My Alaskan Life

[AlaskanGuy]

hello all..

after the pile of questions and requests.. i will start posting about my subsistance life here... I carry an Ipad mini with me everywhere I go due to its navigation GPS app's, and take pic's and very short videos for my family and such that wanna know what I am up to... i host the videos on a hosting site other then Youtube because Youtube has been removing many videos about reloading and such. Reloading is a huge thing to me due to the simple fact it is very hard to get ammo where I live. I host my videos on a place called GunStreamer. All Videos are around a min or less due to the simple fact that internet is super expensive here, so I count every Byte... soooo here we go..

lots of folks love hunting, and I hunt for food. i never kill something I dont eat as a personal rule, and most of the animals I hunt are young and small compared to what you see on TV hunting shows. I am a meat hunter. I hunt animals in the 2 - 3 year age class. mest quality is very important to me, so I am careful how I hunt, what I hunt, and when I hunt. our seasons are different then the lower 48 and our bag limits for our permits are also very different. we all have fishing seasons and hunting seasons like the lower 48, but we also have federal subsistance seasons and hunts that are many times in addition to the normal state hunting seasons and limits. For instance;

Each eligable member of the houshold where I live is allowed to harvest as food
6 deer
5 Black bears.

So if you have 3 licensed eligable hunters, that is a lot of hunting. Subsistance also allows proxy hunting for the very young or elders. if somebody is injured, or unable to hunt, then proxy hunting is available with a simple form to be filled out.

there are lots of members of our community that dont think like I do and take the larger animals considered trophy class, and that is thier right. i just dont and it doesnt work for me. i like to let the breeding population be. also the trophy class animals around here are hunted by out of area or out of state hunters. that brings valuable cash into our meger economy through the lodges and such, so I leave those animals to breeding and the few trophy hunters. Prince of Wales Island has huge black bears, and many of the biggest Black bears ever taken are from this island as there are no Brown bears on Prince of wales island, therefore no natural predators or competition for the local black bear populationwith the exception of our generous wolf population. and the population of bears here are about 3 per square mile, and that is a lot of bears. lots of fish, lots of berries, lots of mushrooms, lots of deer and few humans equals lots of bears.

ok.. enough back story.. in the next post, I will show some pics of bears I have taken this season, and some large brown bears I have taken pics of and that my friends have harvested. i dont hunt brown bears cuz to me they taste icky... but have no quoms about shooting one in a protection situation.

AG...

[AlaskanGuy]

here are some pic's of bear season, and some pics of bear processing..

bears are a huge boon to us in the springtime. Spring bear is the first fresh meat of the season, and many of us are serious about it as stocks are usually pretty low by then, and meat is very expensive at the store, not to mention store is a long way off and a day trip.

So far we have taken 5 young bears in the 150lb 2-3 year olds..

mine
2884 my son matthew and his2885,

another of mine...2886 another of matthews... 2887

and lastly another of mine.. 2888

we will not be taking any more bears this year unless we run into a problem bear that gets pushy, and they do get pushy, especially the younger ones. i think its just lack of experience that makes em pushy, but i also know that different bears have different personalities. some are timid, some are brave, some actually agressive.. most not.
AG..

[AlaskanGuy]

a bit about bear processing..


Start off with a good bear and take care of it. Treat it like you would a deer or any other animal you prepare for table fare. Clean kill is a good bear. Get it bled, gutted, rinsed very well, get the hide off and get it cooled quick is always a great start for table fare no matter what your killing for food. Meat Hanging in the spring is always weather dependent here. If the weather co-operates, I hang for a couple days at least and prefer 3 days. My shop stays very cool usually and hovers around mid 40’s early season, but if it starts getting up over 50, I move the process along. I always make a weak dilute of vinegar water to clean the meat of any sort of blood debri or whatever, and bugs don’t like it.
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This is how I setup for a bear butcher. I get everything lined out on a super clean counter in the house with lots of workspace, and I only bring in meat quarters at a time so there is plenty of room to work.
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Let’s talk about tools for a min. I use the usual knives, cutting boards, bowls, pots, baggies and so forth, but really the most important tool is your grinder. How you take care and prep your grinder will dictate wether you cruise right along or have a very frustrating time of things. The most important part of your grinder is NOT how much horsepower your motor is, but how sharp the knives in your grinder are. If your knives are not sharp, bit of meat and tiny pieces of missed sinew start to build up on the knives and disc and make for a huge mess. Lots of beginners dont realize that these things are easily maintained and sharpened. Here is how I do it...

This is your grinder knife.

