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hog processing?If you pay anything at all! Unfortunately I neither have the skill, time, place nor inclination to butcher my own hogs and was wondering what do you consider a fair price that YOU would pay?<BR>What do you get?<BR>Say a 200 lb hog, on the hoof. How much do you expect to get in ham, bacon, sausage, etc. What kinds of cuts?<P>I am asking because I will be going on my first hog hunt and if and when I get one, I want to seem somewhat knowledgeable on what types of "cuts or processing" I should ask for and what to expect.

Blammer:<P>I don't claim to be any kind of a hog expert, having just killed my first one, but around here, it costs about $40 to $50 to process a deer and a hog should be about the same I would guess. I almost always process my own game so am not sure. In Texas, as I understand it, most places that can process a deer cannot do a hog, since it is a possible domestic animal and the meat is not inspected. This is second hand, but I think it is correct. Probably different in your area. <P>Be sure that you gut him out and get him cooled off quick or you won't have to worry about it.

yea, guttin and cooling off is not a problem, done it plenty with other game. I just won't have the space or time on my guided trip to process my own. the guide recommended a good place to get my hog processed, will probably go there. Just trying to gain some info so I don't look completely stupid when talking to the meat processor. [img]images/icons/laugh.gif" border="0[/img] Fortunately in my older age I have discovered the virtue of silence and listening! [img]images/icons/cool.gif" border="0[/img]

I can't answer your qustion directly as I do my own game. Here in Texas a whole lot of processors will not accept a wild hog. They can carry so many diseases and the Public Health Dept is so spooky that the rules about cleaning after processing cost the processor more than he can make by doing them. I don't know about your area of course but you might want to check around and see if hogs will even be accepted.<BR>BCR

Wild hog doesn't lend itself to processing into the same cuts as a domestic hog in my opinion.As Boggy says,there are some shops that can and do process them but many won't.I paid to have one cut up,wrapped,and frozen 10 or 12 years ago and was disappointed in the results.It was as good a feral hog as you will find,but when I tried frying up some pork chops,the whole house emptied except for me and one dog- he never had much of a nose-and the ham was worse.<P>I usually have sausage made from one each year.You will need to add fat from a domestic hog to get the best results.Other than that,I cook the hogs on a grill in big chunks.<P>Unlike deer processing which is done on a per head basis,the places here charge per pound for wild hog and a 200 pounder-field dressed weight- will cost 100 to 150 bucks cut,wrapped,and frozen.

Up to about 4 years ago the locker I used would take a wild hog anytime. Then they switched to only during the wild game season. Said they could treat them like game and keep them separate from the other meat. Like Gene, I had one "cut-up" once. It was a 240 lb young boar that had been caught in a trap sometime, cut, and turned loose. The meat didn't smell but it was just so lean that it was difficult to cook well. I'm used to cooking lean game like deer/elk and was really terribly disappointed in the chops/ham, etc.<P>Gene's description is what I see most everyone in central TX doing. Ever since, I have cut mine into roasting size chunks (quarters on a small hog) or go to sausage. They can roast pretty well in large chuncks on a grill or in a pit.

A Texas friend sends us a wild hog now and then, usually one of 50 pounds or so. He cuts them into about 6 pieces; hams, shoulders, rib cages. We roast them and find it to be excellent. I've also used meat from larger hogs to mix 50:50 with Sitka black tail deer for sausage with complete satisfaction. Ol Grouch

Wild hogs are like carp. Stick with the small young ones and you won't have any trouble.

Blammer,<BR>Save yourself $150 bucks and just quarter it up and place it in a large cooler with ice and plenty of salt. Keep it iced for three or four days and then freeze it when you get home. I save the backstraps for Pork Chops but everything else gets pressure cooked in big chunks anyway.Have fun...Littlebit

Well, ole "no" got his education about hog this year. Killed a deer at Boggys and his son gave me a pig, hauled them both to Tyler and had the locker grind them both for sausage. I can't eat it and dog won't either. When we thaw it out,it was fully smoked,(cooked), and it is covered with fat residude all over the outside,(link), they were not to add any fat. Last time they processed a Colorado deer for me the sausage was great, don't know what they did different this time but won't do that again. Any more it's cheaper, easier to process your own where possible. That way you know you have what you started with. -- no