[pct-l] Bear Meat

[Steel-Eye]

Good morning, Wes,

Bear meat can be highly variable in terms of taste and smell depending upon
the sex and age of the individual, the season of the year, and what it has
been feeding upon.  A young, 2-3 year old, bear that's been eating grass,
succulent spring/summer plants, and a few rodents, will provide excellent
meat.  Properly cared for in the field it will be tender and tasty, with a
very mild meaty aroma.

However, if you get an rasty old boar down -- one that's spent all summer on
the river bank eating dead, rotten, spawned-out salmon -- the first thing
you may notice when approaching the carcass is that the smell has killed all
the weeds and insects for about 30 yards around.  Next you may see the local
family of coyotes high-tailing-it over the ridge to live in another drainage
for next several years.  Any turkey vultures circling within a mile will
have a serious case of the dry heaves.

That's just the outside of the bear:  Next it is necessary to eviscerate,
skin, and butcher it.  An average person doesn't stand a chance but, if you
happen to be a Scandinavian accustomed to eating lutefisk, give it a try
provided you have a very long knife blade and first stuff your nose with
Vicks.  Proper field care really isn't very important because you aren't
going to be able to eat it anyway.  It's incredibly tough and stringy, it
tastes awful, and the smell .... unfortunately, it's not nearly as pleasant
as I make it sound.

Steel-Eye
http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wes" <wb104475 at sbcglobal.net>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 11:20 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Bear canister

> I've only eaten bear meat once and it was horrible.