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This piece sits against the disk with the holes in it.

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continued next post

[AlaskanGuy]

Usually 2 disks come with home type grinders, a course grind and a fine grind. Always start with course grind. I take the knifes and place them flat on a sharpening stone and use a circular motion in the same direction towards the leading edge of the knife flat on the stone...

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You can check the knife with your finger and you will know when it it sharp. I also do the same thing to my grinding disc’s. This helps keep them trued up and flat and removes any debri that may have been missed.

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When I am done I check my knife and disc together to verify visually that they are fitting together as perfectly as I can possibly get them. What your looking for is visible gaps between the leading edge of the cutting side of the knife, and the disc... if you see a gap, something ain't right and your in for a long day. It should look about like this...

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Again, time invested here will save much time and frustration later.

On with the process... I usually start with about 3lbs or so of decent scrap bacon. Usually even I can find some when I go to town or Ketchikan and I try to stock up in the off season just for this. Ends and pieces are what your looking for...
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And grind them once through course grind and set them aside in a bowl by themselves... then start cutting up the bear meat in preparation for grinding. An important rule of thumb. Never leave the grinder running between grinding.. cut up a bunch of meat in cubes or small strips all at once, then turn on the grinder and run the pile. If you let it run, small pieces of meat start to heat up with the grinder on long runs and can make things taste funny. You will also get years of service from your grinder instead of 1 or 2 seasons. So cut and stack, turn on the grinder and grind, then shut down. Repeat till finished.. also it seems like I do a better job of trimming meat when I am not feeding the grinder, and that is very important with bear.

continued on next post..

[AlaskanGuy]

Remember, when trimming bear meat, remember it is NOT beef. Only red meat. No sinews, no fat, no junk, no silver skin, nothing but red meat goes in. It’s a lot more work, but the rewards you can taste. Here is an example...


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The stuff I am pointing to with my knife does not ever go into a grinder. Not only will it clog after a while, it will flavor the meat. Trim it. I setup with 2 cutting boards and assembly line things... first cutting board is rough trim, second board is final trim in case I missed something the first trim. Sounds like a lot of work, but it truely makes a difference. i am as meticulous with this part as I am with reloading my ammunition. it matters!

Once I have a almost full bowl, I dump the meat out on a cutting board, and pat it pretty flat. Then I grab a handful of the ground bacon mix and dribble it like flour over the top of the flat meat patty and off it goes back through the grinder again, as this step mixes it for you in a way you will never be able to do by hand mixing...

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Just run it through again and place the completed bacon burger into a larger pot as a holding place and go back to cutting, trimming and grinding till you have almost another bowl full.. and repeat. Resist the urge to fill the bowl to the top, as then when you add the bacon, the chance to accidently overflow become greater, and transferring overflow bowls to cutting boards and then storage pot becomes messier with spills..
This is about as full as I let mine get.

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After you have ground all that you are gunna do, chances are you will have some ground bacon left over. This is what I do with the left overs.. remember I started with around 3 plus pounds of bacon scrap. This batch of ground meat weighed around 30lbs. That is about 10% bacon scrap. I take all of the ground bear from the storage pot and lay it out on my cutting boards, and spread what is left of the bacon over the top evenly as possible. Like so.

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And run it through the course grind again... what comes out is my finished product. I package that up in quart sized freezer ziplock bags at about 25oz a bag, suck the air out of each one, LABEL and DATE the bags and lay them flat in the freezer. They freeze faster flattened out and stack better.

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this is what I do... I hope you dont mind the processing part.. hard to discuss hunting without the processing part as it is all part of the process..

have a blessed day!!!
AG

[AlaskanGuy]

recently, a group of missionaries visited our church from the lower 48 to do work in the community and do a summer camp for kids here. we shared many meals together, and they were fairly surprised that most of the things I brought to potluck dinners was made with bear meat... including the dinner they just ate... lol. i should have probably told em before they ate it, but i did tell them afterwards.. nobody was sick... lol :cool:

hope they come back next year, they will be missed!!!

[AlaskanGuy]

wow.. did I post this in the wrong forum???

[Ultralight]

Well, it is kind of a niche topic.

Sometimes topics catch on here and sometimes they don't.

That is the nature of this beast!

[bae]

Not at all, it's just so information-rich that I've been savoring reading it :-)

[iris lilies]

Is your child able to help you with Homestead tasks?
Not at all, it's just so information-rich that I've been savoring reading it :-)
I know!

ok-how long does it take you to prepare a bear carcas? ...How many lbs of meat does a bear typically yield?

What is your most common recipe or two that you make with the bear meat?


