Question.

While you're cleaning a pig, is there any you guys can tell whether the meat is going to be better or worse than usual? I've always heard people claim wildly different things about pigs....e.g. only shoot pigs under 100lbs, only pregnant sows, only nursing sows, never anything over 150lbs, never in the summer, etc.

In my 10 or so years of hunting, trapping and eating wild pig, I've never found any of those rules to be very reliable. For instance, I cooked up a small (about 60lb) sow last spring and it was really gamey, but just the other day I cooked up some pork from a 200lb boar and it was great. Multiple people told me to leave him in the field.

All this being said, is there anything specific you look at in the carcass/meat that would put you off or give you a hint that it will be quality pork? Maybe the color of the meat, smell, number of lymph nodes in the fat, etc.?

Just curious to know what y'all think

Some very, very experienced hog guys say you can tell by the smell of the pig. Wether it’s 30lbs or 300lbs, if it smells rank when you kill it, it’ll taste rank. If it smells ‘sweet’ then it’ll taste good. Personally, I’ve never smelled a ‘sweet’ smelling pig. I rarely eat them but am now on a lease with a ton of them so I’ll be eating more. I used to hunt on a huge ranch and it wasn’t uncommon for the group of us to dozens every time we were there. I believe the record was 40 in 1 day. Just no way to eat all that so 90% of the time they were left where they were shot.

smell the fat

if it stinks you'll taste it - metallic taste

my experience: I like 80 lb sows, sows with milk even better,
sows with piglets are good

boars are hit and miss: a cut boar will be fine, a horny boar
during mating season is asking for trouble

hogs shot during cold months are better eating than
summer months: more fat, less humping around


smell the fat and if it's white mo betta (young pig )

also dependent on what they eat, west texas where
they feed on wheat = good

in the canyons , rough terrain where they eat whatever:
weed, sage... they'll smell like dirt

I’ve always followed the small pig idea too - keep the smalls leave the bigs

Another question for you. When is mating season? I always thought they bred all year...

I've heard that if you trap, they are full of adrenaline and taste bad. The theory is sound, but I've never tasted adrenaline so I can't say. If this theory is true, I would assume a pork that is killed instantly would taste better than one that takes a bit to expire. Freestone County buzzards have never complained.

There's a lot to that.

My family had a meat packing company when I grew up.

It was common knowledge that wild or distressed animals were much inferior to calm ones when they got to the table.

One of my friends eats mountain lions. He will not eat one that he has trapped though. Only those he shoots when hunting (without dogs.. Dogs make them stress out too.)

I don't discriminate by size, only by smell. Some of the best wild hog meals I've had came from the meat of 200+ lb. boars, I think there's a lot of myths out there about wild hogs and a lot of is (pun intended) hogwash.

Last night we had teriyaki meatballs with coconut rice and sauteed snow peas for dinner, and the meat was from a 200 lb. boar I shot in the Hill Country a few weeks ago. Meal was fantastic!

Every hog I shoot gets eaten.

Just not by me.

That makes sense to me. I'll start marking the package with "trapped" or "shot" and see if I notice a considerable difference.

I'm hungry now.

The general rule of inquiry is that if you ask an audience of N persons for an opinion, you will get no less than N+1 different responses.

I eat virtually all of the hogs I shoot unless they're just too small to be worth the trouble.

We made ground meat out of a 295Lb boar we trapped a few years ago.

Tasty!

How often does your friend kill mountain lions not trapped or using dogs?

I eat most all the pigs I kill. I never had a bad one, but the best ones seem to be in the fall when the acorns are dropping.

There are a lot of myths out there about eating pigs, like mentioned above most are hogwash. I've been cleaning, cooking, and eating feral pigs all of my life and prefer them over domestic. Below are a few things that I've learned.

