Bear harvest logistics?

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brewer12345

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I could use a little feedback on this one if anyone is willing. I drew a rifle bear tag for September. It is in a place where I normally grouse hunt, so my plan is to sling the rifle over my shoulder, go look for grouse with the 20 gauge in hand, and if I see a bear or a good spot to post up and watch for a while I will hopefully get a shot. I know this is a low odds proposition and that is OK.

What I am trying to think through is what happens after the shot. I have watched enough videos on skinning a bear in the field that I am comfy with the process. So Lets say I get a shot, find the bear, skin and gut it. Now what? I might have a buddy with my or this might be a solo effort. Do I quarter the bear, stuff it in game bags, tie them up in a tree, grab the hide and whatever else I can manage, mark the spot with GPS and head back to the truck on the first trip? Is quartering a bear a bad idea? I plan to have a cart in the truck so once I get it to where the bear is I should be able to git it on the cart and haul it back on the fairly well developed trails in the area. Average bear harvested in Colorado is 200 pounds live weight from what I have read, so I am not expecting that dealing with a giant is too likely.
 
Technically that is legal here in GA, can't say about Colorado. But I'd not carry two long guns. Maybe put a few slugs in my pocket, or carry a suitable handgun.

But honestly, you can grouse hunt any time. If I were drawn for a bear hunt I'd concentrate on bear during that hunt. Colorado uses multiple short seasons, you'll only have a few days to use that bear tag depending on which season the tag is good for.
 
jmr40 said:
Technically that is legal here in GA, can't say about Colorado. But I'd not carry two long guns. Maybe put a few slugs in my pocket, or carry a suitable handgun.

But honestly, you can grouse hunt any time. If I were drawn for a bear hunt I'd concentrate on bear during that hunt. Colorado uses multiple short seasons, you'll only have a few days to use that bear tag depending on which season the tag is good for.
Click to expand...

Bear tags are the one place Colorado is liberal. Tags are easy to get and my tag is good sept 2 through the end of the month. No issue with two guns either. Only requirements are to tag your kill, preserve evidence of sex, and bring the head and hide in within 5 days.
 
I'm sure it can be done, but a fall bear can have a layer of fat up to 2" thick. That's going to be messy! We have to take the entire carcass to a check station, so we do some dragging. You need buddies!
 
Laphroaig said:
I'm sure it can be done, but a fall bear can have a layer of fat up to 2" thick. That's going to be messy! We have to take the entire carcass to a check station, so we do some dragging. You need buddies!
Click to expand...

It is going to be warm, so I was planning to skin and gut in the field to try to keep it from spoiling.
 
Is it mandatory to recover the meat in Colorado?
I shot a bear in Montana quite a few years ago and just recovered the hide/head and backstraps. It was OK to leave the carcass there at the time. Things may have changed in Montana now but if Colo. has the same regs., I'd just take what you wanted the most on the first trip and come back for the less desirable parts.

It turned out that the Montana bear I killed was ancient and had all her teeth worn down to the gums. The backstraps were like eating a hawser. My brother and I stayed up past midnight try to chew pieces of it. We finally gave up and went to bed hungry.
 
brewer12345 said:
I could use a little feedback on this one if anyone is willing. I drew a rifle bear tag for September. It is in a place where I normally grouse hunt, so my plan is to sling the rifle over my shoulder, go look for grouse with the 20 gauge in hand, and if I see a bear or a good spot to post up and watch for a while I will hopefully get a shot. I know this is a low odds proposition and that is OK.

What I am trying to think through is what happens after the shot. I have watched enough videos on skinning a bear in the field that I am comfy with the process. So Lets say I get a shot, find the bear, skin and gut it. Now what? I might have a buddy with my or this might be a solo effort. Do I quarter the bear, stuff it in game bags, tie them up in a tree, grab the hide and whatever else I can manage, mark the spot with GPS and head back to the truck on the first trip? Is quartering a bear a bad idea? I plan to have a cart in the truck so once I get it to where the bear is I should be able to git it on the cart and haul it back on the fairly well developed trails in the area. Average bear harvested in Colorado is 200 pounds live weight from what I have read, so I am not expecting that dealing with a giant is too likely.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good plan to me. Maybe because it's my plan too....
 
brewer12345 said:
Do I quarter the bear, stuff it in game bags, tie them up in a tree, grab the hide and whatever else I can manage, mark the spot with GPS and head back to the truck on the first trip? Is quartering a bear a bad idea?
Click to expand...

I can't speak from experience, but I drew a bear tag this year, and I plan to skin and quarter it, if I get one. Hopefully it's been eating lots of nuts and berries and not too much carrion. Apparently the quality of the meat (or perhaps I should say flavor) varies based on diet.
 
The only bear I've tasted was done as sausage patties and it was well prepared, he said he had most of the meat done that way.
 
My family has been fortunate and killed three bears in the last 15 years. Overall, I think that the meat is pretty good and a nice change from deer meat. We hunt in a pretty remote area so they are au naturale. I will say that the last one we got, a 350# boar, wasn't very good. Very tough.

A favorite way to cook is pulled bear in a crock pot. Very tasty but seasoned. A pot roast from a young bear is very tender and makes a good meal.
 
My go-to for dragging out big critters has always been a 4 wheeler and a rope or a buddy and a military litter. A big old fat pig that dies down in the swamp is hard to drag. In my limited experience with wild bears (versus the nuisance ones that go into populated areas and eat out of dumpsters) is that you won't be doing any sneaking up on them while blasting birds. Every time I ate bear it tasted like chili. Because that is what it was put into.
 
I shot a 6 foot black bear couple springs ago. It was also warm and I quartered and packed out the bear. I’m a medium framed guy and I put all four quarters, backstrap and burger bags in my internal framed pack. Packed everything but the hide in one trip. I had to sit down to put the pack on but it worked. I also had to leave the hide for the second trip. Just take breaks and hunt grouse on the way out. On a side note bear meat spoils very fast. I put some in the fridge to “age” in ziplocs. It was green in 48 hours. FL-NC got it right. Hope you like chili and tacos!
 
I can think of no meat better than a blueberry fed, August time, mountain side Black Bear, with a couple inches of fat.....mmmmmmmmmmmm,!

Caribou and muskox are a very close tie foe second, in flavor, meat quality and tenderness.


Have respect and dont underestimate them, its hunting, not harvesting.....because they can, and will, hunt you.
 
Always wanted to draw that elusive musk ox tag, someday. Ive had a good bit of black bear meat, a little greasy but good. Makes great sausage as well.
 
Not me, pinched from a FB group. This is a great set up. I use a big sheet of industrial plastic.

57ADEEC9-4C2C-4F7D-872B-3548ECE1366C.jpeg

Also, for those who tell us the 6.5CM is good for any game in NA because the Swedes use the 6.5x55 on moose, note the average size of a Scandinavian moose and please stop.

748AD4A4-A027-489C-9412-4CD36C399099.jpeg
 
Read the article, they seldom live to 5 years. I have seen giant moose in the wild. Rare and awesome. Now days any moose is rare .
 
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