Do you have a vegetable garden?

Is your child able to help you with Homestead tasks?

edited ro say: I wrote some of this post before reading your last two posts about bear meat processing. It is very interesting.

[razz]

Lots to take in that I had never considered before so no lack of interest from me.

[rosarugosa]

I didn't realize bear was hunted for food. I'm in Massachusetts, and the most exotic meats I've had the opportunity to try are deer, goat, bison, ostrich and antelope. Hopefully I'll have the chance to try bear some day.
When I think of wild Alaskan food, I think of Sockeye - yum!

[Alan]

When I think of wild Alaskan food, I think of Sockeye - yum!
I spent 3 years in Anchorage and never tried bear, when I think of Alaskan food I think of Alaskan King Crab legs, each one as long as your arm. Mega Yum!

[Ultralight]

wow.. did I post this in the wrong forum???

Looks like this one got traction after all! Interesting stuff, amigo.

[Ultralight]

I had bear chili once. It was yummy!

[catherine]

In my neck of the woods, my neighbors hunt and process deer on their own. Even as a one-time vegetarian, I totally respect them for killing them for sustenance. It's not easy work. So much better than the throw-away, mindless McDonald's culture where the life of the animal is so far removed from the experience of eating the over-processed, over-packaged, undervalued meat in that burger that's sold to people who will buy it for a couple of bucks and eat it in their cars on their way to work while worrying about their first meeting. If you're going to eat meat, respect it and be grateful. AlaskanGuy, in your "work" as a hunter of bear meat, you have to confront a relationship with the bear, and the concept of giving up life to sustain life is a real concept. It takes skill and risk on your part. The rest of us buy sanitized "meat" wrapped in cellophane, or processed down to the point where it can be sold so cheaply people can throw it away without feeling bad, and there goes the life of an animal that frankly is no different than than the dog that sleeps at your feet.

[Teacher Terry]

When we were young my husband hunted deer and turkeys. He did all the butchering with his dad and we ate it. We lived in upstate New York then.

[rosarugosa]

I spent 3 years in Anchorage and never tried bear, when I think of Alaskan food I think of Alaskan King Crab legs, each one as long as your arm. Mega Yum!

Oh yes, those too! How could I forget??

[AlaskanGuy]

Is your child able to help you with Homestead tasks?
I know!

ok-how long does it take you to prepare a bear carcas? ...How many lbs of meat does a bear typically yield?

What is your most common recipe or two that you make with the bear meat?


Do you have a vegetable garden?

Is your child able to help you with Homestead tasks?

edited ro say: I wrote some of this post before reading your last two posts about bear meat processing. It is very interesting.

yes, My special son helps with just about everything except cleaning.. not very detail orientated.. but everything else.. including cooking..

my most common recipe is bacon bear burgers.. that is why I use bacon as suet... perfect for burgers... just add some cheese and onions.. Yummy also makes a good meatloaf. spring bear has almost no fat though... so you need to add something.

from the time i make a kill to ready for a freezer depends on weather of course, but I can gut and skin a bear in an hour, and takes me a solid 1/2 day to butcher, bag and so forth.. meat quanity depends on the size of the bear, but usually about 50-60lbs of bear burger..

and yes I have a garden, but that is for another thread..

[AlaskanGuy]

I spent 3 years in Anchorage and never tried bear, when I think of Alaskan food I think of Alaskan King Crab legs, each one as long as your arm. Mega Yum!

you wont get an arguement from me sir!!!! yummy..

[SteveinMN]

I have friends who shoot deer and elk and a few who process their own, but it's mostly breaking down the carcass and making burgers/sausage out of what isn't easily made into muscle cuts. Bear is on a whole different level. So thanks for the education!

What do you do with the rest of the bear (skin, bones, sinew, etc.)?

[AlaskanGuy]

well, as far as the guts and such, bear liver and heart are way to High in vit A and could cause real problems.. there is a ton of sinew in a bear... I keep all scraps except guts and hide for crab and shrimp pots.. the hide gets salted, dried and set aside in my shop.. i dont do brain tanning anymore cuz it is just way too labor intensive.. the chems required for a chemical tan are not allowed to be shipped via air, so the hides just seem to stack up in a corner of my shop, stiff as a board. this fall, I am going to get a younger fat bear. the fat is wonderful for all sorts of stuff, cooking, and my favorite bullet lube. nothing works as good as bear fat for muzzleloading lube... as far as what happens to the bones, you are gunna have to ask her..

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i think she hides them...

[SteveinMN]

Lucky dog... :)