Wild hog meat… do you eat it or is it too risky?

[thriller]

I have heard that wild hogs are great table fare. I have also heard they can be full of bad nasty things and should either be cooked to death or not eaten at all.

What does the group think?

They are fine to eat if you cook them. Wouldn’t suggest a carpaccio or anything like that.

 

[Flipper Dude]

Never shot a wild hog here in Texas that I didn’t eat and enjoy. I will say that some are better than others.

 

[mdwest]

Never shot a wild hog here in Texas that I didn’t eat.

You haven’t shot enough yet! lol

It is every Texans duty to shoot at least 10 hogs annually…

(Can’t possibly eat that much… )…

 

[Flipper Dude]

You haven’t shot enough yet! lol

It is every Texans duty to shoot at least 10 hogs annually…

(Can’t possibly eat that much… )…

You are right about that. I’m always in a tree with my little stick and string. Range is limited. And I’ll tell you, a pig is hard to kill with a bow. They are constantly moving, even when staying in the same spot.

 

[mdwest]

You are right about that. I’m always in a tree with my little stick and string. Range is limited. And I’ll tell you, a pig is hard to kill with a bow. They are constantly moving, even when staying in the same spot.

That’s actually one of my 2024 goals… I’m going to try hard to stick one with an arrow… I’ve never achieved that…

I’ve stuck at least a dozen and been present for a few hundred being stuck with knives and spears (we do an annual dog/knife hunt for them…)…

But still gotta get one with the bow

 

[thriller]

I have heard that wild hogs are great table fare. I have also heard they can be full of bad nasty things and should either be cooked to death or not eaten at all.

What does the group think?

keep fat young sows when the acorns are falling or just after the crops have come in. Not all hogs are created equal for cooking purposes and big trophy boars taste horrible for the most part. I love making schnitzel out of them.

 

[thriller]

That’s actually one of my 2024 goals… I’m going to try hard to stick one with an arrow… I’ve never achieved that…

I’ve stuck at least a dozen and been present for a few hundred being stuck with knives and spears (we do an annual dog/knife hunt for them…)…

But still gotta get one with the bow

Don't use expandable broadheads use heavier arrows and the vitals are low and forward. you will do fine but i have been charged a few times doing this. its a lot of fun though I just recommend having a handgun on your hip, because a bow is not a defensive weapon.

I shoot several every year with my bow its amazing how well they can stop an arrow with little penetration.

 

[BigSteve57]

They are fine to eat if you cook them. Wouldn’t suggest a carpaccio or anything like that.

This. Cooking. It'a thing LOL!
I have cooked & eaten eaten a lot of wild hog.
Here's how I wound up cooking them:

Trim lean. 8 hours in the crock pot on high in French onion soup made with powdered mix. I usually make about 2 packets worth. Obviously you can buy/use the soup pre-made. Then, once cooked dump the soup mix and replace with your favorite BBQ sauce as-is or seasoned to your taste. Then 1 more hour on low or enough time to heat the sauce; the hog is cooked by now.

Why French onion soup mix? I used to cook it in the bbq sauce but i didn't like the taste of the sauce as much after cooking and I dumped most of it anyway as it was full of fat. Maybe the fat is why I didn't like the taste. As for the soup mix, I find it a neutral cooking broth which obliterates any gamey taste. Dumping before adding BBQ sauce gets rid of fat which as I said I don't like. Finally it saves on BBQ sauce; onion soup mix is cheap LOL.

Bon Appétit!

EDIT night thermal sight hunt, added for street creds:

 

[flying sailor]

I have taken a small number of hogs in mid Florida. We quarter within the hour and then it's a cooler with ice for three days. This leaches out most strong tastes. process and into the freezer. CDC recommends 30 days. Cook to an internal temp of 155 or more. Most people ask where do I get such meat? Tell them I pick it out myself just out past where the buses don't run.

 

[mdwest]

Don't use expandable broadheads use heavier arrows and the vitals are low and forward. you will do fine but i have been charged a few times doing this. its a lot of fun though I just recommend having a handgun on your hip, because a bow is not a defensive weapon.

I shoot several every year with my bow its amazing how well they can stop an arrow with little penetration.

My plan is to use my “wildebeest” arrows… I built a couple of dozen 605gr sticks that I took to South Africa last year for heavier plains game… they’re tipped with single bevel 2 blade fixed broadheads.. I can get them up to about 255 FPS with my bow (Hoyt axius ultra)…

Probably overkill for most hogs… I got total
Pass through on a really big wildebeest back in July at about 20 yards with the arrow continuing for another 20 yards after it left the animal..

But I’ve got a bunch of them built and ready to go… so I figure I’ll give them a workout (assuming the pigs play along this year),,,

 

[Stephen Ausband]

I've killed a half dozen or so and been in on the killing of others. As I remember, all were eaten, and they were pretty good. We always cooked the meat thoroughly. A friend gave me some wild hog sausage a few weeks ago, taken from a pig that had been rooting around in the nearby swamps. It tasted like good breakfast sausage to me.

