Wild hogs, can they be eaten?

[roundgunner]

I have seen some video’s of the wild hogs becoming a huge problem in the south. I saw a photo of dead ones stacked high. Can they be eaten? How come people aren’t hunting them like deer and filling the freezer? I understand that some places have shoot on site permission on these hogs. If the can be eaten, and someone has a farm with shoot on site, I would like to come down shoot a bunch and bring some ham & shoulders up here to give to the food banks around here for the upcoming holidays.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[HAWKEYE10]

I don't think I have eaten any wild hog. If I have eaten it
before I don't remember. I certainly would try it. That being
said I don't see why not eat it. We eat most other wildlife.
Don

 

[doublesharp]

You bet they can be eaten. The Glades County crackers catch em with dogs and pen them up to let them calm down. Feed them a little and then it's butcher time. Cook em slow, on a big trailer grill basting them with mojo and beer. Great eating!

 

[Xfuzz]

Yes., and it's very good.
Most Texas meat processors can slice and dice anyway
you want.
I take a couple each year...50-90 pounders.
Pan sausage, bacon, hams.....
We are overrun on my East Texas Lease.

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

I have killed a bunch of them. They are very good eating! They have little to no fat in the meat, so you have to be careful when cooking it not to burn it.

It tastes just like store bought pork, only it's much leaner. Most folks balk at the thought of eating one for some reason. I imagine they would do the same with regular farm pork if they looked at them much.

 

[Joni_Lynn]

Yes they can be eaten but it's probably best to wait until they're dead.

 

[cass]

Feral hogs are just pork. The ones under 150 lbs are the best eating - larger than that, and they get rank. I put one in the locker Sunday morning, and it will be just as good as store bought.

 

[2ninersavo]

Yeah, You can eat'em. If you want a treat make you some tamales out of them.29r

 

[ladder13]

The other white meat.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

The great big boars are best made into sausage, but the little ones, 60-90 lbs are wonderful. Use the liver and other pieces parts to make boudoin. Remember .....Pig is good and good for you.

 

[roundgunner]

Texas is a pretty long haul for a charity run, I’m hoping to find someone on the East Coast to say come to my farm and take as much as you can ice down, and you don’t even need a out of state hunting license.

If that is possible we could make some of these un/under-employed people up here a little happier this Christmas. If I would need an out of state license is it possible to get the land owner to shoot them and I would just distribute them?

 

[Cocked & Locked]

My most recently eaten wild pig...sausage, ribs, BBQ'd shoulder, back strap...all gone except for one shoulder still in the freezer.

Yes they are good. Not a lot of fat.

Good luck on your quest for a free hunt invitation...you are going to need it I would guess.

 

[Walther&Smith Man]

I guess you need to take a trip to the south soon, because in some areas you can hunt them year round.

 

[roundgunner]

I guess I watch too much TV and believe everything I see on the internet. I saw a video that had a guy shooting pigs and a stack that had to have over 20 that looked like it was going to just leave them lay.

I don’t hunt and really didn’t want to hunt them but I would if necessary. I just wish I could help the food banks and church charities. I really would prefer to drive down to GA or someplace within 800-900 miles one way, ice down the meat and get back to distribute it. My wife and I don’t have a lot of money but I’m looking for a unique way to try to help this year. People who have lost work around here end up working at the casinos when lucky, but start at $8.50 ph. That is a tough thing when most rents around here are $900 - $1100.

If anybody has one of the overrun farms and likes to shoot them / or even wants me to send ammo (30-06 or 300WBY) I will help clean them or help shoot them but that is not my intentions. Any help or thoughts please.

 

[TXSWFAN]

I killed a 300# a few weeks ago. Used the AR10 and NV/Thermal. He was fat. All the fat is right underneith the skin. The meat was almost as red as venison and just as lean. Ate some medalions that night, marinated a roast in Mojo and cooked it in the crockpot later that week.

It was fine eatin.

 

[Gary]

A lot of people here in Texas use them to make tamales.

 

[redlevel]

I really would prefer to drive down to GA or someplace within 800-900 miles one way, ice down the meat and get back to distribute it. My wife and I don’t have a lot of money but I’m looking for a unique way to try to help this year.

You need to contact JAGER. He is a retired Master Sergeant who ran the Army Marksmanship Unit at Ft. Benning. He is in the "thermal hog control" business. I think he says he has killed over 400 hogs in SW Georgia this year. You should come down here for a hunt. You could probably take a bunch of pork home with you. You could also probably make arrangements to just come pick up some meat. One of the threads on GON I have linked tells about his distribution of the meat. He has a deal with a processor. Anyone can pick up a field dressed and chilled hog for free (I think), or pay the processor $35 to quarter the hog. All you need is coolers and ice.

It might be too late for this year, but it might not. It would be worth your while to contact him.

As you will see from the threads, there is a lot of controversy surrounding his hunts. The hog doggers generally hater him. Look at some of those videos. It is amazing what he can do to a herd of hogs that are devastating a peanut or corn field.

Free Meat Donations - Georgia Outdoor News Forum

22 Hogs in One Night (Video) - Georgia Outdoor News Forum

Georgia | Wild Hog | Boar Hunting | at Night | Hunts | Outfitters

 

[wbraswell]

Roundgunner, that is one stunning pic. Around here, there is a program encouraging hunters to shoot feral pigs and bring them in to help feed the hungry.

 

[OKFC05]

Feral hogs are just pork. The ones under 150 lbs are the best eating - larger than that, and they get rank. I put one in the locker Sunday morning, and it will be just as good as store bought.

Friend shot one over 400#; had to pick it up in a frontloader to get it to the house. Had the butcher make the whole thing into spiced sausage.

I like the little ones for barbeque.

 

[Rangerpat]

I just returned from a muzzleloader hunt down here in Florida, I shot two sows, 95 and 122 lbs. They are the best eating size; I target young sows as part of our "feral swine eradication program". Last year our hunt club (75 members) shot 330 hogs, the year before 400. They reproduce very quickly, three litters a year with 5-8 piglets per litter.
Wild hogs carry swine brucellosis so you should always wear gloves when field dressing the animal. Swine brucellosis does NOT affect the edibility of the meat.
The big ol' rank boar hogs can be good to eat if you handle them properly. I quarter out the meat and put it in a cooler with plenty of ice and mix in water and a small box of baking soda. I soak the meat and drain off the water once a day adding more ice and water. You want to get all of the blood (testosterone is mixed in wit the blood) flushed out of the meat to get rid of the "gamey" taste; as others have said, you then turn them into sausage.
My wife would rather eat wild hog meat than deer meat, that's how good they can be.