I eat pigs of all sizes, (boars included) killed instantly with rifles, killed with arrows, shot in traps, ran down & caught with dogs and stabbed to death. A lot of folks say if the pig stinks, the meat will stink too so off to the bone pile. This is absolutely NOT true. Normally the case is, people just don't want to clean them (to each their own). If a boar stinks, don't let anything on the outside touch the inside especially your hands. (after skinning wash your hands or change gloves if you wear them, wash your knife or use a different knife before cutting meat). If the stank from the outside gets on the meat, the meat will stink. Stinky outside does NOT automatically mean stinky inside, but I get it. Folks get a whiff of that smell and their mind is made up LOL. Just like javalina. Some people do the same thing with buck deer. They just had their hands all over the tarsal glands, and now their hands are all over the meat. Anyway, when done rinse the meat well just in case.

Unless it's a pig with gangrene (have killed a few of those), there is no real way to tell the quality of the meat unless you slice a piece off and cook it right there in a skillet or on a campfire. Try some fat too, fat is flavor. The pigs diet has more to do with meat quality than anything. Adrenaline or Lactic Acid from a stressed pig doesn't ruin the meat. The best eating pigs I've ever eaten in my life were 200 - 300 pounders caught with dogs and knifed, but these were corn crop country pigs. They fed in corn fields every night, and bleeding them out also makes a difference, which happens when you stab one in the heart. I can tell the difference in eating corn country pigs vs brush country pigs.

Big boars are usually tougher, so all of mine get turned into chorizo, smoked sausage, or slow smoked BBQ after ice aging. On big boars especially, here is an IMPORTANT tip -

Remove the glands, all of them. Especially the glands that are hiding inside (behind) the muscle in the hams and in the armpits of the shoulders. If you grind the meat and make sausage with these glands intact, it sometimes will smell like dirty socks when you're cooking it in the house. The meat will taste fine, but it will smell while cooking. Once I learned where these glands were and started removing them, it stopped smelling. One of the advantages of processing your own is that you can find and remove these glands, a processor is not going to take the time to do that.


For BBQ/pulled pork etc, I like sows of all sizes and young boars. Nursing sows are my least favorite because they are normally drawn down some - less meat and fat. Big boars, because they are normally tougher, get ground up for sausage. If a test piece from a big boar smells a little strong, I'll either dump it or turn him into chorizo or tamales. The vinegar and spices will cover it up, big boars make some good chorizo. Especially if they are fat. There's no breeding season, they breed year round and the time of the year doesn't matter either. Although, the older I get the fewer big boars I kill for food during the Summer because it's freaking hot and I'm normally cleaning them by myself. More enjoyable cleaning the big ones in the Winter nowadays.

With all of that being said, if you eat enough of them eventually you are going to get one that just doesn't smell right when cooking it in the house. So cook it outside.

Sorry about the long post, hope this helps.

He used to quite often. Maybe a couple times a year.

But the USDA transferred him out of a lion rich environment because the bunny huggers were offended at the number of lions killed in his monthly reports.

Now he only gets called in on specific cases of lions killing stock, or people.

Good info. Thanks.

X2!

Like said above with the poling N people results in N+1 opinions we are all different.

Ive eaten big boars that were great and ive eaten little ones that were awful. I have never butchered a pregnant sow that wasn't a nice fat as can be sweet meat pig. Eaten loads of them out of traps and snares and notice no difference between them and ones shot. Like most anything i believe a lot of it is in the care and handling of the meat, but I know how to process my critters and i have undoubtedly had some rank ones come through that were not a result of my handling.

Agree with you on this. I feel like you can’t go wrong with a pregnant sow.

Pregnant sows are great! But after birth when they are nursing, often times they will get drawn down like a post rutt buck.

Boars over 150 lbs. are not for me. Too many others out there.

This used to be my rule of thumb. I shot a 200lb boar a couple months ago and he just seemed "clean" (if that makes sense), so I decided to dress and quarter him. I pan-fried some diced shoulder meat with just salt and pepper a few days ago and I was shocked as to how delicious it was. Now I have 15-20lbs of bratwurst in the freezer. I understand though. In my opinion, a 150lb pregnant sow is ideal for me.....very fatty, tasty, and a good yield.

Made this one Al Pastor style. It was delicious.

