Question for hog hunters

[stiknstringer]

I've never tasted wild hog and never hunted them. Yesterday, a friend of mine in South Carolina killed a 250lb boar with a knife while the dogs held it's attention. When I made the comment that "I guess you'll have some good eating", he said the fellow he was hunting with, who is also a butcher, told him that boars weren't good to eat, just sows. Was he just giving a personal opinion?  

[Brock]

if it was run by dogs it might not be very good...same with every animal pumped full of adrenaline and lactic acid.  as a kid we would catch them with dogs...put them in a pen...throw corn to them and castrate....then butcher 3 months later.  Good bbq!

A boar that big likely wont be good alone but with some marinating....or some heavy smoke bbq it might turn out great.  If he was rank and in the rut chasing a hot sow....might be a little gamey.

I would try eating one shot with bow in calm state...but if run half way around the county by dogs and then killed up close by guy with knife....I am sure it is going to be a job to find something enjoyable to eat.  

Let me know how it goes if you try it...

[S. Brant Osborn]

What he said x2

[VictoryHunter]

I'm sure that cooking it just right would render it quite edible and even tasty!

[pdk25]

One of the biggest myths going. For a big old one, soaking in saltwater for a day helps, but I have eaten 3 boar over 250#(and a couple of sows around that heavy), and they all were delicious. Doesn't mean you couldn't get a rank one, but that would be the exception around here, rather than the rule.  The hogs around here have good access to agricultural property, and eat pretty well.  A big swamp hog might be different. I would have volunteered to dispose of it.

[SKITCH]

Hey Patrick.....I'm in Tulsa.  Do you happen to know any good hog spots somewhere close to Tulsa or at least somewhere between me and you??

I appreciate it.

Patrick Gibble
Tulsa

[Caughtandhobble]

Brock pretty much nailed it. If a hog is worked up they are going to be less tasty than one who was calm when it met it's maker. I have had a worked up young sow taste terrible that I caught with dogs.

On the other hand if a big boar is taken out quickly, while relaxd they can taste OK. I always try to cook a piece before it becomes dog food.

As far as salt, don't ever do that if you're going to make sausage. The salt will add to the curing and will wreck otherwise good sausage, I have the tee-shirt. I like to soak any wild game in salt water as long as no sausage will be made.

[michaelschwister]

Intact boars over about 200# have a smell and taste to the meat called "BOAR TAINT" . The bigger they get the more they taste like they were soaked in buck lure.  Huge old Domestic breeders are worth about $25 and only used in pepperoni (I can taste the taint in pepperoini pizza).  A $250 pounder boar might be able to be used in a spicey sausage if you are lucky.  For eating we go for 75-150#s.

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

Skitch, you need to get out to Heyburn.  

I don't add the salt but I'll soak the meat in a trough with ice and keep adding ice till the water runs clear.  I've done this with hogs that were sleeping when they were killed and I've done this with trapped hogs that were going bananas when they were kilt.  

I've never tasted a bad hog that I processed.

[SKITCH]

Thanks VG...ill do that. That was supposed to be a PM.  OOOPS.  Did not mean to hijack!  Appollogies to all. (But ill still take the advice! ).

[pdk25]

Originally posted by michaelschwister:
Intact boars over about 200# have a smell and taste to the meat called "BOAR TAINT" . The bigger they get the more they taste like they were soaked in buck lure.  Huge old Domestic breeders are worth about $25 and only used in pepperoni (I can taste the taint in pepperoini pizza).  A $250 pounder boar might be able to be used in a spicey sausage if you are lucky.  For eating we go for 75-150#s.

So Michael, maybe your taste buds are more sensitive than mine.    If you can taste boar taint in pepperoni pizza, I suspect there might be a hint of it in your garden salad, too.

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

I've ate a lot of hogs, most had their testicles attached...the ones that didn't, were sows.  I've never bit into a pig and said, "Tastes like taint to me."

The only odd tasting pig I've ever ate had a big open cyst looking thing on its back.  And that tasted like soured meat...not this taint stuff.

[Paul_R]

They make great dog food! Seriously my dogs love 'em, the nastier the better.

[Terry Green]

I've killed a few big boars....never experienced a 'rank' one.

They all made great sausage.

But I have heard about rank smelling hogs.

[m midd]

I killed a 180# sow a few years ago and it was the best breakfast sausage i have ever eaten. The chops were so stout smelling i couldnt eat them. Maybe something happened at the butcher, dont know.

[beaunaro]

Guys ask us this question all the time. "Are the big boars good for sausage only?"
I'm sure everyone's taste buds are a little different, but personally, I've never experienced the tainted taste.
I do put my meat on ice and keep draining the water, and keep adding ice till the water runs clear, then process it.
My partner Jim, has a brine made with part sugar, part salt, that he claims will make any hog very edible if there is any question.
IMHO it's just too good of meat to waste.
Irv Eichorst
 www.truesouthadventures.com

[beaunaro]

Guys ask us this question all the time. "Are the big boars good for sausage only?"
I'm sure everyone's taste buds are a little different, but personally, I've never experienced the tainted taste.
I do put my meat on ice and keep draining the water, and keep adding ice till the water runs clear, then process it.
My partner Jim, has a brine made with part sugar, part salt, that he claims will make any hog very edible if there is any question.
IMHO it's just too good of meat to waste.
Irv Eichorst
 www.truesouthadventures.com

[RC]

I`ve killed boars I could not eat that were noticably rank when I walked up to them on the ground. A lot of people can eat them and don`t "notice" the smell and some can`t eat them. I can tell you while skinning one if its one I gotta give away.Coastal hogs are worse. I am talking about boars not sows. I`ve never killed a rank sow. Its all in the "marbles".
  To me its nothing to do with tough or chewy or taste. Its the smell. If you try to cook one of these mature rank boars from the coast in the house your wife will make you throw it out before it gets done. Has happened here.
  If you`ve never killed many big boars you may think thats just how they smell. Thats why I choose to shoot the 60 pounders myself.RC

[Kip]

We use to keep a small fry pan near the skinning rack.Cut a little piece of ham meat near the nads and fry a small piece if it smells like Robert was talking about and you will know very fast quit skinning get rid of it and only do the frying outdoors.We try to shoot only sows and in the 80-100 lb. range for the best eating.Kip

[Terry Green]

I never make sausage out of sows unless I'm out or nearly out.  Then I'll allocate some for sausage.  That 300pluser I shot w Ray was yummy....I kept shoulders n all straps...and had hams sausaged.

BTW.....she smelt like 300#s of sweet feed.