Wild hogs..Ok to eat?

[superior]

We just bought a ranch in central Texas and I'm getting excited about the prospect of finally shootin a hog! I've had dreams lately of gunning one down with every conceivable wepon in my arsenal. ( using cb's only of course) But, the other day while I was supervising our fencing operations, a rancher pulled over to introduce himself and the subject quickly turned hunting. When I told him that I had an excellent breakfast sausage recipe; I wanted to shoot a feral hog to make a huge batch with it, he remarked " You don't want to eat those critters". He went on to say that they carried all sorts of diseases and that they wouldn't taste good even if you COULD eat them!! WTH?? I've read where many ppl have dined on the swine! He's been ranching there for 50+ years so I didn't want to risk being disrespectful ( and still don't) but what's the deal? Is he right or wrong?
The guide gun, sks paratrooper, 45colt blackhawk, .338 weather warrior, 110gv in .223, and 7mm 700bdl, lee enfield jungle carbine (real), and even the Glock23 are all on stand-by just in case one crosses my path!!!

[9.3X62AL]

I've partaken of sausage--ham--bacon--and roasts from local wild pigs (central CA coast), and it was SUPERB. Not fatty or greasy at all, and most toothsome.

[DIRT Farmer]

Remember those hogs are organic free range hogs. People at the up scale farmers market pay extra for that style of meat. Not that I have ever met an inorganic hog.

[stubshaft]

I've eaten hundreds of hogs and still haven't been able to tell what a disease tastes like.

[Gunfixer]

Welcome to the neighborhood! My freezer is full of wild hog. I have to agree with Stubshaft, I cant tell what a disease tastes like either. BUT I do know that hams, backstrap, ribs, et al all taste good

[tom threepersons]

It seems many of our "Urban Cowboys", would not eat any pork if it is not approved by Jimmy Dean.:smile:

[Lloyd Smale]

somes better then others. Ive had some that was excellent and ive tried a couple bigger boars that even after cooking the meat smelled like an outhouse at the park.

[LIMPINGJ]

All I have eaten have been excellent, but we only shoot smaller ones. Around 150 lb or less.

[chaos]

It seems many of our "Urban Cowboys", would not eat any pork if it is not approved by Jimmy Dean.:smile:

:bigsmyl2:

They dont taste like store bought swine, but then again the cattle that I've raised and had slaughtered dont taste as bland as store bought beef either. Maybe I dont feed 'em out the same?

I've eaten a few wild hogs. Two years ago, I put 14 of the smaller ones that we took up in the freezer. The rest, I gave back to nature. The sausage we make is pretty tasty, yet a little dry. I backstrap them like deer and grind everything else, for sausage, burger, tamales, tacos, etc... I've never had one with enough fat on it to even think of making bacon...not that I'd even know where to start out with curing a slab of bacon.

Big boars stink to high heaven and I wont touch a boar that's over 100lbs or so. I'll clean a sow of anysize. Lots of folks out here eat them, others WILL NOT. Everone out here kills every single hog they can get a slug into and I believe we have not put a dent in the population in the least bit.

Edited to add: I sometimes hunt a Friends place in East Texas. They boys out there suit up like they are entering a hazardous waste filled environment when they go to clean pigs. They flip out when I bare handed clean hogs. Claim Im gonna get the "Fever" or some such. They do eat the hell out of my sausage though.

[milsurp mike]

A Good Friend of mine just got back first of this week from hog hunting in Benjamin Texas first of last week.The wild pork is great from there.He keeps the small ones for the grill and grinds the Big ones for the smoked sausage.I dont know where you are located but the hogs from his area are greaaat.I think maybe the Rancher you talked to is probably sick of the pigs tearing up everything and hates them to the point of turning up his stomach.Enjoy em Mike

PS the place my friend hunts is selling Hog Hunts.A good way to make some CASH

[starnbar]

I have hunted hogs in central and north florida up in the okeefenokee since i was old enough to hunt with my dad 50+ years. Never got sick off any game we shot neither did any of my kids either. The secret is to thoroughly clean it and cook it properly and its as safe and better than what you buy in the store. I will use gloves to clean game but its easier for me to clean up afterwards too.

[HollowPoint]

superior:

Just to be on the safe side, I think it would be prudent if you were to properly pack and ship some of your successful hog harvests to those of us here on the cast boolits forum who are not so fortune.