NCIs statement " The vinegar and spices will cover it up"

yup, it stinks and needs vinegar and spices to cover it up.

would you like to have some stinky pork with your vinegar and spices ?


Do as you please , but there's a reason why they remove testicles
from young males

I eat my wild pork with sea salt and black pepper, if it stinks ..... it's in the meat
nothing to cover or hide that aroma

We were just discussing this very thing at deer camp last week. One of our guys grew up on a farm where they raised pigs. He said cutting off the testicles will make the hog grow twice as big as it would have before castration.

Alot depends , it's like the weight thing... On WMA's dont caring a scale out ta weigh em, it's the #'s of for that's important...
Usualy hunted the cooler months... Pork, even wild, faster ya get it on ice the better...
Most of the smell tis the outside, they wallow, keep, ticks, fleas, chiggers, & such off & ta keep cool.
Preperation ta skinning tis key...
On deer, hear lots people say cut away, the torsal (on hind quarter), gland... Never have, meat tast's fine...
If ya can get hog ta place ta wash off best...
Just my oh, the hogs that been in pens eaten diesel, that wouldn't interest me..

This was a fat little 50 lb sow that ended up in the crock pot for pulled pork.

The one on the left and the one on the right were both prego sows. I shot them both with one bullet out of my 270. They were almost domestic hog fat and were the best eating feral hogs i have ever killed.

{I eat pigs of all sizes, (boars included) killed instantly with rifles, killed with arrows, shot in traps, ran down & caught with dogs and stabbed to death. A lot of folks say if the pig stinks, the meat will stink too so off to the bone pile. This is absolutely NOT true. Normally the case is, people just don't want to clean them (to each their own). If a boar stinks, don't let anything on the outside touch the inside especially your hands. (after skinning wash your hands or change gloves if you wear them, wash your knife or use a different knife before cutting meat). If the stank from the outside gets on the meat, the meat will stink. Stinky outside does NOT automatically mean stinky inside, but I get it. Folks get a whiff of that smell and their mind is made up LOL. Just like javalina. Some people do the same thing with buck deer. They just had their hands all over the tarsal glands, and now their hands are all over the meat. Anyway, when done rinse the meat well just in case.} QUOTE


Here is additional info about the smell factor. I worked for several years with a man that raised goats. If anything smells a goats DOES. Bob raised, sold & butchered goats for anyone that bought one if they ask him to. His process was to catch one, drag it to the killing shed, hang it from the hind legs alive & kicking. He then took a water hose and wet it down good, then applied some liquid soap & literally washed the goat (billy or nanny) down with a stiff floor broom, rinsed it good then cut it's throat. He NEVER IN THE 20 YEARS THAT I WORKED WITH HIM HAD ANYONE COMPLAIN ABOUT THE TASTE OR SMELL OF GOATS BOUGHT FROM HIM.

looks great

I was willing to try a 200# boar hog yesterday but, it kicked my but trying to get him in the back of the buggy. Next time, I have to get a winch.

Just cut out the backstraps and hindquarters!

Lots of truth to this statement, I used to raise cabritos too. When I can, I wash stinky boar hogs with Dawn dish soap before I put a knife to them. If any pig (or deer) has lots flees or ticks, get them wet with the hose.....add a little Dawn and lather them up with the sprayer and your hands, and let them chill for 10-15 minutes. Then rinse them off good and get busy with the knife. Kills the bugs and helps a lot with the smell. Less stank on the outside is always a good thing.

Cutting the throat of a live animal, or stabbing them in the heart to properly bleed them out will always turn out better meat.
We use to hang goats up just like you said and cut their throats, pigs too squealing like a mofo. The blood would get captured in a bowl and the women would take it inside and make a blood gravy. I never liked it, but everyone else did.

Lord, let me never be so destitute as to have to eat that..



Alright, so for those who hawg on public lands, do ya just bite the bullet and start cutting in on the least muddy parts you can find? Lol.

