Author Topic: bear oil  (Read 3528 times)

Offline Sweeney

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bear oil
« on: March 09, 2019, 09:30:43 PM »
I now have a good supply of bear oil in qt jars. It has settled - clear in upper third, cloudy in lower. Is all of it suitable for patch lube or only the clear?

Offline Daryl

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2019, 10:45:32 PM »
If you can pour the oil or most of the oil off, that will need much lower temperature to solidify.
The thicker, milky oil is still good for patch lube. Even Bear Grease is good lube, which is more like
shortening than anything. It also makes terrific pie crusts.
Daryl

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Offline hanshi

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2019, 10:59:30 PM »
I once thought about using it until I learned what one had to do to get the stuff.
!Jozai Senjo! "always present on the battlefield"
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Offline OldMtnMan

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #3 on: March 09, 2019, 11:29:02 PM »
I've found that the slower you render the fat you get oil. faster gives the grease/lard/tallow<---?

Offline WadePatton

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2019, 12:23:41 AM »
I once thought about using it until I learned what one had to do to get the stuff.

I traded for some a while back, but have so little of it that I only use it sparingly (locks, and similar).  The folks I talk to who go bear hunting think I'm nuts-asking for fat when I hear they are going over to the mtns to kil a bar.  I'll make a connection someday.
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Offline Sweeney

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #5 on: March 10, 2019, 02:08:40 AM »
Thanks for the replies, fellas. Though I hunt everything else, not yet been after bear. Enjoy eating it but thought of killing one has been a bit tough. got this fat from friend who killed this season in West Virginia. Might soon get over my aversion to killing one. So goes life.....
Looking forward to trying this new lube in my new .40

Offline wattlebuster

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2019, 02:38:15 AM »
You have liquid gold as far as im concerned. When you dont have a big enough bear population in your area to hunt then bar squeezins is mighty dear to ya :'(
Nothing beats the feel of a handmade southern iron mounted flintlock on a cold frosty morning

Offline Sweeney

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #7 on: March 10, 2019, 04:46:29 AM »
I did see Colorado has reduced bear tag price to $100 for nonres. They must have aplenty. Maybe this season when chasing elk.....

Hey Daryl, if it makes good pie crust, would it also be good for frying potatoes, or scrapel?

Offline blackbruin

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #8 on: March 10, 2019, 05:32:38 AM »
Works good for seasoning cast iron skillets or griddles.  Don't see why not, personally I like it for patch lube better.

Offline David R. Pennington

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #9 on: March 10, 2019, 05:50:57 AM »
I like it very much.
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Offline Daryl

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #10 on: March 10, 2019, 06:49:00 AM »
We're about over run wit the @!*% things around here. Hardly anyone shooting/eating them any more, it seems.

A friend gave me about 10 oz. I haven't used it for lube, yet.
Daryl

"a gun without hammers is like a spaniel without ears" King George V

Offline alacran

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #11 on: March 10, 2019, 03:54:40 PM »
Troy , the first quart of bear grease/oil that I acquired was milky and uneven in texture. It worked just fine. When I was running low I bought some from a guy at the Western Nationals. It was thick and dark. It worked just fine. A friend in AZ gave me a quart last year and like what you have,
 it seems to have separated I just stir it up before I lube my patch material. I bought some from Ranger Pam at Martin's Station last year and it is as clear as moonshine. Again it works fine. I think hers would have been better utilized for making pie crust.
See you soon.
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Offline Mike Brooks

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #12 on: March 10, 2019, 04:22:26 PM »
How hard do you have to squeeze a bear to get the oil to come out? ??? How many squeezins in a year can a bear handle before it can't make anymore oil?
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Offline alacran

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #13 on: March 10, 2019, 04:26:39 PM »
You will just have to squeeze one and let us know.
A man's rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.  Frederick Douglass

Offline OldMtnMan

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #14 on: March 10, 2019, 05:18:34 PM »
I did see Colorado has reduced bear tag price to $100 for nonres. They must have aplenty. Maybe this season when chasing elk.....

Hey Daryl, if it makes good pie crust, would it also be good for frying potatoes, or scrapel?

Not only that but they made the tags B tags which means we can get two tags now.