We'll check it for you to make sure it's safe to eat. It may require additional testing and additional hogs if the first hogs you ship out taste suspicious.

Personally I'd prefer the younger more tender hogs but, we'll leave that to you generous digression.

Happy hunting Sir.

HollowPoint

[EMC45]

There are a problem in Ga. Big problem. No limit, no season. MGD45 here kills them and lets them rot. Called me several times to go get them and I couldn't get them, so they rot. I eat them like crazy too. I think they all stink when dressing them. I just dress and clean them well and cook thoroughly. I make Brunswick stew out of them. It all eats good to me.

[Bodydoc447]

I got one up here in the Texas panhandle and it made some pretty good Polish sausage and breakfast sausage. I had to add some fat back into the grind, though, cause it is very lean. Only way to tell if it is to your taste is to give it a try. And welcome to the neighborhood.

Doc

[spqrzilla]

The old boars can be good for nothing but fertilizer but the sows will be good eating.

[Blammer]

Pick a dry sow or a medium sized hog and you should have some good eating. If you shoot a big old boar, odd are he won't be worth the trouble.

[caillouetr9981]

Like most wild game, there are a lot of ways that can cause the taste of the meat-product to be ruined:

Choosing the game poorly (you DON'T want to try to eat an old rutting boar!);
Running the game before taking it (ideally, the game should be dead before it knows it's dying;
Failing to take the game quickly and cleanly;
Improper field dressing and butchering (especially, not knowing where the glands are!);
Failing to immediately cool and store the meat properly;
Poor cooking.

Barring those situations, you will find that wild pork tastes better than store-bought!

A quick aside: When field-dressing wild pig, it is HIGHLY advisable that one wears gloves (plastic or latex) as there are things on and in the pig that can be transferred via blood/fluids.

Reggie

[high standard 40]

I had some wild hog pot roast today for lunch stuffed with plenty of garlic. Very good. I have found the smaller pigs are the best. Old sows can be very tough so they're best as sausage material. The larger boars I kill here I usually donated to the local varmints and buzzards. They smell too bad for me to want to fool with them.
We also hear all the warnings here about diseases they carry. Cross infection comes from exposed cuts on your hands, not eating the meat. I've never heard of anyone local here getting sick from them.

But eat them or not, I try to kill every one of them I can because of all the damage they do.

[cavalrymedic]

Your rancher friend is talking about brucellosis and other diseases common to wild/ feral hogs. Problem is it's not really as common as one would think, and with proper handling and cooking, even an infected hog is safe to eat. It seems that some folks get an idea in their head and will hold to it religiously.

[Gee_Wizz01]

I grew up in South Texas and we are over run with hogs and try to kill every one we see. My Uncle, who has been ranching for over 60 years constantly tells me he would NEVER eat one of those nasty hogs. However, I constantly use them to make sausage and occasionally save out a ham for for roasts. Most of the old timers at home do eat them, but a few wont. Some of the boars smell so bad you will not even want to touch them, and I leave them for the coyotes. The smaller 80 to 120lb pigs sure are good eating. I shoot one that looks visibly diseased, I leave them. I look for large sores, missing hair, old bullet wounds, etc.

G

[superior]

It looks like the eaters have it! I'm sharpening my knives and getting my dishwashing goves ready. Now.... Of the guns that I shoot, hmmmm, which one shall I start with. I don't know a thing about hunting these critters, but I've read that they can be very dangerous if startled (especially if there are piglets present). I'm thinking something semi auto or perhaps the fast repeating guide gun. My wife says I should build a trap so I can feed one out. In any case, I'm definitely putting young hogs on the menu. Ah yes...breakfast sausage ground with the Kitchen-aid attachment with lotsof sage and some liquid smoke!

[Fishman]

Wild hogs are yummy! I just cooked up some ribs from a young sow I was given today. On the pit with mesquite wood. Delicious. The rest was made into breakfast sausage with some domestic back fat added to it. It too was very tasty.

Hogs have a great sense of smell but poor vision.

Coming to Texas you will probably have to get used to feeders. I think it is a requirement for residency or something. Very effective for hogs too.

