Pig Hunting

[dlh]

A mama hog will have a litter of 4 to 8---of which 12 will survive.

Couple years back I downed a hog with my .243. When I got to the hog it smelled so bad I turned around and walked off. Let the buzzards eat it.

[kayt00]

I'm jealous, I took to hog hunting last year as a way to practice for a deer hunt my lovely wife and brothers helped pull together. Pounded the mud a bit out and around lake Lavone but no sight of the piggies, a ton of sign though including tracks that looked like they belonged to a large calf or small cow. To the best of my knowledge cows don't like thick wetlands and are a herding animal...not solitary. Anyway I never did get an arrow in flight for a pig but slaughtered a few bunnies.

[Grundy1133]

Is the meat from a wild hog that big, edible?

That is not a big wild hog.

Yes but the answer needs some explaining.

Boars or sows up to 100-125 lbs are both great table fare. The small ones can be smoked/roasted whole.

With the bigger pigs especially boars,you need to do a few things to make sure the meat is edible.

First, kill them quickly. If they get upset, their fight or flight kicks in the hormones released will make the meat more gamy, especially boars.

Second, Dress and clean them ASAP, especially in warm weather. Get the meat cooling. Big boars need a little extra attention during cleaning.

Third, place the meat quarters in an ice chest covered with ice. Allow the melting ice to drain. Wash the meat off and the tainted water from the chest once a day and cover with ice. Do this for 5-7 days especially with the big ones. This removes a lot of the blood and lessens the gamey taste.

Cut it up, freeze it. Make sausage. Grill it. Smoke it. Use it just like hamburger. It needs extra fat since wild pork is leaner than domestic. Adding beef or pork fat makes it taste better.

I've never been a fan of wild hog meat... my meat of choice is venison. deer chili deer jerky deer burgers deer sausage... oh baby....

[anygunanywhere]

Is the meat from a wild hog that big, edible?

That is not a big wild hog.

Yes but the answer needs some explaining.

Boars or sows up to 100-125 lbs are both great table fare. The small ones can be smoked/roasted whole.

With the bigger pigs especially boars,you need to do a few things to make sure the meat is edible.

First, kill them quickly. If they get upset, their fight or flight kicks in the hormones released will make the meat more gamy, especially boars.

Second, Dress and clean them ASAP, especially in warm weather. Get the meat cooling. Big boars need a little extra attention during cleaning.

Third, place the meat quarters in an ice chest covered with ice. Allow the melting ice to drain. Wash the meat off and the tainted water from the chest once a day and cover with ice. Do this for 5-7 days especially with the big ones. This removes a lot of the blood and lessens the gamey taste.

Cut it up, freeze it. Make sausage. Grill it. Smoke it. Use it just like hamburger. It needs extra fat since wild pork is leaner than domestic. Adding beef or pork fat makes it taste better.

I've never been a fan of wild hog meat... my meat of choice is venison. deer chili deer jerky deer burgers deer sausage... oh baby....

I made some bulk wild pork breakfast sausage from the 200+ lb wild sow I killed last November. It is excellent. I too like venison but wild pork has its place in my diet too.

[Pawpaw]

I'm jealous, I took to hog hunting last year as a way to practice for a deer hunt my lovely wife and brothers helped pull together. Pounded the mud a bit out and around lake Lavone but no sight of the piggies, a ton of sign though including tracks that looked like they belonged to a large calf or small cow. To the best of my knowledge cows don't like thick wetlands and are a herding animal...not solitary. Anyway I never did get an arrow in flight for a pig but slaughtered a few bunnies.

Actually, it's not at all uncommon for one to wander off by itself, especially a cow that is trying to hide her new baby.

[Lynyrd]

Just killed 9 more from my trap today. That brings me to somewhere around 40 so far in 2018. My freezer is full and nobody will come get the free meat if they have to gut, skin, and butcher it. They would take it if it was cut up and in packages. I ain't doing that for free.

[anygunanywhere]

Just killed 9 more from my trap today. That brings me to somewhere around 40 so far in 2018. My freezer is full and nobody will come get the free meat if they have to gut, skin, and butcher it. They would take it if it was cut up and in packages. I ain't doing that for free.

