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Eating Feral Pigs


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Well, looks like my kin folk are being over run by feral hogs. I feel it is my duty to help out my own.

 

I don't have issue with a sow. I have killed and processed (non-ferral) sows up to about #350 ish with no issue. The boars worry me a bit though. I have been in a kitchen where an old boar had just been fried up and the stink was such that I know I wouldn't want to try a pork sandwich out of it. We always took off the offending parts on young male pigs and the tetosterone was never an issue when they went from livestock to hams.

 

So, eat sows and maybe piglets and leave the old boars as coyote bait?

 

Regards,

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I killed a 240 pound boar a few years back. My advice would be to make sure your knives are REAL sharp.

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Do as I did with my older breed boars, make a lot of sausage. The grinding and spices make up for a lot but it can still taste a bit wild. If I wanted everything to taste mild/sweet I would not hunt and could be contented with store-bought.

 

Safe trails,

CKid

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A bit wild is one thing, an old boar hog is something else. Stinks!

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down here you have to watch what there been eating.

in drought they eat a lot of dead cattle/sheep and them selfs, best here when wheat/oats barley growing.

then get small ones 25kg/55lbs size

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Guys here take em straight to a car wash...if they don't have a high pressure washer and the soap/hot water seems to take all the stink out. They vow that it virtually eliminates the really tainted and gamy meat.

 

So try washing your piggies for a change.

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The giant ones scare me, the ones that hang off boom trucks and building winches. That one that was eating a cow in Austrailia was huge. If they are real.........

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Was told my a gent that hunts the swamps of South MS that it's very important to get the hog bled out by the throat and hung from a tree (head down) as soon as possible.

 

If the blood starts settling in the hams it'll ruin the taste.

 

Don't know that for a fact - just what Iwas told, but it made sense to me.

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Couple years ago or so, ol' Evenin' Joy's husband, Scattergun Mark, took her pig hunting... her first ever hunting trip

 

Guess who got the pig...? :lol:

 

Upon their return she sent me this picture... :unsure:

 

Evenin' Joy and her Pig

 

This was a California porker, by the way.... :lol:

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Couple years ago or so, ol' Evenin' Joy's husband, Scattergun Mark, took her pig hunting... her first ever hunting trip

 

Guess who got the pig...? :lol:

 

Upon their return she sent me this picture... :unsure:

 

Evenin' Joy and her Pig

 

This was a California porker, by the way.... :lol:

__________________

 

By the weapon and the scope I'd say she was a safe distance away, thank God. Seen lot's of U-Tube videos follks getting run over by hogs. I can't imagine surviving one this size. And NO I'm not eating one that has been eating other dead hogs, cows, crows etc........... Nasty...........

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got video at a mates place in the marhes here in nsw about 6 1/2 hours drive,

with about two hundred pigs rooting around

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If you're bothered by what a feral pig eats then you'd be appalled by what a barnyard chicken has on its menu........anything that walks, crawls, flies, or is dead....even each other. Also consider those sunnyside up eggs....they come out of a chickens butt. :wacko:

 

Eat more beef!!!!!

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If you're bothered by what a feral pig eats then you'd be appalled by what a barnyard chicken has on its menu...

 

+1 :FlagAm:

 

A lot of folks don't think anything about tuckin' in to a big platter of fried catfish either. They're the garbage collectors of the lakes and rivers. B);)

 

Safe trails,

CKid

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I'm heading for Texas in about a week or so for some feral hog hunting. One of my sons has it all lined up with area ranchers that are being overun. His advice is to eat the younger 100 pounders and leave the big bores where they're killed. He's done a few hog roasts and the old boars aren't worth the bother.

 

Just can't decide what firearm to use. So many choices. 45-70, 30-40 Krag, 44 mag?

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I don't want to be a party pooper, but my experience is not the same as some of you. In the last year I have shot 2 hogs (feral) in central Texas, one a 125# sow the other a 225# boar. Both were EXCELLANT EATING :FlagAm: I have shot and eaten a lot of wild game... Moose, Elk, Deer, Antelope, Javalina (not too good), Bear and Bighorn Sheep and the hogs I killed were as good or better than any game I've ever eaten. Proper care of them after being shot is a must. Gutted them immediately, cut off the head and iced them down. Both were skinned within 2 or 3 hours and quartered, then frozen. I took them back to Colorado frozen and a local meat processor butchered them. Hams were smoked, pork chops cut and the rest made into breakfast sausage. They are absolutely prime eating. ;)

 

Both were one shot kills with my 25-06 deer and antelope rifle/loads. They both dropped in their tracks after a 40-50 yard head shot. My friend ( I hunted on his land) does feed some corn from feeders, but only part of the time, so these hogs had to depend on whatever else they could find.

 

I believe that when proper care is taken with game animals, they make pretty good table fare. I butcher my own game (except for these 2 pigs) and can take the necessary care with the meat when transporting from the field and cutting, wrapping and freezing at home. I also have a large commercial grinder and do my own burger, sausage and brats.

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Could you expand on the hunt/shoot. Head shots? Were they standing or had been run. I.E. Were they shot at peace and unaroused?

 

I've been wondering if game gets livery if it has been run, excited, and the adreniline is up.

 

Your thoughts?