Public land presents an extra challenge, but here's some tips:

Carry a small tarp or the largest contractor grade trash bag you can find, it helps to keep the meat clean. I bring two, one to put under the hog and another one to spread next to it to put the meat on. Put them into a 2-gallon zip bag along with a couple of pairs of gloves, some folded shop towels and a bottle of water to wash your hands after. When folded, they fit nicely in your pack.
Carry one of those knives with the disposable surgical blades, or even a utility knife with fresh blades. I'm not a huge fan of these for deer (too sharp, easy to pierce through the hide) but they are CRITICAL for the tough hide on hogs. Be careful with them, it's easy to cut yourself with them.
Fold the legs under the pig so you can have it upright. Make a c-shaped cut from the back of the neck, down both sides all the way down to the corner of the hams. Peel that skin/fat back and cut the back straps out. With some practice, you can also cut the tenderloins out with the pig in that position without gutting it by reaching under the last rib towards the back. Then flip the pig around onto it's back (I've used a couple of tent pegs and paracord sections to keep it in place when hunting solo) so you can skin the shoulders and hams. If you're not going far back to the truck, you can just put the meat in the contractor bags; if it's a longer distance, bring game bags (I like the washable reusable ones).

if you hunt public land

learn to remove the hams, backstraps, tenderloins
and leaving the gut intact

a small sharp knife with good steel is all you need

Pretty much what he (and some others) said.
Here's a video showing quick and easy removal of the leg quarters and backstraps — https://youtu.be/m-BmX-3Qqa4?t=28
Here's a phot of me hauling some leg quarters & back straps out of a field. I use 4 gallon plastic bags and tie them to a cord I loop over my shoulders. My usual drill is to shoot hogs, go find 'em and make certain they're dead, then I go put my rifle and other stuff away. I grab a small back pack with my hog cleaning gear (gloves, knives, plastic bags, etc) and go back and get to work. I have an older thermal monocular which really helps in finding the hogs again in the dark. —
.

Maybe I'm lucky but I've been hunting pigs for a long time (20+ years) and I've only had one that stunk while cooking (it happened to be a 180 ish pound boar). But, I've had larger boars that tasted/smelled just fine. I think it has more to do with what they eat, how you take care of them when field dressing/quartering and getting them cooled down.

I quite gutting them some time ago and use the method in the youtube video posted earlier.

I always appreciate the knowledge and experience others have that are good about sharing with others like me.
I learned a lot on this thread and will definitely try to save and cut out the backstraps for sure. I enjoyed the video as well
especially the tid-bit on a sweet smelling hog versus a nasty one. thanks everyone

Agreed. Lots of good advice on here.

Exiled, you are hereby and officially requested to post the recipe. Pictures like this must be shared with a "how to..."

I'll throw my two cents in. I have killed pigs since the 1970's and rarely had one that did not taste right. But, I rarely let them lay, I am usually starting to field dress and quarter within about 15 minutes of shooting. My goal is to denut, bleed and cool the meat as fast as possible.

Like others I have had killed boars that were near 300#'s and meat proved excellent. I do like to target between 100# and 200# boar or sow as that is a good size that doesn't take too much work and puts plenty of meat in the freezer. However, every now an then we need to take a big boar out of circulation so we don't have small volkswagens running and rooting the cow pastures.

My latest from October.

Those ribs look fantastic.

There is a book coming out called "the hog book" from a guy named Jesse Griffiths, he was on season 9 of Meateater. He owns a restaurant in Austin called Dai Due where he serves a lot of Nilgai, I haven't been but I hear it is fantastic. He has also started a program called the New School of Traditional Cookery where he takes hunters into the field to shoot game and teaches how to fully process and cook the animal taken. I am not certain if the book has come out but I am sure it will have a lot of good information about this topic. I follow his social media and he always posts satirically on how bad the 200+ hog he has cooked into something that looks tasty.

Jesse Griffiths reppin' wild hog meat and Denton, TX!

Agreed completely. We eat all pigs we shoot. We will actually "milk" a boar (with a stick) then rinse all of that funk away to avoid accidentally busting the urine sack while cleaning.

I've not found any good videos or tutorials on the glands and where they are. Any help here?

