[hentrep]

Your last sentence is subjective. I grew up eating bear sausage and it was delicious. Perhaps owing to differences in black bear diet/meat vs Alaskan bear. This article seems to corroborate my suspicions: https://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/bear-meat/

[porkloin]

Trichinosis is incredibly common in Alaska's bear population. As with any kind of game meat, thoroughly cooking to recommended temps is highly encouraged. Plenty of people get away with eating undercooked meat for years, but you don't have control over the randomness of what an animal you hunt was exposed to. Trich is no joke and can seriously injure you.

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=disease.muscle2

> All bear and lynx meat should be considered possibly infected.

[doodlebugging]

Trichinosis can kill you too. I can't find the story link but I read years ago that one of the few German POWs to die in captivity in the US during WWII at Camp Hearne in Texas died from eating undercooked pork which also sickened a couple of other POWs and maybe one of more of the guards.

With that said, pioneers and mountain men ate bear meat. They preferred bear paws due to the high fat content I think.

[rolph]

yeah, game meat really should be well done, thin cuts that get to temperature all through.

organ products, from game are kinda risky.

[RcouF1uZ4gsC]

> I grew up eating bear sausage and it was delicious.

Isn’t sausage the goto thing when you want to take meat that would otherwise be nasty and turn it into something palatable?

I don’t think you statement contradicts the parent post about bear meat being not good

[a2tech]

Correct. That and chili. I grew up without a lot of money and have eaten every game animal in North America and I can tell you that there isn’t any wild game that can beat the cheapest of ground beef for flavor or usefulness.

[petsfed]

I disagree, but your odds of having a bad time with game meat are much higher. I liken it to the early days of craft beer. If you wanted an acceptable beer that wouldn't wow you, but never surprise you, you could always drink budweiser. But if you felt like playing six-pack roulette, pick up your local microbrew. Could be awesome, could be terrible, you won't know until you've taken a drink.

Domestic goose is better than wild goose, but grass-fed elk (that is, ranched elk) just tastes like beef. Likewise with grass-fed bison. Truly wild elk has that gaminess to it that I really appreciate. I've a recipe for venison burger casserole that is utterly flavorless when made with ground beef. Bear sausage is only good when its heavily mixed with actual pork, and spiced to hell and back.

Deer and pronghorn that graze on sagebrush actually taste sagey. If that's your jam, its fantastic.

[SheepSlapper]

As a hunter, I have to disagree. Properly harvested deer, elk, and bear are all amazing, and I'd take any of the three over the lowest common denominator ground beef. Actual cheap ground beef is garbage.

I buy half a cow every year from local farmers, and I'd put my ground elk up against that ground beef any day (though I do have to add suet because elk is so lean). In fact, nobody that I serve elk to knows that it's elk until/unless I tell them.

If your wild game tastes bad, you messed up somewhere along the line. Get it cold as soon as possible, keep it clean, and the meat will be great.

[hiatus]

> I can tell you that there isn’t any wild game that can beat the cheapest of ground beef for flavor or usefulness.

Not even duck? That is a bit surprising.

[s1artibartfast]

Sounds like you need a better cook. I love game meat and find most ground beef disgusting.

The main advantage of commercially produced beef, chicken, and pork is that you can eat it rare & raw.

[John23832]

> Your last sentence is subjective.

Sure. I think that's stating the obvious though.

[rolph]

yes your right, the time of year, dictates diet, and general diet influences the meat.