No hog scavengers in Georgia

2

22magnum22

Well-known member
Spurchaser posted about dead feral hogs not being consumed in his area of Georgia and wanted opinions as to why they are eagerly consumed in other areas of the country. I cannot give a definitive answer but I have killed quite a lot of them here in southeast Oklahoma and they do not last long as buzzards, crows, coyotes and other hogs arrive very soon to begin the feast. Oh yes, I had a first time view of a young bald eagle eating on my last hog kill. I will post a picture of a young sow carcass that was shot on an afternoon hunt and I returned to that area the next morning (around 9:30) and not much left of her.
Maybe some of you other swine hunters can chime in with your obse
1768777098054.png
rvations, especially you Texas guys, I hear you have a few hogs down your way!:giggle:
 
It's interesting to me as well. I have read where some say that even their dead coyotes get eaten by other coyotes. I can honestly say that in every case of a dead coyote I know of, the only thing that will consume them is, bugs, maggots and Turkey Vultures. I mean there may be something else, but I haven't witnessed it.
 
From Texas,,, I have wounded a hog and witnessed other hogs turn on it and eat it while still alive. When I kill one, depends on what the landowner wants. 1, take the carcass to a specific area and I do my work on it. Leave it lay? That almost never happens. After moving hog or hogs to specified spot, I run my knife down the backbone. Edge facing outward. Then skin enough to expose the back straps and one ham. Sometimes I make a cut exposing the shoulder or at least part of it. Why? Birds can't get through a hogs hide very easy. And coyotes can see and smell an easy meal. You say but I really don't know of any buzzards or Turkey vultures in my area. Then split the stomach open. Coons will take care of this.
Did this once in the Edwards mountain area and a little later,,, maybe 1-2 hours it was gone. Stripped to the bone? NO It was Gone!!! Mountain lion took it. I would not have thought that.
During guiding hog hunts in south Texas, a man shot a pig at about 11:00 pm near the ranch road. I drug it off and left it next to a tree line. The next day, Before sunrise, I took the hunters out to their perspective blinds. The land owner said we needed to go ahead and move the carcass to the bone pile. I replied that I would get it after breakfast along with the mornings take. I didn't want to make an extra trip. As we gathered everyone for breakfast, we headed past the carcass. I made the comment that if I did the skinning routine on the animal, I would come back after breakfast to see the results. The landowner was still skeptical, of all this. Quickly did the magic and right at 2 hours, myself and the landowner, came back to retrieve the carcass. No less than 30 Turkey Vultures were on it, and it was almost clean bones. Course the head was still intact. But it was a light haul. When I have done this it makes a good bait pile for coyotes and coons at night. Birds will work it in daylight.
Try it and let me know how it works for you.
 
A good detailed report Cherokee. I know that buzzards or crows are usually first on a carcass and they will focus on shot location (blood) the eyes and the rectum to make entry to the "good" part. Coyotes seem to go for the stomach area, more tender hide, for access. Older boars have what we call "shoulder pads" on front shoulders that is extremely tough to penetrate so that area is usually last to go and that is from the inside.
 
Good info here.
Buzzards will consume the majority of hogs I kill, but not all. I will start opening them up and see if that helps as well.
Let me also add that these places I’m killing hogs are places I also have trapped for 8-9 years now. I also thermal hunt these places, so coyotes are few and far between. These aren’t once a year trapped either, most are hit 2 or sometimes 3 times a year for ALL predators.
 
hunt0168 said:
It's interesting to me as well. I have read where some say that even their dead coyotes get eaten by other coyotes. I can honestly say that in every case of a dead coyote I know of, the only thing that will consume them is, bugs, maggots and Turkey Vultures. I mean there may be something else, but I haven't witnessed it.
Click to expand...
Only thing I've seen eat coyote carcasses are eagles, fishers and buzzards (and probably bugs but the trail cam I had set up on the carcass didn't trigger with those).
 
@Don_P I never thought about Fishers. Dumbest critter on the planet I think. Cats might take the top spot, but Fisher ain’t far behind. I called the same Fisher right to my ecaller one night with 4 different sounds. It came all the way to the caller and retreated back to the woods 4 times, each time was a different call sound. The last one was Red/Gray Fox Fight I think. All the way to the caller! 😂
 
My understanding is a lot get dumped because of diseases they are though to carry. Seems to me there should be a way to test them for the diseases and make them eatable. Seems like a terrible waste of meat to me. I've only ever killed one and it was on a game farm, meat is fine! I live on a social secyruty check and lot's of free meat works fine for me! What a waste!
 
To help you understand this better look at these websites. wildlife damage management ,
biologyinsights.com and critter control.
Also it probably tells you somewhere to cook the meat to at least 160 degrees internal.temp. I use poly cutting boards, and they get washed with antibacterial dawn and then get bleached. The bleach does not get wiped off. That defeats the purpose. I do the same with chicken especially, but I have gotten into the habit with all meats that I process.
I do the poachers cut on Deer too. I have family that will not eat pork, period. I make my own Deer sausage, so I don't miss pork too much and when grinding deer for whatever, I add Wrights hickory smoked bacon.
When I have taken a meat hog,,, it is usually less than 100# and is a sow. It also has to be cold. Summertime is a big no! I have seen pigs covered with fleas. Also no hair allowed to touch the meat. I like to hose the pig off if needed before skinning. No water on the meat till cooking Time. Some water will cause bacteria in the meat. Sounds like I am being a pain,,,, but we have never been sick.
Domestic hogs can have some disease but feral can carry 30 diseases. 31 states have them. Shooting them on the run is very fun. Stay safe and have fun.
 
