Goin' hog huntin. Needs tips and recipes

[Balog]

In this thread, H&Hhunter made me a happy little Balog by letting me in on the fact that Arizona DOES, in fact, have a feral hog population! Forget the deer, I'm going hog huntin!

I'm thinking of using my Mossie 12ga w/ some 1oz slugs I've got. I need to do some more testing, but they've always been reliable in my gun and dead on for me, windage-wise. Would a 1oz soft lead slug moving at IIRC 1600fps do for a piggie, or will I need to borrow a rifle off of one of my friends? I'd really prefer to use my Mossie as I know it and am comfortable with it.

I'm gonna try to talk an older gent I know into going with me to show me the ropes. He doesn't get much chance to go hunting anymore, tho, so I might need to go it alone. Any advice or links about how to clean the porkers to keep 'em tasty?

Speaking of tasty, in keeping with my wife's request that I "shoot something she can cook" I need some good hog recipes. The little woman can already cook up a mean rack of ribs, but after that she has no idea about fixin pig. Any ideas?


And last but not least, any advice about how to actually go about putting a hurtin on Mr. Bacon instead of just taking my gun for a walk? I've looked at quite a few posts on THR about the subject. I'll be doing searches on TFL and the forums at HuntAmerica.com, but is there any advice you'd give a novice hunter?

Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[minnesota oldie]

Recipe:

Step 1. Shoot pig.

Then contact me for step 2.

 

[Sisco]

I've cooked hog on the grill or smoker but the best way involves digging a hole approx. 6' deep by 3' diameter.

 

[St. Gunner]

Balog,

I was out in Mesquite Nevada last year and hunted the Virgin River hogs, actually I just watched em, had no desire to blast one and figure out how to get it home to Texas when the freezer was already full. The first thing to do is find some ground along the Virgin river, then find an alfalfa field, walk that field and find a trail into the field with some hog prints, rounded toes, sorta blunted at the end. Next just put up a brush blind, you don't need much, just enough to mask movement when you pick the gun up. Set it up somewhere along the trail, from what I saw they move into the field just at dusk. I spent most of my time perched on a hill top glassing a couple different fields, all of them had hogs coming to them.

If you wait for a hot day, i'm sure you can find them laying around sloughs and stuff off the river, they have to have water to regulate their temp. Water and food are the way to find hogs, they worry about reproduction on the way to water and food.

As far as cooking it, I bone out alot of the meat and cut it into 1"x1" chunks and use it to make stir-fry. Use it just like normal pork, its just a bit drier, and out there it may be alot drier because they don't have as many vittles.

Have fun.

 

[twoblink]

Piece of pork about 4lbs.

1 can of peeled tomatos, 1 cluster of peeled garlic, 2 onions.. a couple of red peppers.
2 carrots and a couple of celery sticks and 2 potatoes.

Slice thin the onions..


Preheat the oven...
In a flat pan with a dab of oil, brown the onions until they are golden and soft.
remove and put on a BIG piece of aluminum foil. Or better yet, use multiple pieces.
Don't wash the pan.
Next, put pork on the pan, and brown both sides...
Remove from pan, and throw on top of the onions. Put some onions on top as well.
peel and dice up the garlic. Sprinkle on top and bottom of meat.
Dice up in about 1 inch pieces the carrots, celery, and potatoes.
Sprinkle the vegetables all around the meat.
Pour the can of tomatoes on top of everything.

Now tear a few pieces of aluminum foil, and wrap all that up really well. don't let any juices leak out.

Shove the package into the oven @ 325 for 4-6 hours. don't bother being exact, you can't go wrong. But at least 4 hours. I usually run the sucker for 8 hours, which mean I do it about 9am and gives me good dinner by about 5pm.

The onion juice acts as a tenderizer, and the slow heat means you will get a completely cooked piece of meat with it marinating in it's own juices.. Works best on the cheapest cut of meat you can find, or the toughest piece of meat. I do this with rump steak as well.

When you take it out of the oven, lift the package, and punch a small hole on the bottom and drain the juice into a sauce pan. About a teaspoon of corn starch in about 1/4 cup of cold water. Stir. Heat the sauce, and slowly stir in the corn starch. make sure you use low heat. Now stir stir stir, until it thickens. Remove from heat.

Open up the package. The meat should be cuttable with a business card. I know cause I actually tried it before.

Cut the meat and serve with the veges.. Pour some of that gravy sauce all over it..

Serves 4.