[frankenfab]

Maybe the "Urban Cowboy" is trying to discuorage you because he wants to corner the market on the free range baby back ribs?
:bigsmyl2:

[Mustangpalmer1911]

I have not had Feral Hog YET. But several people I know have and say it was excellent. I plan on geting south to hunt some hog as soon as I can.

[tom threepersons]

Brucelloses is a disease that causes female animals to abort their young. I would not think this condition would hurt any hunters I know.:-o

[waksupi]

I believe trichinosis is the disease they are thinking of.

[Hamish]

Let the lead fly and paint the mothers PINK!! South Central Texas hog meat bad for you? Then I don't wanna be good! +1 on the under 150's being per- feck-shun.

[songdog53]

Older the boar stronger the scent of meat when cooked and they are good for taking tusks out about all...now sow or young pig are tasty and try cooking one in the ground. Makes for some good eating but with all pork got to cook it done due to trichinosis. WE got plenty here and they changed game laws where can hunt them at night.

[Just Duke]

All swine meat needs to be cooked very well as any store bought meat should. Pork most always harbors 18+ different parasites.
Shoot em and eat em. Winter might be your best time. But that's just me.

[Lee]

"poor vision" except when they charge straight for you !!! [smilie=l:

[Longwood]

A little something to ponder about hog meat.
Last year, I spent a week in the VA hospital. A 39 year old guy there told me that he had cooked a hog on a spit that they had raised themselves. The people at the party were impatient and had cut off parts of the most cooked pieces and ate it as the hog was cooking.
I don't recall how much later, he noticed his vision was getting all goofy to the point he had to have others drive him. After going to the hospital where he lived with no results, he went to the VA which was almost 100 miles away. They found that worms from the hog meat had worked their way behind his eye and eaten the nerve. The doctors told him that he was really lucky because they usually go for the heart and kill their host. They also said if he had waited much longer, they would have eaten into his brain. I guess blind in one eye ain't so bad but I doubt he will ever eat pork again..

[HollowPoint]

That's a terrible thing to have to deal with; especially when you like eating meat.

I've heard of terrible medical conditions befalling numerous other that had something
to do with consuming chickens, ducks, rabbits, hogs, deer, cattle, goats; you name it.

These things do happen but, so does getting struck by lightening and getting bitten by sharks.

Fortunately it's more the exception rather than the rule.

Reading about these kinds of things doesn't really make me want to stop eating meat. It just
make me want to be more careful about how it's prepared before I eat it.

HollowPoint

[Longwood]

I was raised on a farm and had heard about the pork issues since I can remember. I don't recall very many issues from cooking other animal meats. Could you please pass on some of your info?

[high standard 40]

I was raised on a farm and had heard about the pork issues since I can remember. I don't recall very many issues from cooking other animal meats. Could you please pass on some of your info?

Google "wild hog diseases" and you'll find plenty to read.

[Longwood]

Thanks but,,,
Not interested in wild hog diseases.
I was asking about all of the issues with other animal meats that HollowPoint mentioned.
I am an information hog, that's why Cast Boolits is such a good site. So much info on so many subjects here.

[CATS]

TAKE NOTE:
Yes you can eat it, BUT VERY WELL DONE to the BONE is the only way to serve it. The danger is real. That being stated I have and will eat wild hog any chance I get as long as it is cooked past the point of any doubt. This applies to bear also. Do the google thing then go blast away! Come back and let us know what you cooked with them!
CATS

[Reverend Recoil]

I brought some wild boar sausage to an office Christmas party. It was the first item to be eaten up.

[garbear]

Not to hijack the thread but what would it cost an out of state hunter to come and hunt them. I wish my state had wild hogs to hunt. I wouldn't mind stuffing my freezer full of meat.

[waksupi]

I doubt there is any disease you would catch from wild pork, than you can't from domestic. All needs cooked well. Certified pork has been frozen to a point where no organisms can live, so if you like rare pork, be sure it is certified.

As far as other meats, the university did some research on this a few years back. They found that a pound of venison from a healthy animal, can carry over 175 parasites. Don't eat your venison too rare, either!

[EMC45]

Not to hijack the thread but what would it cost an out of state hunter to come and hunt them. I wish my state had wild hogs to hunt. I wouldn't mind stuffing my freezer full of meat.



No, no you don't. Trust me.