 

[tward1604]

My plan is to use my “wildebeest” arrows… I built a couple of dozen 605gr sticks that I took to South Africa last year for heavier plains game… they’re tipped with single bevel 2 blade fixed broadheads.. I can get them up to about 255 FPS with my bow (Hoyt axius ultra)…

Probably overkill for most hogs… I got total
Pass through on a really big wildebeest back in July at about 20 yards with the arrow continuing for another 20 yards after it left the animal..

But I’ve got a bunch of them built and ready to go… so I figure I’ll give them a workout (assuming the pigs play along this year),,,

It's not overkill. It's perfect. I've had them stop my very similar set up. Normally though that will zip right through them. Their vitals are low. I say that prematurely assuming you don't know that, forgive me if I am overstepping.

 

[thriller]

My plan is to use my “wildebeest” arrows… I built a couple of dozen 605gr sticks that I took to South Africa last year for heavier plains game… they’re tipped with single bevel 2 blade fixed broadheads.. I can get them up to about 255 FPS with my bow (Hoyt axius ultra)…

Probably overkill for most hogs… I got total
Pass through on a really big wildebeest back in July at about 20 yards with the arrow continuing for another 20 yards after it left the animal..

But I’ve got a bunch of them built and ready to go… so I figure I’ll give them a workout (assuming the pigs play along this year),,,

overkill is under rated. that will most likely punch through all the way giving you a better chance of not breaking your arrow in the process.

 

[Firebird]

I had this conversation with a veterinarian once concerning javelina and wild hogs. Tric is very rare in the USA which is fascinating because of the amount of domestic pork and products produced here-so more opportunities for it to exist and spread to and from wild populations.
I didn’t care for the flavor but readily admit I didn’t have enough experience with it to cook it properly. A smoker might have been a game changer for me. Kudos to those of you who know how to do it right!

 

[Flipper Dude]

overkill is under rated. that will most likely punch through all the way giving you a better chance of not breaking your arrow in the process.

Not that I’ve taken that many, but I’ve never recovered an arrow intact from a hog. That damn shield over their shoulders is no joke. I carry one arrow dedicated to pigs when I’m deer hunting. Fixed blade G5 without a Luminock. You can usually hear them coming and have time to swap arrows.

 

[thriller]

Not that I’ve taken that many, but I’ve never recovered an arrow intact from a hog. That damn shield over their shoulders is no joke. I carry one arrow dedicated to pigs when I’m deer hunting. Fixed blade G5 without a Luminock. You can usually hear them coming and have time to swap arrows.

I never did until I moved to a 650 grain arrow with 20% FOC with a single bevel broadhead then i shoot them at about 25yards and under. It doesn't make it through all of them but it does make it through most of them.

On a side note I saw one my dad shot in the shield stop a 6mm Remington. we killed it with a second shot. I assume something went wrong with the round and it was slow or something, but interesting to see.

 

[poco]

Love me some wild hog
have eaten 100’s and trapped and killed thousands
bbq ed , fried , sausage , pork chops , tenderloin, brown sugar ham
we take lots to the food bank and or local grocery stores parking lots to help folks out with free protein

 

[thriller]

Love me some wild hog
have eaten 100’s and trapped and killed thousands
bbq ed , fried , sausage
we take lots to the food bank and or local grocery stores parking lots to help folks out with free protein View attachment 594098

thank you for your public service

 

[SFRanger7GP]

I will put one or 2 young ones in the freezer sometimes if we have a good winter. Normally, I am shooting the oldest and gnarliest looking sows and loner boars, and they stink worse than a septic tank overflowing. I open them up with a machete and let the coyotes and pigs eat them. I have watched a sounder go into a feeding frenzy over a dead pig. That kind of stifles my urge to eat them. Mama doesn't want anything to do with them.

I was able to hunt some orange groves outside Indiantown, FL. Now those pigs were excellent table fare. From eating all the oranges, it seemed they were pre-marinated. We did enjoy those.

A lot of people ask me for a pig, and I always tell them no problem but all I will do is field dress it. They always want me to skin and butcher it as well. I do all that it goes in our freezer.

Will I eat them? Yes, and I have. Do I want to? Not really. At least not the Texoma pigs I am shooting.

Safe hunting

 

[Hillcountry63]

We shoot a bunch every year and cook'em all for the most part. Every now and then, we'll get one that has been fighting and is gamey from cut's/infection and we'll kick those off in a hole. My wife would rather have wild hog than any other game meet that I bring home. Our southern pigs are pretty lean for most of the year but fatten up good on acorns and palmetto berries in the fall. Best cookers are 80-100lbs.