Thread: Field Dressing

Anyone have any good website or youtube video of how to field dress a bear? I really don't want to waste anything but not really sure what to do. Being a new hunter it would be my first experience, if I get lucky. I have watched deer field dressing videos and have heard how bears are a lot worse, but any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

Take the same approach as you would with deer. I actually have found bear to be very straightforward and AT LEAST as easy as deer. I've dressed many of these old black timber crawlers and the hard part is that they don't come with any antlers to hang on to Remember that a bear carries a lot of fat and that its of paramount importance to get the hide off as soon as possible, but unless you need to quarter the animal in the field, I recommend that you leave the hide on until you get the animal hung as the fat is a magnet for fir needles and dirt. As a side note, remember that the carcass needs to be taken to a ODF&W check in which adds time to your process.

I read that and at first thought 'why the **** would you want to bandage a BEAR??'. No info to help, just thought I'd share the funny.

All large game pretty much gut the same. The hide is thicker on the bear as is the hair. Start at the bottom and go straight up to the sternum. Remove everything inside. I was a little intimidated by my first deer, then I wound up gutting 3 other peoples deer that year as well. Now it seems like nothing at all. Practice makes perfect. I hope you get to start practicing this year!

Originally Posted by darkminstrel

I read that and at first thought 'why the **** would you want to bandage a BEAR??'. No info to help, just thought I'd share the funny.

Bandaging a bear COULD get a little dicey couldn't it.

Yeah my worry is finally getting my first animal and end up losing most of it due to not getting dressed in time. Knowing my luck I would be lugging it pretty far. Hopefully after my first time it will get a lot easier. Another one I have always wondered about is birds especially turkey. I hear conflicting things of either just cut the breast off and others saying cut around the rear and pull everything out.

Getting the meat cool as soon as possible is your goal. When you take your bear you have to make a decision, do you want to keep the pelt and have a rug made, or not. If you do, there are diagrams that show how to remove the hide correctly that will save volumes of words here. Remember that keeping the meat clean is also important. You can quarter the animal for packing purposes and leave the hide on to keep the meat clean. You can also carry an old sheet in your pack to place the quarters on as you take them off and wrap after skinning to keep the meat clean. It cant be stressed enough that you owe it to the animal to take the best care that you can of the meat, or else why kill it? The meat of a fall bear that has been eating blackberries, apples and other selection of the fall smorgasbord is premium and well worth the effort. I personally am not a fan of spring bear meat, as they have sustained hibernation living off fat reserves and then mostly grasses to get their digestive tracts activated, although their hide is generally of better quality. Hence I hunt the fall season. This is purely a personal decision though.
When it comes to birds, cut side to side below the breast and above the vent, continue your cut down along both sides to the vent and remove. Reach in and pull all innards out. If possible wash out the cavity in the field. As a side note, it is illegal in Oregon to breast any game bird in the field and leave parts to waste. There are also identification issues such as a wing, head etc. that are covered in the ODF&W upland game and migratory birds regulations that covers this in detail, hope this helps- John.

What salmonriverohn said.

Getting it cool fast is paramount to saving the meat (no matter what the animal), if thats what you are after. If you want the hide, there are a number of youtube videos on how to get it off in one piece.

Personally I like to cut off all fat, grind up the meat adding pork fat back in. Makes for tasty sausage.

Yeah I want to save as much meat as possible. I would love a rug or wall mount but don't remotely have the cash for that. I am also limited with what I can make with the meat.

The muscle groups in the hind quarters, (excluding the lower legs), the shoulder, and the back strap are all excellent steak, especially on a fall bear. The ribs and forearms and all scraps can be used for burger. As Moose stated, you want to remove as much fat as possible. I just got 45lbs of Bear burger back from having it ground last Monday. We tend to pick up pork shoulder and have it ground in at 8/10% and have good luck with it. The Gent that does my grind when I cant get to it myself does it for 25 cents a pound, we wrap. Call around to some local butchers and ask prices of grind if you do the wrapping, its much cheaper.

Again as Moose said, there are many videos available on hide removal, also meat cutting. If you wish to keep the hide, with the proper care it can last in the deep freezer for many years, perhaps giving you time to save the $'s for that rug!

Be careful.
Man survives struggle with black bear in Oregon
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

GLIDE, Ore. -- Aaron Wyckoff didn't start to panic until his .45-caliber pistol quit firing, and the bear kept chewing on his arm.

So, he recalls, he tried to pull the bear's jaws apart. Then he tried to roll down the ridge where he and the bear were wrestling. But the bear grabbed his calf, pulled him back and went for his groin.

Wyckoff said he countered by shoving his pistol and his hand into the bear's mouth. But by then, the struggle in the Cascade Range in Southern Oregon attracted the attention of Wyckoff's party, and other hunters rushed over.

Justin Norton fired a round from his .44-caliber pistol into the black bear's stomach, to no avail. He approached the bear, put the gun behind its ear and fired again. It finally rolled away.

"I walked right up to his head, and he didn't even look at me," said Norton, 26.

With the dying bear still struggling, a final round finished him off.

"He was dead. He just didn't know it," Wyckoff said. "It was just all adrenaline."

Wyckoff was helping friends track a wounded bear May 31 on the last day of the hunting season.

Fifteen-year-old Chris Moen of Glide, who had drawn the tag, hit the animal in the shoulder with a .338-caliber rifle round, but he and his father couldn't pick up a trail of blood.

They called on Wyckoff and friends to help track it. A few hours later, Wyckoff went up a hill for a view.

He heard a rustling in the bushes behind him, then a grunt. The bear had apparently circled around the group.

"We never even heard him," said Wyckoff.

Wyckoff said he fired a round into the bear's forehead, but the animal kept coming and climbed on top of him. From beneath, Wyckoff said, he got off three more rounds.

Then he tucked the gun beneath the bear's chin. But it quit. Wyckoff, left-handed, said he had accidentally released the ammunition clip.

After the attack, Wyckoff sat still, not wanting to move for fear the bear had ruptured the femoral artery in his groin. Mustering the courage to look down, he saw his shredded jeans, but not much blood.

At the hospital, a surgeon sewed him up, astonished that the bear had missed every major artery, as well as Wyckoff's tendons.

After two days in the hospital, Wyckoff was discharged, with orders to stay home from work for at least two weeks.

His right arm remains bandaged. Silver staples hold gashes together.

His .45 is covered with teeth marks but still works.

The bear weighed more than 260 pounds after field dressing. It has since been sent to a taxidermist.

Wyckoff said he's grateful for his friends' quick actions and that he stayed firm when his 10-year-old son tried to go along that day.

Would Wyckoff hunt down another bear?

"Oh yeah," he said. "Fall bear season starts back up in August."

------ http://www.seattlepi.com/local/36677...ml?source=rss*

Information from: The News-Review, http://www.oregonnews.com