Bear is all I hunt now. Deer herds are hurting and elk is too much meat for me to haul out now. Plus, bears kill the newborn deer and elk. Nothing makes me madder than that and why I can't give up hunting them. Hawkens and bears go together like peanut butter and jam. :)
« Last Edit: March 10, 2019, 05:22:00 PM by OldMtnMan »

Offline wattlebuster

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #15 on: March 10, 2019, 09:10:00 PM »
How hard do you have to squeeze a bear to get the oil to come out? ??? How many squeezins in a year can a bear handle before it can't make anymore oil?

You have to squeeze with 76.3 lbs per square inch pressure an the average black bear can take 2 squeezes a yr. After that its all tuckered out from being squeezed. Sounds good while here at the keyboard but im not willing to try it ???
Nothing beats the feel of a handmade southern iron mounted flintlock on a cold frosty morning

Offline Sweeney

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #16 on: March 11, 2019, 04:35:27 PM »
You all have helped persuade me it's time I go after a bruin. Thanks for tipping the scales!

Alacran, Sounds like your experience confirms the application of bear oil regardless of color/texture. Good to know! See you next month!

Offline Hungry Horse

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #17 on: March 11, 2019, 06:50:18 PM »
As usual in my opinion the group is overthinking the whole Bear grease/ bear oil thing. Any  and all of it works great as a patch lube.
  And as for using it in locks, and triggers, why would you do that when there are a dozen modern lubes specifically designed to lube mechanical devices?
 Yes it makes the best pie crust you can get, bar none.
 No don’t season your cast iron with it unless you use it very regularly, because it will get rancid, and you will have to strip, and reseason, your cookware. Food grade flax seed oil is unsurpassed for seasoning cast iron cookware. It creates a coating like Teflon, and never gets rancid.

  Hungry Horse

Offline WadePatton

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #18 on: March 11, 2019, 07:06:39 PM »
As usual in my opinion the group is overthinking the whole Bear grease/ bear oil thing. Any  and all of it works great as a patch lube.
  And as for using it in locks, and triggers, why would you do that when there are a dozen modern lubes specifically designed to lube mechanical devices?  ...

Because anwhere I can use a simple old-thyme technique/practice/process and get servicable/sensible results (IOW I'm not giving up much, but keeping tradition alive), I'm going to do it where feasible/affordable (i.e. -not- a sperm whale oil type thing).

Bear grease/oil is one of those deals (in my perception at this time).  I would love to get some fresh enough and in sufficient quantity to cook with a time or two. It'll happen eventually.  Matters no to me what others use on their patches and locks, I'm not selling that stuff.
Hold to the Wind

Offline OldMtnMan

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #19 on: March 11, 2019, 07:55:57 PM »
Selling it might be illegal anyway. I'm not sure but i've never seen it for sale.

Offline Daryl

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #20 on: March 11, 2019, 09:27:33 PM »
Could be - selling of ANY bear parts here in B.C., is Illegal.
Daryl

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Offline hanshi

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #21 on: March 11, 2019, 10:35:51 PM »
As much as I like bears, which is a lot, I'm not sure I wouldn't feel very, very bad about it if I killed one.  But I also won't shoot crows at all or any more coons for that matter.  Any creature whose intelligence approaches (or surpasses) that of human's, gets an automatic pass from me.
!Jozai Senjo! "always present on the battlefield"
Young guys should hang out with old guys; old guys know stuff.

Offline Hungry Horse

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #22 on: March 11, 2019, 11:31:12 PM »
Boy, you just jumped out onto a slippery slope. Judging what you’d kill by its intelligence, leave the door wide open for getting me in trouble yet again. Or maybe shot, since I don’t know how high the bar is.

 Hungry Horse

Offline OldMtnMan

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #23 on: March 11, 2019, 11:51:56 PM »
As much as I like bears, which is a lot, I'm not sure I wouldn't feel very, very bad about it if I killed one.  But I also won't shoot crows at all or any more coons for that matter.  Any creature whose intelligence approaches (or surpasses) that of human's, gets an automatic pass from me.

Think about this. Bears kill and eat the newborn fawns and calves. My blood boils when I think about it. Bears don't kill the adults like mountain lions. They eat the babies. Same with coyotes. Cowards! I have no remorse for killing bears and coyotes.

Offline Natureboy

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Re: bear oil
« Reply #24 on: March 12, 2019, 01:09:09 AM »
  I'd like to try squeezing a bear, but it might want to return the favor.