It may just be time, but the only bear I ever ate, that was worth eating was the way my Grandma made it.  I've had bear since and gave up bear hunting because it was inedible.  I think it was because of the time of year bear was killed, up here it's in spring and she used to get bears, that were trapped in summer/early fall.  They used to have bounty on them in timber lands in OR.

Anyway, the way I remember it was

She would take bear roast, trim all the fat and grizzel off, rub outside with bacon fat, season well with salt & pepper, wrap bacon around it and roast it.  I can't remember for sure, but I think it was probably cooked med.   She served this over roasted rutabagas, turnips, parsnips, potatoes onions and carrots. (standard root vegs), it seems like she cooked bear on bed of these vegs.  She served home made horseradish and gravy with it of course, but it seems like it was leftover beef gravy, not bear gravy.

She also made a bear pot roast, same vegs except, I believe she added cabbage at end.  Pot roast was deciding stronger flavored, I'm not sure of what cuts she used.

My Mom's an excellent cook, she's tried to cook "spring" bear and it was always been too "gamey" to eat, she's the one who said, it's the time of the year bear was killed.  I would think, a fall bear would be better for eating, I've never got one in fall, so I don't know, I do know spring bears taste like what, I would imagine _hit tastes like, they basically stew in it all winter. 

thanks guy for the ideas.  I do like roast beaver, and pulled bbq beaver also.

This is a fall bear, and when I gutted it it had nothing but berries and nuts in the gut.  Sounds like the makings of good eating, but????

I made it into some boasts, some smoking meat, some stew meat cubes, and a lot of very lean ground meat.  Now I'm thinking of mixing the bear ground with 50% pork sausage.  And I'm thinking some marinades for the solid cuts.  cleaned off all the fat; also a lot of what I call silver skin from the meat.

Have you ate any of it yet?  I always eat the heart fried, of anything I kill, it will tell you how strong it is and how tough it is.  If you don't have the heart still, I'd just fry up a plain bear burger, salt and pepper only, it will tell you how strong flavor is.

As far as the 50% pork, mr pig makes anything better.  For my deer sausages, I add 30 to 50% pork shoulder to the mix.  Adds the needed fat and mellows out the taste.