all the way through.
Cannot say I ever tried camel. https://visitvirginiacitynv.com/even...virginia-city/. I never got around to going to the Virginia City Camel Races but might sometime in the future. I have had buffalo I think. Not wild buffalo but stuff off of a ranch.

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Old 08-13-2025, 07:47 PM
Stu from NYC Stu from NYC is offline
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Few weeks ago at a club dinner they served goat. One and done
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Old 08-13-2025, 09:30 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Taltarzac725 View Post
Do the Florida bear hunters eat their kills? I used to go hiking and the like around Rattlesnake Mountain in Reno, Nevada and went rattlesnake hunting once with B. B. kind of eventually caught onto my tactic of clumsy bumping into rocks thus making our hunt unsuccessful. He did have rattlesnake skins all over his bedroom in comparison to my probably Farrah Fawcett poster in mine. He did not invite me to anymore rattlesnake hunts. He did say that they taste like chicken.

I doubt if bear tastes like chicken.

B's brother kept on taking pieces of himself off in various hunting mishaps. You do not hunt carp with a machete unless you are very adept with one. He wasn't.
Had an outstanding bear stroganoff at a hunting camp in NH a couple years ago. If cooked correctly, it’s a delicious game meat.
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Old 08-13-2025, 10:30 PM
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Bear meat is chewy but ok if well cooked and in a robust stew. Rattlesnake does taste like chicken. Quail, some ducks, band-tailed pigeon, dove, grouse, sandhill crane, pheasant, ostrich, pronghorn antelope, javelina, elk, bison and venison are good. Venison liver from a fresh kill is delicious. I like rabbit - not jack rabbit - but not squirrel. Never tried any moose or wild goose. A hunting buddy once shot a mountain lion. The meat was inedible, just awful. This year a man I know drew a permit and shot an African Oryx at White Sands. Meat not very good, so he ground it up with beef to make burgers.
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Old 08-13-2025, 11:21 PM
MrChip72 MrChip72 is offline
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It's a tough meat that needs to be well cooked through like beef brisket, goat, shank cuts.

My fave is to to slow cook bear meat and then serve it with pasta in a thick sauce made from braising it at the end.
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Old 08-14-2025, 05:42 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stu from NYC View Post
Few weeks ago at a club dinner they served goat. One and done
Love goat cheese.
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Old 08-14-2025, 06:10 AM
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Florida has only had one bear hunting season in the past 20 years.. But I have ate bear from Georgia, and I would not want to eat it again..

Deer and wild boar are much better. Florida does have a hunting season for these.
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Old 08-14-2025, 07:05 AM
Pat_RI Pat_RI is offline
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Depends on the time of year and what the bear has been eating I’ve had it taste a bit gamey like venison. I didn’t think it was bad I think time of year and preparation is a big part of how it will taste.
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Old 08-14-2025, 07:07 AM
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We had it once at a game dinner, along with rabbit & deer. Thought it was quite good. Similar to a pot roast
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Old 08-14-2025, 07:11 AM
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Bears are omnivores, as well as opportunistic feeders. They will eat virtually anything, and the meat will usually reflect the taste of whatever it is that they habitually eat. I've had it a few times: bear from areas far away from humans tastes the best. Bear that live in proximity to humans often feed on garbage and to say it has an "off" taste is putting it mildly.

People in the know will slice away as much fat as possible before cooking the meat, then add fat from other sources during cooking: bacon, for example, or hog backfat. Cuts down on the possibility of "off" tastes, supposedly.
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Old 08-14-2025, 07:52 AM
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Bear meat is one of the best wild game meats I have ever tasted. The key as with all game meat is to get the hide off quickly to allow the meat to cool down. The faster the recovery and cool down the better the meat.

Last edited by LivinDream665; Yesterday at 07:10 AM. Reason: spelling
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Old 08-14-2025, 08:06 AM
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Default Bear roast

Quote:
Originally Posted by Taltarzac725 View Post
Do the Florida bear hunters eat their kills? I used to go hiking and the like around Rattlesnake Mountain in Reno, Nevada and went rattlesnake hunting once with B. B. kind of eventually caught onto my tactic of clumsy bumping into rocks thus making our hunt unsuccessful. He did have rattlesnake skins all over his bedroom in comparison to my probably Farrah Fawcett poster in mine. He did not invite me to anymore rattlesnake hunts. He did say that they taste like chicken.

I doubt if bear tastes like chicken.

B's brother kept on taking pieces of himself off in various hunting mishaps. You do not hunt carp with a machete unless you are very adept with one. He wasn't.
Had a roast years ago. It didn’t taste too much different than beef. One has to know how to cook wild game right.
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Old 08-14-2025, 08:13 AM
goneil2024 goneil2024 is offline
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Several years ago I would go deer hunting with a few guys in Warren county PA. We would rent a cabin in the area and spend a week bowhunting.

One evening we had a bear decide to snack on the three deer we had harvested, and were hanging/cooling before we completed the butchering on a large oak limb, just outside the cabin.

Shining a flash light on the bear, revealed red eyes (unlike deer that reflect white) it was a striking scene, with the bear 10’ up in a tree staring down on us. We shouted and ultimately chased it off then alerted the guy we were renting the camp from of the incident, as it wasn’t bear season and we were there for the deer.

Well, the next year the same group was in camp, about dinner time there is a knock at the door, and the camp owner shows up with a Dutch oven, containg “bear pot roast” that his wife made. Apparently during bear season he returned to the camp and harvested that bear, which weighed in at over 500lb. So there was plenty of meat and he put aside a roast in the freezer for us. It was very tasty, rich and no doubt the cook knew how to handle the meat. I have enjoyed bear during game dinners at our local sportsman’s club with similar results.

As a society, for the most part we are so very removed from the food chain that even the idea of harvesting wild game is a foreign concept for many. I was always taught that if you hunt and harvest it you eat it, and if not then donate it or don’t do it at all.

Again, just my experience.
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