I forget which video I watched that showed it, but on the back leg it’s pretty easy to spot. It will be just under the skin and looks like a small, dark colored bean. I took a picture of one to show one of my hunting partners what to look for.

Yeah they’re pretty easy to spot. Every once in a while you’ll find one kind of tucked behind a muscle or tendon...just have to give the meat a good once-over. They’re about the size of jelly beans. Not the same flavor though.

Can you show in pics where these glands are located and what they look like ?

Oops, should have read all posts before posting

Just processed another hog the other day and took this pic to show location in hind quarter.

My rule of thumb has always been to only butcher sows from 80-120lbs. That keeps my freezer stocked with wild pork most of the year. I know people that butcher boars and have figured out some ways to alleviate some of the issues. I can hardly stand the smell of some of the 150+ boars I kill, much lest have an interest in eating them.

GNTX- great picture showing those glands. Thanks for taking the time to do that.

You’re very welcome! Glad I can contribute.

Greg

I have been hunting hogs for awhile, but on the property i am currently hunting, the meat and fat have a yellow coloring.
This is in both Boars and Sows.

I have not seen this in the hogs,That I have shot on other properties.

What is causing this?

diet?

I have been hunting hogs for awhile, but on the property i am currently hunting, the meat and fat have a yellow coloring.
This is in both Boars and Sows.

I have not seen this in the hogs,That I have shot on other properties.

What is causing this?


[/quote]

Where part of the state is your lease? If it's a drought area (West), I wonder if they've switched to a different food source out of necessity

This is north west of Ranger. The meat has a yellow tint also.

Great thread with a lot of information. Appreciate the knowledge.

I’m butt deep in them. I guess we all are. I’ve been shooting them and walking away. Guess I need to do some processing.

I don't think you'll regret it!

At least a few

Nice job

Man O Man....does that look good !!

they can & will bred up to 3 times a year, gestation is 3months, 3weeks, 3days

ribs, my favorite

We usually grind up a few into sausage and we smoke the ribs while we are making the sausage.....really nice to chow down on a few ribs and toss back a couple brews after all that work....

If going to keep the meat any sow will work for me and I usually just quarter and backstraps. Boars I will take as long as they are not that rank in smell. If they do have some smell to them and needed some meat I would take to processor and have breakfast sausage made out of it.

wash the pig with dawn or something similar before a knife hits it.... will solve most of the rank meat problems

I used to think it was all a bunch of wives tales. I know boar taint is real even without the science that backs it up. The minute you start skinning one you can smell that taint in the fat. Boar taint is a perspiration/urine and fecal like odor/flavor in pork from entire male pigs. In laymans terms they smell and taste like.... well you know. The major compounds responsible for boar tainted pork are androstenone and skatole, and both compounds are accumulated in fat. I also have tried covering it up making chorizo,bratwursts and other sausages. The minute it hits the grill or pan you can smell that off smell! My dogs don't seem to mine a treat of a backstrap from a big boar. Now smaller boars and sows have always been fine eating. Just my first hand experience on the matter.

Many years ago a buddy and I raised a few domestic hogs in New Mexico. One time my buddy wanted some meat and we didn't have any at the time ready to butcher. We bought a boar about 220 lbs that had neutered about 30 days prior to our purchase as we thought that would be long enough to do away with the bad taste and smells.....but it wasn't. You could put some meat in the frying pan and immediately smell it through the whole house. I just leave any boars I shoot that are over 100 lbs. for the buzzards and whatever. I take the meat from sows at any size..

I've never liked it much mainly because I haven't figured out how best to cook it but this looks great. I'm pulling out the grinder on my next hog !

Most of the meat I take goes through the grinder. I keep some shoulders and back straps from hogs that weigh less than 140 Lbs, They go on the smoker, and sometimes I take parts of the hindquarters for stew. The rest gets made into ground meat, with a little mixed in with extra fat for breakfast sausage.

Pulled pork......tacos and nachos!

Just made some pulled pork sliders last night. Your tacos and nachos look good! I'm going to try that next.