OT: Big Bear Down

[Patcon]

Congrats on the bear. Way to overcome, cudos to your hunting buddy...

[foofoo]

what a big belly. CONGRATS!

[Saltybuck]

Holy crap that thing is a TANK!! Congrats Nog!! No camera parts found lodged inside....

[paulaboutform]

I need to add a little bit to the story. I had the pleasure and honor of being invited over to hunt with Nog in his little honey hole. He, and his hunting buddies are truly top notch guys and real hunters. The first thing I got to see, before hunting, was that massive pumpkin head skinned out and on the hook. I've hunted bears in B.C. since age 18 and have seen some monsters....but nothing like this behemoth! The pictures really DO NOT do him justice. Great job with this grande beast Lefty! ......the way Matt was shooting left handed simply speaks of his ability...and when he's fixed up and back to shooting righty.....folks, he is one scary dude!
***Thanks again for making my weekend hunting trip an awesome one Matt....and again, congrats on taking that dream bear of a lifetime!

Paul

[nchunterkw]

Great job!! Congrats ona great bear.....

[DuckHunt]

That is a HUGE bear! Congrats!
DuckHunt

[IronNoggin]

Thanks for the kind words Folks! Appreciated!!

... What do I do with the bear fat? How do we render the bear fat?

This bear too was living off the land. Orchard raiding to supplement natural berries etc.
Funny thing, he was surrounded by sheep, high end cattle & horses and livestock of all description on the ranches, but never made an attempt we know of to eat any. Weird, especially so during calving season. Most of the Ranchers figured he would have eventually gotten around to it. It was however his love for eating trail cameras that caused his eventual demise...

Here's a quick tutorial on how to deal with the fat. Took a few pictures as I went along on the first small batch yesterday...

Clean ALL hair, meat and blood off the fat, then chop into ~ one inch cubes:



Toss the cubes into your large diameter pot:



Add some water (I put about 4 cups to around 10 cups of fat this go):



Set your burner to medium heat, cover and monitor:



You do NOT want to get too hot or it will scorch. Keep around medium heat for the duration. Takes a couple of hours. During that time most of the water will boil off, but when it gets close to done, you want to remove the cover and let the rest of the water wander off.

You can tell it is done when the cracklings resemble piggy puffs, stop making noise as they boil, and turn a golden brown:





And, just like piggy puffs it is a mad scramble between the hounds and myself to see who gets the most! Yummy!!

Then set up your second pot with a double layer of cheesecloth for a filter, and the mason jars the same (I use old and clean game bags for this) in preparation for filtering:



This next step is a little tricky, and I advise Extreme Caution! Handling extremely hot oil can be very hazardous to your health!! Slowly and carefully pour the contents of your boiler pan into the next pot through the filter.



Then remove that filter, and pour into the mason jars. The liquid will appear like a fine oil at this point:



Cap and set to cool:



In my case the overnight temperatures dropped right down, so I simply left the product on the table out back all night. When cool, the lard turns snow white, and is an extremely fine oil / lard. It can be held for over a year when refrigerated:



It can be used any time you would cooking oil, makes the best pastry lard ever invented, and is an incredible preservative for leather (boots etc). There is indeed a reason our forefathers loved and relied on this stuff so much! Looks like I'll make around 3 cases this go, then pass along the remaining fat to any of my buddies that want to give this a whirl...

Final pix - the heart seeking missile recovered:



Cheers,
Nog

PS: Paul, Getting to finally meet in person made my week as much as the bear! Although I did think you had a couple of screws loose when I watched your supposedly fantastic shooting, it was good to see that come on line once you got them all tightened down!
You are welcome in my camp ANY Time Brother!
Cheers!

[mikej]

Wow he's a giant congrats

[Hi5]

Nosler , out of a Weatherby?????

[georgiaboy]

Congrats

[frisky]

Congrats on a huge bear! Good thing you had many friends to help load!

[ThunderXB]

OUTSTANDING!!!

Been battling an eye issue myself, stick with it and best of luck and wishes for a good resolution!

[vixenmaster]

Heck of a good yogi fer sure, glad to see yer back to huntin. It will make you a happier person really

[IronNoggin]

Nosler , out of a Weatherby?????

Good eye. 150 grain Nosler Partition out of my Browning Stainless Stalker (good for our wet weather) in 270 Win.
My main Go-To for many many years & the rifle in my avatar.

ThunderXB - I am seriously Hoping to have the eye recover sufficiently enough to go back to my proper shooting form by next year. Only time, and another (maybe two) surgery will tell. I do hope the best for you as well, and that you can overcome the issue you are facing in this regard.

Vixen - Truer words have never been spoken. For the couple days I "quit" I was a miserable wreck. Hating the world, the situation and anyone who came close enough to snap at. Thankfully my Partner drug me back out there. I might be "handicapped" but I am still there. And I approach that with a smile each & every time. Life, and attitude certainly is MUCH Happier!

Cheers,
Nog

[Hester0305]

Nog Congrats on a great bear. I'm glad you got her done