Wild vs Domestic hogs

R Buker

R Buker

New member
Guys,

I know the taste of critters varies greatly depending upon what they have been eating. For example, wild turkeys will beat a store-bought bird every time for taste.

My question is... Is wild hog MUCH better than domestic in taste? I get to go to wild hog hunting for my first time at the end of this year and am wondering if I should make plans to keep the meat. (I'm not a huge fan of pork. At least not that which is bought in the stores.)

Randy
 
Randy
I think another factor on how something will taste or should i say chew depends on how it dies.
5 of us went hunting last march and all shot russians around 250lbs, we took all five and had them cut and wrapped at the local butcher shop. after they were done we divided them up, so we all got the same amount of meat. now one package will taste great and the next will taste a little more gammy and chew a little tougher. 3 of the pigs never knew that they died and 2 died real angry. the hams and sausage are great. but we belive the angry ones are a little tougher and a little gammier. knock em down hard and you should have some great eating. good luck on you're hunt and watch out fer them cutters.
Sportingly
Cracker
 
I think wild hog taste alot better than domestic, but if you get a good sized boar(200 and bigger) I wouldn't eat it. Sows are for the most part very good, most of the bigger boars are pretty rank and are really not all that good. If your going to be going after bar hogs(castrated boar) then they should be fine to eat. I don't even waste my time cleaning a big boar if he's still got his nuts, he'll stink up the house trying to cook'em /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif A good judge on boars is if they smell really rank and musky then there gonna taste about the same as they smell. So where you going hog hunting at? Make'em squeal! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Hey Randy,

Cracker is right-if you can put thier lights out quick they'll taste a lot better! Also the sows don't seem as gamey as the boars.

Have fun and wear your tree-climbing shoes! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Thanks for the head's up guys.

I'm heading to a ranch in South Texas over new year's. My understanding is we are going to hunt them with dogs and a knife. Hmmmm. Doesn't sound like the best way to get one that isn't gamey. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Randy I dont know much about hogs but I heard they have a taste of their own. Most hog hunters have said that they prefer the wild variety better.

Commercial pork is salt cured and sometimes smoke cured. Wild hogs dont get that treatment unless you can find a butcher shop that is rigged up for that kind of processing. So its really apples to pomegranates.

They all play in the mud though. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
You should have some fun then if you're going hog doggin, I'm heading down to south Texas myself this Friday for a few days of doggin. Hope your in pretty good shape them canyons and thickets down there aren't very forgiving /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif and them hogs love to run halfway up a damn hill before they stop and fight the dogs, or they stick to the thickets and you gotta crawl in on your hands and knees, either way have fun and be safe there's alot of bad things that can happen hog doggin!
 
I have never had one come back from a processer that was worth eating! however most that I have dressed myself were very tasty!
skin them,wash them,cut the meat off the bone,wash it,put them in the fridge for a day or two very close to freezing,wash it,cut them into the cuts you want freeze it!
thaw merinate and cook! best wet and covered as wild pork is very dry!
best smoked slow,real slow! wrapped in foil with soda or beer poured in!
very good!
never ate one killed with dogs but I would say gammy!
 
I have killed boars that were not worth eating for some reason or another, but I have killed several sows and they are great. Don't know if I think its better then domestic hog, but its good! As long as there is meat on the table i'm happy.
 
Advice from a former meat cutter. If you want good meat then kill them quick and go for a YOUNG one. The older an animal gets the tougher the meat becomes; this is why old cows are used for ground beef and bulls for bologna (the only way anyone would eat them). There is also a certain amount of natural "flavoring" that affects the meat as an animal gets older (less on females, a lot more on males).
And lastly, find out what the processor's reputation is. I've heard stories from both sides on this subject, sometimes about the same processor!
 
Last fall I killed two big boars around 300# each. Both one shot kills that dropped em in their tracks. I immediately cut, gutted, and hauled em to the butcher. Shared the meat with the three kids and their families, and they are now bugging me about when I'm going to get another. Absolutely no bad meat. I'm convinced it's all in the way they are processed. Jim
 
Hello,

This may be to late, and not really relevant, but we raise usually two hogs a year up to 150 lbs. and butcher them ourselves for our own consumption and for gifts. These hogs are raised outdoors with plenty of room to root, eat, and crap. They dont need to wallow in there own feces to keep the bugs off because of the room to move. They aren't organic pigs, because we inoculate them for some diseases and give them shots of penicillin if they get wounded. They are the best pork I've ever had!

Having said that, my brother in law gave us some confinement hog pork last year for christmas and I have to say that it was some of the worst pork I've ever had: dry, no flavor, and way to much fat where it wasnt suposed to be.

Free range meat is definetly better than lot raised animals, obviously. And like any other game animal the younger the better eating. Male and female also makes a huge difference. Clean kills are my deciding the factor for jerky or fresh cuts, just doesnt taste right when the animal is tracked for two miles. I'd rather take fresh cuts from something that drops on te spot. IMHO.

JA in SD
 


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