Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Pig preps for eating

On the 29th I leave for a central TX pig hunt. This is a low budget - hunting at a buddy's ranch - type hunt.
I have been told sows taste better than boars - is this true??
My plan is to take 4 sows and 1 boar as food is my main reason for hunting. The good news is that I pull a refer trailer and will be able to maintain 28*-34* all the way back to WY.

A few rookie questions:
After field dressed do I skin them out the same way I would a deer/elk/antelope?
My friend says the daytime temps are 60* and nights slightly cooler - do I put them in the refer trailer right away or let them hang for a day? I have no way of hanging them in the trailer. Once in the trailer they will be laid on a pallet.
I am not interested in pickling the feet, eating organs or the tongue. Are there any parts that are not normally eaten on a deer, that are especially good from a pig?
I am told that there is not much bacon on wild hogs.

Any other tips to keep the meat in good shape are appreciated.

He says most shots will be around 60-75 yds with an opportunity for a 200 yd shot. I have several guns that have no blood on them and would like to get them all bloody.
I plan on taking:
760 Pump Carbine in 308
Husky 6.5x55
Marlin 356 Win
Super Redhawk 44
Desert Eagle 44

I have yet to find a hog that didn't taste great boar or sow! I have "heard" if you can smell them before you get to them than they will be "bad"?

Clean them like a deer, get the guts out ASAP especially in warmer weather. Get them on ice and cooled down quickly.

Good luck on your hunt!

If you see any "abnormal" amount of external parasites, or if parasite so up in the internal organs-intestines, general run, down diseased condition,walk away pitch it fast and go get another one. Most are o k some shouldn't be eaten on a bet. Most biologist's here pile and compost the trappings so no one can get to them!!!!!!

I'd like to hear more about the refer trailer!

Semi trailer or something smaller?

Not an expert by any means, but some general things I have found on various hog hunts.

I was always told the sows taste better than boars and a younger hog (50 pounder) is going to be better tasting than an old and heavy hog. What I have found is that a 200 pound boar can taste just as good as a 50 pound sow as long as you clean it properly (pretty much true of any game meat).

Three biggest things I believe contribute to good tasting meat are:

1. Get the meat off the carcass as fast as possible.

2. Let the blood leach out of the meat. To do this, just throw them in a cooler of ice water for a few hours/overnight.

3. Trim off any brown spots from the meat as well as any silver/sinew before freezing. Vacuum sealing before freezing is even better if you are able.

4. Don't overcook the meat! I will either use a slow cooker for something like lechon asado or pulled pork, or, if I am grilling it, I will only cook it to about medium.


Wild hog meat is great, one of my favorites, and I prefer it over pork from the grocery store. Using the above mentioned tips I have always enjoyed any size hog I have shot as have friends who would have normally left the hog I'm serving them for the crows.

For kicks, this is lechon asado (Cuban Roast Pork) made using a 200 pound boar. Tasted awesome, paired with garlic bread, black beans and quinoa (wife's idea, traditionally it's rice).

Unless you have a reefer, there is no need to rent one.

I have never eaten a wild hog over 200 lbs. Boars and sows eat just fine, as long as they are in good shape. Look for the same things you do when you clean a deer. I was told you could cut a small sample of the meat and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds. If it smells ok, it is ok. I just heard this the other day, so I havent tried it.

Take ice chest and cut the hog up into backstraps, tenderloin, ribs (if you want them), shoulders, and hams. Ice them down with the plug installed for 24 hours, then pull the plug, and drain all the water. Leave the plug out, tilt the ice chest where it will stay drained, and keep the meat iced down. Make sure nothing plugs up the drain hole... the meat will sour if kept in water.

You can keep the meat a week or more this way. Just like putting it in a cooler with a misting system.

I have quit gutting hogs. I shoot them regurarly on a friends place. I cut the quarters off and cut out the backstraps. The rest go to the buzzards. Skin the quarters after you leave the field and then age as you feel necessary.

One thing to remember is to ALWAYS wear gloves to work with hog meat. Some percentage of them carry bruecellosis and you DO NOT want to get it. The porcian Bruci. virus will live up to 48 hours after the hog dies so wear gloves to work up the meat if that is sooner than 48 hours after pig death.

I don't need to rent a reefer. I will be towing one down there and bringing it back.
Thanx for all the tips.

What Oldman03 says!

We always drain our pigs!

My personal rule of thumb for an eatin' pig is if I can pack it up with one hand, shoot it! Sometimes I'll go a bit bigger, mebbe 40-50 lbs, but I can still get job done with a .22!

Good luck and have lots of fun!

You better fully cook it or get a case of too many diseases to list. Complete cooking really helps. Had to clean too many traps over the years, now I love to see them in the compost heap. Good luck and learn as you go !!!!!

The sows I have shot have always been fine. Ditto young boars. I shot one young boar that was probably 175 lbs, and he tasted fine, just tough as a damn boot. Still tough after 20 hrs in the slow cooker!

You won't believe how good a 20 lber is!

Boars over a 100 we generally drag to the gut pile. Sows are preferred, but smaller boars can be very good.

You won't believe how good a 20 lber is!

20-30 pounder-- split down the middle and cooked on a caja cooker or grill... Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

It's absolutely a different pork and a tenderness like nothing else.

Lucky guy to hunt some pigs!
That Marlin 356Win ought to be a great exterminator.

Kill, bleed if possible, quick boil if possible, scrape off the hair, gut, clean up with water, and chill. Work up chilled hog at one's leisure. Working up hot pigs is a pain in the ass.

Myself I like to shoot sows leaning towards upper two digits -80-90lbs. ,, still easy enough to handle and you get a good amount of meat .
At our lease if you get them coming in then kill one they won't come back for a while . I guess they send out a group text or something . A small pig doesn't have much meat and you might have an empty freezer for a while with a small one .

I like to fillet them hanging head up -makes for cleaner skinning of the pig .
No scientific proof but I think cutting up a pig immediately makes them a bit tougher than they'd be if left whole and aged for 2-3 days .

Good luck .

Best size meat hog, IMO, is one in the 80-90 lb range. I like to gut, skin, and quarter, and freeze the quarters. For eating, I thaw a quarter, then brine it for 24 hours with a salt and apple juice solution. I then apply a rub made up of various spices and put back in the fridge overnight before cooking.

I put the quarter on my Weber cooker, with a smoke box full of soaked mesquite wood chips. I use a meat thermometer, cook on the grill using indirect heat, until internal temp has reached 195 degrees.

Result is some very tender and tasty wild hog!

Bart, stay below 125lbs for eating. Get the darn hide off as soon as you get back to camp...then chill it w/ice. powdr

I usually stay at about 100lbs if I can get it.