How long can you leave a hog laying before it goes bad? If I shoot one early morning how quick should I retrieve it.

it's pork at body temp, as soon as possible

Regards, Trichinosis

The sooner the better as far as processing one. You want to cool down the carcass as soon as you can...although I've given folks whole hogs and they don't get around to butchering them for hours with no apparent problems. I don't like cutting into one and hearing the escaping gas myself, as it seems to me that they are too far gone.

I hate em so much I won't even eat one! It's a personal thing.

I take the leg quarters and back straps from most of the hogs I shoot which makes for pretty quick processing. But even when I hauled them in, strung them up, and skinned them I tried not to waste any time. Cooler weather gives a little more slack than in hot summer, but even then you're working against the body temperature as much as anything. For a whole, ungutted, hog I wouldn't wait more than two hours.If you can gut it in the field you gain a little time. If you can throw a bag of ice into the chest cavity you gain more time.

Typically I'd say using the method of just taking leg quarters and back straps I get meat on ice in about 1½ to 2 hours. The longer time is when I also debone, trim, clean, and put the meat into ziploc bags for freezing.

Gutless method. For sure. If its over 150lbs and a boar its buzzard and yote food anyway.

I like to kill them. But I have never had one that tasted any good to me. I know a bunch of folks will tell me it’s in how you cook em. If I am going to cook something I want to enjoy it not just have it be just
bearable to eat. It took me awhile but I am now to the point I throw them all out to the coyotes and buzzards.

I’ve heard that too. A lot of it depends on what they’ve been eating. My first hog (posted here last February) was a medium sized boar. I took the backstrap and some of the tender loin off of it. Soaked meat in salt water in the fridge for 3 days. It was delicious and had no wild game taste at all. My wife even liked it and she’s a lot more picky than I am. One of the back straps we put in the pressure cooker along with seasoning, carrots, potatoes, celery, garlic, onions, etc. Like you would a pot roast. That was some fine eating for sure.

YMMV

Ive shot and eaten hogs that have been feeding for weeks off a pile of turkey and chicken guts that tasted fine. I don't know what it is that makes some of them smell/taste bad, but its pretty random. In general we quit butchering boars and only eat sows, don't think ive ever butchered a bad sow.

I wont shoot one and let it lay the rest of the hunt that im planning to butcher.

The quicker you cool it the better it will be. I usually carry a cooler full of bagged ice to put in the gut cavity as soon as I can get it guted. Gut it, ice it , wrap it in a plastic tarp. Then after processing, freeze it solid for at least a week.

If they smell like urine, they go to the yotes. If they smell kinda like maple syrup, you're good to go. Put the meat on ice in a cooler with the drain open for a week. Add ice as it melts. You'll have perfect white pork that tastes great.

This!!

JR

Take all the time you want, just process it in less than 30 minutes. No reason to wait.

I prefer wild pig t deer any day of the week....

We do a 3 day soak in ice / water, 1 cup of lemon juice and 1 cup of vinegar, drain and repeat each day for 3 days.
Ready for the smoker!

Knowledge ^^^^^^^ This right here. Carry a bag of ice in a cooler and put the bag in the chest cavity.

I shot one a few weekends ago let it soak in ice slurry for 6 days, took a roast and made pull pork with it and it tasted better than store bought pork. Even the wife agreed.

My Dad used to say “Son, if pigs had antlers, you’d have to pay me to shoot a deer”. We thought the meat was that much better.

As with any wild game, get it cooled down as fast as possible, when you eat deer or anything that tastes gamely more than likely it wasn’t cleaned and cooled quickly after the kill.

The gamey smell is in the blood. We keep the meat over salt and ice for 3 or more days to get the blood out of the meat.