Dad's first bear

[Tony Logan]

Dad and I went to the east coast of NC on a bear hunt with hounds. The woods were full of them. The dogs put this 225 lb up a sweet gum and his TVM Grand 50 caliber Nancy Jane rifle brought it back down. We had a blast, it was both of our first bear hunt and it was the first one the guide had ever had taken with black powder. We are hooked now and cant wait to do it again.

 

[BrownBear]

Southpaw Pa! Gotta love it as another lefty.

Well done for both of you. Lotsa fine eats in a bear that size.

Congrats!

 

[jamesthomas]

Nice ! very nice! :thumbsup: :hatsoff: Bearskin rug? Man, bear hunting is on my bucket list.

 

[silly goose]

That is just way too cool. Good job.

 

[BillinOregon]

T.O.: Nice work. The fur huggers banned hunting bears with dogs in Oregon.
Be sure to save and render the fat!

 

[Tony Logan]

Bear is getting cut up, hide is getting tanned,the fat is in my wifes crock pot now, I need to go back and reread Swampys tutorial on bear fat rendering. I am looking forward to using some "real lube"

As far as bear hunting with hounds, its a don't knock it until you tried it thing, the east coast of NC is nothing but pine plantation thickets and briars and river cane. you could live there next to a thicket full of bears and never see one. If you live in the open deciduous forest land of much of the Eastern US you might not understand.

 

[rabjr]

Ooooh bear oil! :grin: :thumbsup: Way to go grats! :thumbsup:

 

[hanshi]

That's a great trophy of a bear. Bear season is over in the county where I hunt. I have yet to get a shot at one but then, I don't hunt with dogs and I couldn't follow along even if I did. Congratulations to your dad.

I'd like to see some better pics of that fine looking rifle.

 

[RC]

:hatsoff: Atta[strike]boy......[/strike]dad!!..good fer him..an great fer you! memory made! :thumbsup:

 

[rabjr]

Here ya go T.O, so you don't have to search for it. I've gotten feedback from a couple of guys who have followed the crock pot method with great results and another who is in the process of rendering as I type this. :thumbsup:
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/260603/

 

[Tony Logan]

thanks Swampy for the link, I still have a couple of ? when and how do you start drawing the oil from the crockpot?
Does the oil get filtered , when your adding it to your jar?and how(fine cloth or paper coffee filter)
Does the white stuff in the bottom of your jars keep releasing oil just sitting on the shelf?

I have some bees wax. do I mix it in with the oil at some point and make some patch grease, I guess that would have the consistency like TOW mink oil?

It seems like the whole process takes a while, but the final product will be worth it, even if my wife says she cant take a week of this. :rotf:

 

[rabjr]

thanks Swampy for the link, I still have a couple of ? when and how do you start drawing the oil from the crockpot?
Does the oil get filtered , when your adding it to your jar?and how(fine cloth or paper coffee filter)
Does the white stuff in the bottom of your jars keep releasing oil just sitting on the shelf?

I have some bees wax. do I mix it in with the oil at some point and make some patch grease, I guess that would have the consistency like TOW mink oil?

It seems like the whole process takes a while, but the final product will be worth it, even if my wife says she cant take a week of this. :rotf:

I used the "Warm" setting by the way, the low setting I was afraid was to high a temp. Warm worked just fine for me. I setup a jar with an old tee shirt over the top and whenever I checked the pot and found I could ladle off some, I did, pouring into the tee shirt covered jar. Just did that until it was pretty well spent. Once a jar got full enough I replaced it and the full jar was placed on a shelf to separate. This can take some time and I found things speed up by keeping the jars warm. I have been known to place a lamp next to the jars for warmth.

Mixing with beeswax or deer tallow comes later after all the oil is processed and filtered a couple of times. A one to one mix to me seems to hard of a mix but has worked for some. You'll need to experiment some to get where you want it. Start with using the left over lard after you get most of the oil off. Use that up making lube first and try to keep the oil for other things before using that for a lube mix. That way everything gets used and it lasts much longer. :thumbsup:

 

[hellerodsyahoo.com]

Way to go Dad!!There is a ban on bear hunting in my area of Cali., although my National Forest area is overrun with black bears, the local treehuggers think that the local police should kill them when reach town.

 

[Tony Logan]

I have contacted the guide already because we are dying to do it again. The rendering is going well, I have already drawn off and filtered a quart.

 

[wattlebuster]

Congrats to your pa an you. Great lookin blackbear. I eat a roast once an it was great so here's to some good eats :thumbsup:

 

[chance]

Congrats on a Great bear!!!

 

[ny griz]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: Congrats that's the way to get er done :applause: Griz

 

[smo]

Congrats to you both,Sounds like a hoot of a time. :thumbsup: I had a guy invite me and a friend on a bear hunt in SE Tn. just the other day. I plan to go but it will most likely be next year before I can. Dang knee is still needing surgery,I think i'm going to have to give in and Get er' Done :shake:

 

[KHickam]

:thumbsup:

 

[Roy]

Congrats!! :thumbsup: