Our First Hog

[hobbeeman]

Got our first hog the other day, did not want to miss so my son and I counted down 3, 2, 1..BOOM! Hog went about 30 yards and fell over.
I recovered 2 bullets from the hog while cleaning it...both entered the chest on the right side, about 3 inches apart! My son was shooting an older Savage 30.06 with an old Ultralux 3-9 scope and I was using a nice new Weatherby Mark V .308 with a Swift 8-32 (x50?) scope, both were set on the lowest magnification, just like we'd practiced.

We had been to the range two days before, sighting in my handloads for both of our rifles at 200 yards, and it really paid off for us. This piggy was at about 175 yards about 30 minutes after we could no longer see the sun in the canyon, and weighed in at over 300lbs, yeilding about 125 lbs of meat cuts and sausage. I have already tried the sausage and it was the mildest tasting meat I have brought home.

I attribute this excellent flavor to several factors: shot placement did not rupture any intestinal contents; the pig did not run far after being shot; I carefully cleaned the hog without puncturing the bladder or stomach or bowel; and we had it on ice within 2-3 hours after shooting it. We had to keep it on ice over Sunday, because our processor was not open, but we kept the ice from melting with the truck parked in the shade (and the temp that day stayed in the 70's).

I was surprised by the amount of fat on this hog. The processor was actually able to trim around the bullet holes and get us about 4 lbs of bacon.

We had a great weekend, with our pig, 2 jakes and one nice Tom.

FYI: Wild turkey is awesome, fried with a little flour, salt and pepper! Even the giblets!

 

[hoghunting]

Nice hog, congratulations. I have also cleaned and processed hogs that weigh almost 300 lbs, and the meat was very tasty. I have also shot some that were well over 300 lbs, and even with a lung shot, the stench was unbearable.

 

[jc89]

nice boar! those are some tusks to keep, for sure. is the meat on a 300lb boar still tender? ive heard you want to keep a boar under 100 lbs for good flavorful meat because boars get more scent glands as they get older.

 

[Dksimon]

Thats a nice looking hog, the birds arent bad either. good going!

 

[qajaq59]

Well done.
Now start looking for some good recipes and have a grand old barbecue.

 

[hobbeeman]

This boar did not look or smell like the other boars that I have seen taken off our lease in the past 2 months. This one looked like one that came off a farm, not that WILD look (except for the tusks?). Someone on our lease wondered aloud if indeed it was a true FERAL hog, one that escaped from a local farm. But whatever the circumstance, it is indeed tasty.

Since I did not skin this animal, I never saw the scent glands under the skin.
What makes these glands secrete? Perhaps this pig was not old enough or frightened enough or....?

 

[Nathanael_Greene]

Nice hog! I've been feasting on feral hog lately--pork tamales and roast pork. As far as I'm concerned, all my big-game hunting will be for hogs.

Dollar for dollar, it's the best hunting out there, and the best-tasting game.

 

[Harley Quinn]

Since I did not skin this animal, I never saw the scent glands under the skin.
What makes these glands secrete? Perhaps this pig was not old enough or frightened enough or....?

Testosterone is what you are smelling in older boar. Younger boar don't smell as bad.
The odor of adreneline might be something you are talking about also.
The pig I'll be getting in a few months will be around 250 pound range.

Barrow are the best tasting for sure.

http://www.nps.gov/archive/nace/oxhi/swinei.htm

This one will be from the County Fair

 

[MCgunner]

Big'en. Over 200 lbs around here and they get a bit gamey. There's only pasture around my place for miles and miles, though. I think grain fields help a lot, diet more'n anything else.

Plenty of meat on that rascal. Glad I didn't have to skin it, probably had a pretty good gristle shield.

 

[koja48]

Good job! Had I known of the opportunity when I was near the "Cadillac Ranch" several years ago, I would have taken a gun to Palo Duro . . . color me green with envy.