I have read some places that it is advised to "age" hog meat similar to deer meat-7-10 days on ice. I have also read where Ice baths work well to remove the blood/bad taste? And I have also read where there is no need for any of this, just cool the meat as fast as possible after shooting the animal and butcher right away?

so what is the way to go? I have tried off and on for years to make use of wild hog meat but seem to always circle back to letting the yotes have them...

Dave

After using ice baths and what not, I opted with not trying to eat boars and NOT ice bathing the meat. Yep, removes all the blood and bad taste. Also removes the good taste.

Same , I don’t even try with males but females, treat them just like a deer. Quarters and straps in a cooler asap. In general I try not to get my meat wet

I’ve finally settled on a few things when it comes to hog meat:
- Let the buzzards have the big stinky ones.
- If I have an edible one, I debone the meat and put it over and under ice for about 5 days. Drain water and replace ice as needed. The process removes most of the blood, and the gamey smell mostly goes with it. If the pig is under about 100 pounds, there won’t be much, if any, gamey smell to remove.

As for ‘edible’, that would be a sow of any size, and smaller males.

As for my short term prospects, I just caught and shot a big stinky one, which was rapidly replaced at the feeder with another big stinky one.

It used to be advised to not age pork but now folks are saying it greatly enhances the meat, go figure.
Found this website with some good info, for domestic pork but it would apply to feral: https://www.thepigsite.com/articles/ageing-and-the-impact-on-meat-quality

From the website:
Effects of Ageing on Pork Quality Attributes
Ageing is one of the main factors that affect variation in tenderness. Pork tenderness increases rapidly in the first 48 hours post-mortem. In leg, nearly 100 per cent of the ageing occurs within four days post slaughter. In loin, 80 per cent of the total increase in tenderness occurs within four days, and 90 per cent within six days. Tenderness is improved further by longer ageing for up to 12 days.

Pork ageing enhances pork flavour and overall acceptability.
In loins, pork flavour and overall liking increase with ageing and peak at about nine days.
It improves the blooming potential of pork and increases the ability of vacuum-packed pork to bloom.
It has also been linked with improved water holding capacity and thus, juiciness.
Muscles that are rich in connective tissues, such as the silverside, do not tenderise as well as muscles low in connective tissue, such as the loin. This is because the connective tissue proteins are not broken down by the enzymes active post-slaughter.

Recommendations on How to Age Pork
BPEX recommends that loins (bone-in) should be aged for a minimum of seven days, or 14 days if they are “bone-out” (see Target Pork Quality 1; click here).
Ageing of legs is recommended for a minimum of four days.
The ageing rate of meat increases at high temperatures; however, to ensure meat safety, ageing is normally carried out at low temperatures (between 29 F and 39 F).
Meat is normally aged in vacuum packs which helps to reduce surface drying as well as space requirements.
Ageing in vacuum packs should be carried out at, or below, 37 F to prevent Clostridium botulinum growth and toxin production.

I dry age from 3 to 10 days depending on the size/age. Double Naught Spy is correct about the ice bath, the meat comes out of there as just a plain white tasteless chunk. Dry aging lets the meat tenderize as described in Wytex's post while keeping the flavor. I have a couple of refrigerators in which I hang quarters (or sides on smaller pigs) and maintain the temp between 34-38 as much as possible. You do lose a little to dehydration with this method, but that layer acts as an insulator and the meat under it is great. Plus, I now throw those scraps into the dog food pile, so it's not wasted. I've never aged with the vacuum bags, so no comment on that.

I never have an issue with the big boars. In fact, they are some of the best meat when aged and butchered properly. I think that most folks walk up to those stinking things and assume the meat tastes that way too. Once you get through that and get the skin off, the meat is just fine. You do, however, have to make sure you cut the various glands out or it WILL taste bitter. For example, there is one in the rear hams in between two of the cuts by the femoral artery that just looks like a ball of fat. I think a lot of guys (and even some deer processors) just chunk that whole thing in the grinder and then wonder why the hog meat tastes funny. There are other glands and lymph nodes in other spots too that you need to keep out of the meat. They get 8-10 days hang time.

The sows that are about to drop a litter are probably the best. Plenty of fat on those sows and no shield to deal with when skinning. Usually around 5 days on those.

I actually have the most "problem" with those young "teenager" boars. Always some kind of musky smell and slight musky taste on those. You could probably hang them long enough to get rid of that, but they are usually too small for that and turn to jerky if you leave them too long. I'll typically leave those guys in there for 3-5 days.

The little 20 pound and less ones can usually just be used right away without aging.

I usually kill 1-2 a week, so I've tested about all the combos with this. Except this year, haven't seen a pig to shoot since September, but that's another thread.

Everyone will have an opinion on this, so you have to figure out what you like. This works for me.

Treat it the same as you would a deer. Gut, Skin, hang in sub 40 if available to let the meat set up, and butcher. Try not to ever let meat sit in water, that’s a breeding ground for bacteria and it makes the meat taste watery.