Pigs aren’t hard to clean. Get those lazy meat eaters clean their own stuff.

[Grundy1133]

Just killed 9 more from my trap today. That brings me to somewhere around 40 so far in 2018. My freezer is full and nobody will come get the free meat if they have to gut, skin, and butcher it. They would take it if it was cut up and in packages. I ain't doing that for free.

Pigs aren’t hard to clean. Get those lazy meat eaters clean their own stuff.

more like get the lazies to go hunt kill clean and process their own meat lol.

[kayt00]

Actually, it's not at all uncommon for one to wander off by itself, especially a cow that is trying to hide her new baby.

But I haven't seen any other livestock out there, not that I'm looking for that when pig hunting. I'll entertain the idea that it could indeed be a mama swamp cow protecting her calf out there, but I tend to stay more alert thinking there's a gigantic hog waiting to jump me at the next stream crossing.

[rotor]

Just got a thermal scope. Haven't tried it yet. Nothing hides from thermal.

[TomV]

I had a 4 lb ham from a 70lb pig I shot back in the spring.

I followed the directions from amazingribs.com to create a picnic ham. It soaked for 9 days in a brine solution and then 6 hours on the smoker finished with a home made mustard BBQ sauce.

It fed 6 and there wasn't a scrap left.

[rotor]

Awesome. Can you please describe details about that. What was the budget & which kind you got? Which one you prefer for hunting at night. Though I have got some awesome in-depth article (Related Hunting Scopes) from different hunting blogger/author. Still practical and personal recommendation preferable!

The main concern between thermal scope and night vision gun scope. Also, what about the latest generations? Is that too expensive!

Got a Flir PTS 233. Thermal can be used night and day. No extra source of "lights" needed (IR sources). There are a bunch of youtube vids you can watch. This scope is rock solid and entry level price (just under $2k). Records video but not sound. I am happy with it. Previously had an ATN x-sight but I didn't like it. Flir and Pulsar are the only ones in my price range that I would buy. It is very easy to spend much more than I did but my shooting distance is less than 100 yards. Flir meets that standard for me.

Edit The article you referenced is not up to date. My argument with ATN is that their eye relief was very bad for my vision. LoneStarBoars on youtube has a good discussion.

[der Teufel]

Since hogs don't tolerate heat well at all, they're generally nocturnal during the warm months. A light at a feeder can work pretty well, but a night vision or thermal weapon sight certainly offers more flexibility. Prices range from a bottom of maybe $2K up to $9-10K at the high end for consumer stuff. It's really amazing what you can see with thermal, although it doesn't make hogs magically appear. The first rule of successful hog hunting is that the hogs have to show up.

Here's a video I made of a night stalk earlier this year —

[jason812]

This is from my buddy from fall harvest to spring planting. This isn't all the pigs he shot. He farms 1000 acres of corn and cotton on the Brazos River. It's a lot of fun to go with him and one day, I might have my own thermal so I don't have to borrow his or another buddy's to go out. I'm the second dude in the video with the camo shirt.

He has an awesome setup. Took a remote controlled light that has suction cups to mount to the roof of the cab and put a Flir Boson camera in place of the light. Took the console out and made a 2 gun rack with a mount for the monitor that's connected to the camera. All you do is drive through the fields scanning and looking for a hot spot. He took the game warden out with him one night and GW was impressed and jealous cause my buddy had better toys than the GW. He's used the thermal camera to catch people playing in his fields. They never knew he was there.

[AdioSS]

I’ve noticed hog activity in my front yard recently. I even saw them there when I’ve gotten home late, but they scattered when I pulled in the driveway. Well, the other night around 3:45 my dogs were pitching a fit, so I peeked out the window to see several in my front yard. I grabbed my MAK90 that’s loaded with 154gr soft points & has a weaponlight. Went out in the driveway to get clear sightlines (sure didn’t want to hit my truck!), took aim at the middle of the group & popped off a few shots. Most scattered, but this sow was down making lots of noise. I put another couple into her until she shut up.

Anybody want to give a guesstimate on her size?


And here’s the damage from the rest of the group.