Bear's gall bladder
Bears
What is all the hype about a bear's gall bladder? If I'm fortunate enough to get a bear next week, is there any value to saving the gall bladder? Where do I find it, what does it look like? Thanks
People in Japan look at it as a aphrodeciact (however spelled) Sell for big money!
It is illeagal to sell from USA to there!
KH is right, I have heard the term "worth it's weight in gold" before.
I am pretty sure it is illegal as said, but I also think you are not allowed to even keep it? Not sure though.
Leave it in the field. In the USA they are illegal to possess. Poachers were wiping out bear populations because of the part.
ditto "leave it"
even better, puncture and drain it so some a-hole scum doesn't scrounge it for illegal sale
Ok,
So some false information on here. This is a state by state issue. I know from experience as being a registered guide in the state of Maine and spending over 15 years guiding/hunting in that state.
You can legally sell the gall bladders to a licensed buyer in the state of Maine. Other states will vary and across state lines is a different story.
Gall bladders no longer bring the money the used to (many say due to the popularity of viagra). Last I talked to some buyers in Maine, they were offering no more than 20 bucks at the time. Most people saw it as not worth the effort.
Right from Maine IFW: Hide Dealer License: Required for anyone who commercially buys, sells or barters any raw, untanned wild animal hide, head, or gall bladder from any bear.
So it may or may not be legal depending on where you are hunting, but since they are worth so little these days not worth the time or effort.
Good luck tagging one!
well said squid, there was alot of hogwash floating around before your post. it is not illegal to posses a bear gall bladder of a bear killed in maryland.....but it is illegal to sell any parts of that bear. funny how things get mixed up as the details change hands. if you kill the bear legally, as far as i know, you own that bear and all parts of it. "WHAT" you do with those parts is where the laws should be well known and adhered too.
OK then! Time for a "show your gall bladder mounts" thread! ;-)
The laws vary from state to state. The federal law is clear, you cannot import/export in/out of U.S.
One of the most popular myths was that bear galls were supposed to be an aphrodisiac. That has never been the case. The Asian communities who use them do not use them for that. They ARE used for treatment of various internal disorders, including some kinds of cancer.
The prices quoted (to support the "worth its weight in gold" theory) were for the most part a lot of hype generated by the AR community AND the USFWS Law Enforcement folks. Once they had politicians beleiving that crap, it was easier to gain bigger budgets for the LEOs!
It was legal until just a few years ago to sell bear galls here in Alaska. I sold hundreds of them. I never got more than $200, even for a huge brown bear gall. I sold plenty of $20 black bear galls.
Were bears ever killed just for their gall bladder? Sure. But there was never any significant conservation/biology issue over it anywhere in North America.
Now that the politicians have been thoroughly bamboozled, we are required to throw away a natural resource that is worth $20-50. To me, that makes as much sense as throwing away the meat.
And why? Because of politics, not biology!
Pete
Why is is that the most over-populated culture find the greastest need for aids to increase fertility
If I'm right same here in Pa. You what the gall bladder you can keep it. But you can not sell it.
Squid and Pete nailed it. It used to be legal here in Idaho. I went on a guided hunt in Northern Idaho and the Outfitter had told me that he had over 200 in a freezer and was just waiting for the price to go up. I don't think it ever did and then he passed. I am kind of curious as to the look on the person's face who cleaned out that freezer.
I've given a few away to Asian friends, who've appreciated it for medicinal purposes. I figure the more I give away, the less demand there will be for poached ones.
I thought it was still legal to sell bear parts in Idaho?
Shucks. I had a big party all lined up this weekend.
Guess I'll have to score some enzyte somewhere now.....
I can't beleive some of you are still buying into the nonsense that dried bear galls will put "lead in your pencil!" You guys are so gullible.
That rumor was dreamed up by animal rights activists and their willing accomplices in FWS and Congress in the course of trying to stop all bear hunting.
Get a grip guys!
(And I mean that figuratively....!)
A few years ago on the Me-- settlement in Alberta, the bears taken were skinned without opening the body cavity and the carcases disposed of " back up on the hill" for the scavengers. They were not interested in the meat. The explaination given was that Fish and Game gave them such a hassle about the gallbladder stuff that the easiest thing was just to leave the body cavity intact and forget about it.
When prices were high several years ago we found 5 dead bears in one spot that were missing their paws and had a cut through the back to get the gall. The hide and meat were wasted. this was in Sask.
Pete, with all due respect, this wasn't some AR rumor. Bear gall bladders, bile, brain parts, etc, have been in high demand in China and other Asian cultures for many centuries. But you're correct that it wasn't for an aphrodisiac. Instead, the bile is believed to "cure" all sorts of ailments. There is one bile farm in China with over 10,000 bears, all with catheters into their gall bladders for daily bile harvesting. I've seen photos, and it is really pathetic.
Sick, sick sick....
A few years back, some jackwads stole the radio-collar frequencies for a bunch of collared hibernating bears in WY. They tracked each one, killed them in their dens, and only removed the gall bladders.
Bear gall bladders still sell for $400-600 or more on the black market in China, partly because there is controversy over whether farmed bile is as effective as raw gall bladders. Go figure, since there isn't any proof that gall bladders or bile "cures" anything.
Bou, it isn't to aid "fertility", it is to aid longevity. Big difference, no pun intended. LOL!
When I was in Korea in 88-89 the going price for ground bear gall was more than the street price for cocaine in the USA...that should explain the temptation by some to want to sell it.