[Ron.D]

I think Waksupi has it about right. The disease to be worried about is Trichinosis. Bears also get it, since they're relatives of pigs. We don't have pigs here (darn it) but I treat the black bears I shoot, just as I do chicken. Wash your utensils and cutting areas well and cook the meat thoroughly. No biggy, just reasonable care. Ron.D

[dualsport]

On a paid pig hunt in central California a few years ago we got 2 hogs. Turned out they were castrated. Something odd about that, but they were delicious. I think maybe the guide had a little thing going on.

[starnbar]

Well it's not just pigs that carry the trich, cats, rats, horses, dogs, and bears, wolves. If you happen to travel to the other side of the world a lot of the above animals are on the dinner plate. Deep fried rat on a bamboo skewer isn't too bad tastes just like squirrel. Just make sure you cook your game to get the internal temp up to 160.

[birddog 6]

http://www.texasboars.com/
This website has tremendous info about Hogs. Info on hunting them; how to prepare the meat of large boars to eat; shot placement; just about everything you want to know about hogs.

[randyrat]

I doubt there is any disease you would catch from wild pork, than you can't from domestic. All needs cooked well. Certified pork has been frozen to a point where no organisms can live, so if you like rare pork, be sure it is certified.

As far as other meats, the university did some research on this a few years back. They found that a pound of venison from a healthy animal, can carry over 175 parasites. Don't eat your venison too rare, either! Trichinosis (spelling?) is it. Your right about that one.
I need to stop eating Venison so rare I guess. I never knew there were that many in Venison.
Back to pork, wild hogs, i would be careful how you handle the meat and cook it good you'll be fine and fat. Don't cross contaminate cooking utensils and surfaces when it is in your kitchen.
Send me a plan ticket and I'll butcher, cook and help you eat your wild hogs any day.

[bearcove]

On a paid pig hunt in central California a few years ago we got 2 hogs. Turned out they were castrated. Something odd about that, but they were delicious. I think maybe the guide had a little thing going on.

Working partner is from west Texas and he doesn't eat them. Prefers venison but, he has some neighbors that catch them and castrate the boars, then feed them for a while. Its more like store bought pork acording to him.

[Longwood]

Working partner is from west Texas and he doesn't eat them. Prefers venison but, he has some neighbors that catch them and castrate the boars, then feed them for a while. Its more like store bought pork acording to him.
Does he give them the shots the domestic pigs get? They may be pretty costly but I would fel safer eating the meat.

[bearcove]

Don't know details. I doubt it, some they cut and let go. Shoot them later.

[pls1911]

Our approach is pretty easy.
If they're small enough to put in a 5 gallon bucket, throw 'em on the smoker.
Otherwise, they're feed for buzzards and coyotes.
Family killed 52 last weekend from helicopter, all they could find....More than last year!!!

Small ones or sucklings are the best.
Young sows can be very good. I won't smoke 'em but my brother's is outstanding.

[DrB]

I hunt hogs in south georgia, stalking. I've found them good to eat, though they won't taste the same as store ham (diet matters!).

Never done it myself, but some of the boys down there hunt with dogs... Some as bayers and some as holders. When they catch them they'll either cut the throats or hog tie and castrate them if they're big boars. Then they feed them out on sweet feed for a few weeks before they slaughter them. Supposedly you can get all the bad taste out of the boars this way, and add fat. Some will make pen traps and do the same.

+1 on sows being better tasting than boars when they get big... Over 150 or so those boars start tasting like they smell... and they smell like a badly kept gas station restroom on a hot summer day.

+1 on trich and hygiene, cooking

[dogbert41]

I haven't hunted boar before. My brother-in-law, an Aussie, hunted them in the Outback before the weapons ban. He used dogs and lost his favorite that way and quit.

He showed me some pens that people used to fatten up some of the hogs they catch. Germans aparently buy their wild hog meat like crazy. Seems like a good opportunity to make some money.

[Brl]

All good info here. I have to agree that wild hogs are great. They do make you have second thoughts when they are being skinned with that smell but that's just how they smell (not always though). Don't let that discourage you from eating it. They are fantastic.

If your unsure of one due to age and size...just put a good rub on it and smoke it low and slow for a while and it's great.

I actually pay to hunt hogs here in FL. Not very expensive and lets me do it year round. I like this place I go that is surrounded by tomato farms. We actually hunt the edge of the tomato fields. The meat from those hogs is amazing.