______________________________________

 

I don't want to be a party pooper, but my experience is not the same as some of you. In the last year I have shot 2 hogs (feral) in central Texas, one a 125# sow the other a 225# boar. Both were EXCELLANT EATING :FlagAm: I have shot and eaten a lot of wild game... Moose, Elk, Deer, Antelope, Javalina (not too good), Bear and Bighorn Sheep and the hogs I killed were as good or better than any game I've ever eaten. Proper care of them after being shot is a must. Gutted them immediately, cut off the head and iced them down. Both were skinned within 2 or 3 hours and quartered, then frozen. I took them back to Colorado frozen and a local meat processor butchered them. Hams were smoked, pork chops cut and the rest made into breakfast sausage. They are absolutely prime eating. ;)

 

Both were one shot kills with my 25-06 deer and antelope rifle/loads. They both dropped in their tracks after a 40-50 yard head shot. My friend ( I hunted on his land) does feed some corn from feeders, but only part of the time, so these hogs had to depend on whatever else they could find.

 

I believe that when proper care is taken with game animals, they make pretty good table fare. I butcher my own game (except for these 2 pigs) and can take the necessary care with the meat when transporting from the field and cutting, wrapping and freezing at home. I also have a large commercial grinder and do my own burger, sausage and brats.

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We get all sizes here

 

This one was rejected due to the number of wounds(old and new)

 

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd29/re...en/100_2860.jpg

 

Shot 5 times with 357 and 5 times with 30-30 at close range

 

This one was determined to be not worth the trouble.

 

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd29/re...tmas2008024.jpg

 

Shot once at 250yds through the head

 

 

My wife went online and researched methods for preparation of the meat for freezing. To our surprise, we found a lot of experts that recommende the larger boars. We have processed several using a method that involves skinning the hog and cutting it into the largets sections that can be placed in an ice chest. We then ice down the meat for several days, pouring off the liquid and replenishing the ice as required. She uses some lemon juice in the process, but decanting the liquid is the real trick. These hogs have been excellent.

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Was sitting in a blind about 15" above the ground at the edge of a large planted food plot, about 1 to 2 acres in size. There was a corn feeder there too. Pigs were shot when they came to the feeder. Lots of deer at turkeys too. Sittung there watching and all of a sudden they are there and after the first shot they vanish :rolleyes: The food plots are totally surrounded by brush, cactus and mesquite, which afford lots of cover to escape to.

 

I have shot a lot of big game in the last 50 years and have not really found much difference in the flavor/taste whether the animal was standing or running. I really believe that the way the animal was cared for after it was shot and how it is butchered determine what it tastes like. I have found that most fat on game animals is what gives it a strong taste/smell. When I butcher I remove ALL the fat and debone. The animal must be cooled down as fast as possible, especially important in hot weather. I skin and quarter as soon as possible. Remove and discard any shot damaged meat too.

 

Not used to this type of hunting, but is done all the time in Texas and the south. This last April I was there for Turkey opening and got a large Rio Grande tom that weighted 25 pounds. It , along with 3 others my son & I shot, were great eating also. :wub:

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I shoot feral pigs but don't eat them; give 'em to the coyotes and then shoot them too.

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We get all sizes here

 

This one was rejected due to the number of wounds(old and new)

 

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd29/re...en/100_2860.jpg

 

Shot 5 times with 357 and 5 times with 30-30 at close range

 

This one was determined to be not worth the trouble.

 

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd29/re...tmas2008024.jpg

 

Shot once at 250yds through the head

 

 

My wife went online and researched methods for preparation of the meat for freezing. To our surprise, we found a lot of experts that recommende the larger boars. We have processed several using a method that involves skinning the hog and cutting it into the largets sections that can be placed in an ice chest. We then ice down the meat for several days, pouring off the liquid and replenishing the ice as required. She uses some lemon juice in the process, but decanting the liquid is the real trick. These hogs have been excellent.

 

 

My Goodness, Matt...that ain't a pig...that's a water buffalo!!!!

 

Nice huntin'

 

I've got a buddy in FL that hunts boar with dogs, then when they're cornered, jumps on their back and slits their throat with a knife....he's a braver fellow than I...

 

LL

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I hunted hogs since I was a kid to when it became almost impossible to find open land to hunt here in S.W. Florida. I think I have taken them with about every caliber you can imagine. :rolleyes: Using catch dogs was big when I was in High School. You were not allowed to be armed were we hunted so you hog tied them with duct tape threw them in the back of the truck or jeep and took them home to fatten them up. I have seen sows get a lot more aggressive than boars when there are piglets around. I have taken many hogs with handguns. Probably took the most with a S&W 686 6” L frame 357. Hogs don’t (can’t) look up so if you are in a stand you can pretty much shoot them in the head as they root around under your tree. :FlagAm: The biggest boar with the largest cutters (tusks) I actually took him with a 7mm magnum at about 150 yards. I had him mounted and after down sizing to a smaller home, gave the head/shoulder mount to my brother. He now tells everyone he shot it. :lol:

I agree with Big Sage. In the south you need to get game on ice quickly. We would field dress hogs and quarter them and put them on ice and as he suggests drain the water off and add more ice as needed. I have also used vinegar and ice water on big boar quarters and let them soak (I guess marinate) overnight.

Sure long for the old days when you we actually had places to hunt that didn’t require a lease. Thank goodness for great memories. This post/thread brought a lot of great ones back.

Thanks,

J.D.Lee

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We trap them the young boars we cut and turn loose, we keep the 80 to 100 pound sows and feed them for 60 days or so and they are really good eating.

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