Polock said:
My understanding is a lot get dumped because of diseases they are though to carry. Seems to me there should be a way to test them for the diseases and make them eatable. Seems like a terrible waste of meat to me. I've only ever killed one and it was on a game farm, meat is fine! I live on a social secyruty check and lot's of free meat works fine for me! What a waste!
Click to expand...
When you can smell them before killing them, it’s not edible. I love pork, but I’m not eating one of these nasty things. I can kill enough deer to feed my family and about 5 others for an entire year, so wild pigs are not on my list of things to save.
When I shoot them it’s for management purposes. These landowners plant alfalfa and other goodies for their deer and don’t want hogs rooting up half a field overnight.
 
I'll put in my opinion. I have been hunting a long time, hogs for about 20 years. In 2013 I contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick bite. The initial symptoms resembled a bad flu, headaches, nausea, fever, vertigo at times and a horrible case of hives that required emergency room care. After about three to four weeks I thought it was all over. Started feeling better, getting back to my normal routine. A few months went by and here those symptoms come again. Long story short, although now farther apart, I still have recurring symptoms. I have learned to just deal with it and sometimes it only lasts a few days. An infectious disease specialist told me to just take pains medication cause the symptoms will never go away completely.
I live in tick heaven and have never, never taken a hog that did not have ticks. I find hog hideouts by looking for their areas near water and all the trees, large rocks and wallows give their location easily. I tried to get a phone picture of a doe whose ears were so laden with ticks she could not hold them erect, they hung down like a hound dogs ears. Needless to say, I won't touch them but, I hunt and kill them with a vengeance!
 
My post was directed towards Pollock. If he feels that he wishes to continue to seek and eat feral hogs, I had added some suggestions. Personally I can't remember the last time I ate a feral hog. I stand to be corrected, but I don't think that a deer processor is legally allowed to process feral hogs. So this was my reason for suggestions. Private game ranches different rules.
Pollock there are no free lunches. Gas wear and tear on vehicles, ammo, ice, etc, etc. Figure the cost.
As far as checking feral hogs for diseases before consuming one. That would really cost. Call a vet and let us know.
We have high fence ranches here in Texas, and on some, the removal of ALL predators is done.
No hogs, coyotes, or bobcats. Hogs can spread disease in cattle even. If they can spread Ecoli in plants and water,,, well enuff said.
 
Like Pollock, I have folks that always say they want hogs, until it’s time to get the hogs, lol. I don’t run a delivery service and NO I’m not field dressing it for someone. I’ll meet them at my convenience and help load it from my truck to theirs. Unfortunately a lot of my hogs come in the middle of the night and folks either get ticked you called or don’t answer. So my pigs lay. I hook a tow strap around their head and front legs and drag them off to see if the buzzards want them.
I have had a couple decent tasting wild hogs, but all it takes is one or two that stinks up the house when you cook them that will keep you from wasting the time and or money. Now a days it’s about impossible to find a processor that will do swine.
 
I’m in East Texas and hunted and killed hogs all over Texas.

Hogs disappear quick here. I have shot and dumped a hog or shot a hog at night and came back the next morning to drag it off and been hard pressed to find any sign of it.

Buzzards are the first to hit and then coyotes. I have seen eagles on one a couple of times. 3 days max even the biggest boar is reduced to a few bone and some hair. A week later you are doing good to find any hair. The coyotes eat the hide, hair and all. If you don’t thinks so just look at the coyote scats.

I have seen buzzards and caracaras reduce coyotes to nothing but hide and bones in less than an hour. We shot a coyote on one stand and left to go make another stand intending to come back by to take pictures. 20 minutes later that coyote was hulled out with about 40 buzzards on it.

I have and will continue to eat a lot of feral hogs. I make a lot of pan sausage mainly, but have eaten smoke sausage, chops, cooked on the grill and even fried the nuts like calf fries or “mountain oysters”.

I have had a lot of people tell me they want a hog to eat, but most when you call them to say you have one, are too busy to come take care of it.

More times than not around here it is warm, and pork spoils quick if not taken care of quickly. So, I don’t try to save it for them more than once. If they are a really good friend I might quarter it and put in an ice chest for them.

If you shoot them at night Im the summer if almost impossible to save the meat unless you stop hunting and process.

The meat yield on the average feral hog is only about 30% of the live weight. I usually don’t fool with the boars, but I know people who eat all of them. Unless the hogs are hitting some kind of grain fields (which we don’t have here) or acorns later in winter, they are lean. Sows in the late spring and summer are usually poor and skinny as a rail.

Definitely can be good to eat, but not as easy as you might think. If you are starving and really need it to live on, might be different I guess.

I mainly like a make up a big batch to pan sausage to last me a while and leave the rest.
 
Back
Top