Sheild Thickness

Just thought I'd through this picture up of my son's hog. When we skinned it we had to cut the skin into two pieces and take each side down up to the back. We initially started rolling it down like we always have done on deer but it started to bunch up too bad because of the thickness.

I've seen them over an inch and a half.....tough stuff......

My hunting buddy keeps a piece frozen in his freezer that is over 2" thick. It is impressive. Most of what I see (that I cut into) is between 1/2 and 1 1/4"

Pretty common for the Boars around here (mature) to have an inch or more or build up. This one was right at 2” in places.





When skinning hogs with any significant ‘shield’, cut the hide in strips about 4” wide and peel them off (pulling down from head to rump).

I use a razor knife to make the cuts (go with the lay of the hair). Makes skinning so much easier.

Pretty much the same strategy here. We use a gut hook with a disposal box cutter blade — No sharpening required, just put in a new blade. We formerly used a box cutter, but cutting INTO the hide put a lot of dirt and hair on the meat. The gut hook technique cuts from the inside out. Like Flintknapper said, we cut the hide into strips and use a pair of Vice-Grip Pliers to pull the skin off.

HOWEVER: The gut hook just won't go through a thick shield. For that, we either go back to the box cutter or pull out a knife and skin the old-fashioned way. Which method we utilize depends upon the thickness the shield.

If the shield is starts to become a problem when skinning, I quickly decide I don't really want what is on the other side.

Trapped a biggun the other day with scars, had 4 00 buck pellets in the 2" shield, one in the backstrap, no penetration to vitals tough.

+1

If the shield is a problem, we just remove it as a panel.

^^^^^^^^^^

I haven’t personally found 00 buck in the shield or tissue of the hogs I have killed but I have found birdshot and .22 rimfire bullets. The ‘shield’…(except in older Boars) is really not that hard and is actually a fibrous tissue, but it does offer some level of protection for the underlying muscle.

Here is an example of an average ‘shield’ for a mature boar in MY area (Deep East Texas). About 1” in thickness.



One thing to consider however…. is that the thickness of the shield is effectively increased when impacted at angles greater or less than 90°.

Here is an illustration of what I mean. A big hog….with a 2” shield might offer the equivalent of a 3”-4” shield if shot/struck at a raking angle.

I normally cut down the belly and back and pull off in two pieces. But I don't skin over forty or fifty a year. Guys like Ben Capps at Threefingers skin them most every weekend and make it look easy.

Nothing like rank boar sausage and chops.

I go the same but I hang them from the head and skin down to the feet. The weight of the shield will almost skin itself..

Every now and then I get one that I don't like. But usually it's a weaned down sow or one that's been eating a dead cow or something. The ones on corn, acorns and grass/clover are generally really good. Even the boars. And if you know how to do a good brine soak you can maximize your enjoyment.

I've never seen em w buckshot either but it was there. As far as meat good or bad I've eaten little hogs tasted terrible and Higgins that was the finest tablefare I ever did eat. It depends on what they've been eating and I've learned all hogs smell butif meat smells like the outside it gonna be rank. I second the brining, my favorite way to flavor meat nowadays...

Managed to make 12.5 pounds of brats before we left last weekend back for more hunting. Me and the oldest grilled 4 of them on oak and charcoal. They were excellent. These were from 196lb boar. I'm thinking a lot of pork out there goes to waste.

Those shields can be insanely dense! I shot a very large boar last week with a 110 Accubond from a 6.8. Dropped him in his tracks but the bullet lodged in the opposite shield. First time I have ever recovered an Accubond in my life! Will try to post some pics after the first of the year. Its been one heck of a good hog season for me so far and still have one more trip left to make.