Cooling down a bear?

[Swap Buck]

We've all heard that it's important to get the bear as cold as possible as fast as possible. My question, with temps now dipping into the 30's at night up north would a cleaned out bear be ok over night. Or is it still a must to get it to a cooler as fast as possible. I would have it all cleaned (not skinned) and packed with ice.

[jerkbait]

You still need to skin it ASAP. That is the biggest thing to get them cooled down. All of there insulation is under the hide, exspecaily on the Back.

[DonBo]

Agreed, the temps are cool enough now to let them hang overnight as long as the hide is removed.

Good luck!

[bogwalker]

I do not trust the weather that much. We gut the bear asap then wash it out with rags and cold water we have in jugs. Next we use frozen jugs to stuff into the chest cavity. We get the bear home that night and lower it into a waiting chest freezer. The next morning when the butcher shop is open we take the bear to him. Our butcher skins the bear right away and hangs it in his cooler until he butchers it. Another thing we have learned is to have the butcher bone out the meat. Cutting through bones can ruin the flavor.