We have all heard the stories... "That big boar will be no good".
I have killed several boars in the 250 to 285 lb. range, incliding 2 boars at over 300 lbs. One weighed in at 325lbs. He was the last pig I killed and he was one of the best tasting ones I have ever shot.
Some of the pigs I have killed did have a strong musk smell, like they may have been in rut. However when the skin was off the meat smelled and tasted fine.
In fact wild pig meat is a favorite of my wife and I.
So my question is.
What do you do with the pigs ya'll shoot?

There is nothin as good as a leg roast marinated in herbs & beer for two days and basted slow in the oven with the same mix!
Don't know about boars cos the legs are too big to fit the roaster but from a young porker is a treat.

I have had a tast of just about every pig I have shot... I hear the best ones are 75-100lbs youngins. Now I have heard... and tasted this from a few people and so far I agree, but my big ones lack of tast could be from lousy cooking on my part

I will state how I "do" my pigs.
After skinning I take off the front shoulders.
Then I remove the backstraps. Then I take off the rear hams. I then remove the tenderloins.
I saw the ribs int 4 strips. I take as much trimmings as posible to make sausage.
When we get home my wife [Some times I even help her] prepares the meat for the freezer. The loins and the rear hams are placed in the right size packages for her and I. The rear hams are boned and the meat is cut into steaks that can be cooked in the skillet or on the grill. There is very little difference in backstrap meat and the rear ham meat. Both is excellent either flowered and skillet fried in olive oil, or cooked on the grill or over an open fire at the deer lease.
The shoulders are cooked in the oven as a roast with potatoes, onions, carrots, celery etc. they are delicious. My favorite size pig is 250 to 285 lbs. Lots of Meat.

NE 450... I am all for eating a big pig. If someone in my camp wanted to shoot a 75 pounder... id let him do it

All sizes if cleaned, skinned and bar b qued over mesquite coals...Its a ritual in our So.Texas camp...

I have one of those propane Mr. Smoker setups. Let me state that with a pan full of water to keep it moist and a big handful of fruitwood branches for smoke and a good rub of fresh garlic, damned near anything up to a Nike sneaker can be made to taste good! That's how I feed wild boar to 80+ sixth graders every year for Caveman Day.

I prefer my boars under 100 lbs, usually due to age... my wife finds the smell intolerable, and after 150, the meat IS strong....

I have found a couple good things to do with the meat...

mix with dear for pan sausage (my favorite)

have a lauo (sp) and put it in the ground for a day, with tons of selantro

hunters for teh hungrey... or direct donation in low income areas (makes you feel GOOD)

on the other hand, I have yet to find a sow that wasn't SWEET tasting, nearly like maple flavored ham

jeffe

Donating wild pig to Hunters for the Hungry sounds good but the USDA has declared ALL pigs in North America, whether feral or confined, European or barnyard, to be domestic animals and subject to inspection before being eaten by anyone other that the individual (with family or guests) who killed it. SCI screamed at the potential waste of game but the gov was obdurate. And no change in that policy has ever come to my attention . . . though I wish it would!

The boy's around here use catch dogs. Then bring em home to feed out and then eat or sell.

I had a boar that weighed something over 500 lbs prefessionaly butchered. The meat was VERY good.

Another that weighed over 350 was butchered and had an equally pleasant taste.

Every one I personally shot has been good; one or two older boars were a little "aromatic" while cooking but tasted fine. I was given some of one that weighed 750 live weight that was horrible. The flavor was neutral but the meat was very large-grained and unpleasent to chew, even after grinding in a grinder.

I took two hogs last Dec(150lbs/250lbs) and both cooked up very nice. I think a more valid concern for a lot of hunters would be the time of year the hog is taken. During the fall, when there is a plentiful supply of acorns, it can tend to make the meat sort of strong no matter what size the hog is.

Lance

Any size is fine as long as it is handled right. We do usually make the large ones into sausage of one type or another. You can hide a lot with the right spices and or smoke.

My last was a 325 lb. Russian. All cuts were excellent.

I've taken "Russian-looking" pigs up to about 250 or a bit more. I find it depends greatly on what time of year it is and what they've been eating. Late summer-early fall boar that have been eating acorns taste stronger than spring, barley-fed boar. I took a 175-pound sow that was prime eating last spring.

Although the taste is fine on a big one, my wife does "prefer" I cook it outside because of the strong smell.

Mike I have heard several people talk about the "smell" when cooking wild pig, but I have never experienced it.
In fact I am going to cook some of the last pig I shot, a 325lb boar which is one of the tastest I have ever taken.

UP HERE BY THE RED RIVER THE HOGS WILL GET BIG, SOME TOO BIG TO DRAG BACK TO CAMP. THE FIRST ONE I SHOT WAS OVER 300 POUNDS, ACCORDING TO THE GUY WHO TOOK ME AND MY BACK THE NEXT MORNING. WE MADE CHOPS AND SAUSAGE WITH NO STRONG ODORS OR SMELL. WE ARE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO TOUCH THE MEAT AFTER HANDLING THE SKIN, AS IT WILL HAVE A LOT OF MUSK OR WHATEVER SMELLS SO BAD ON IT, I DONT WANT IT ON THE MEAT I AM GONNA COOK. ONE OF US HELPS PEEL THE SKIN, THE OTHER USES THE KNIFE. WE WENT LAST WEEK, MY BUDDY SHOT A HOG AROUND 250, WE MADE CHOPS AND ABOUT 60 POUNDS OF POLISH AND GREMAN SAUSAGE, HAD SOME FOR LUNCH TODAY ACTUALLY. GREAT STUFF.
THE LARGE ONES ARE HARDER TO PACK AND HANDLE BUT OTHER THAN THAT I SEE NO DIFFERENCE.

GOOD LUCK AND GOOD SHOOTING

ETERRY

I too have heard that the large boars are no good to eat but it has been my experience that this is pure Bravo Sierra. The large boars are equally as good as the smaller sows or shoats, just a lot more trouble to process due to size and weight. Frankly, I think folks that adhere to this theory just don't want to go to the trouble of hauling, dressing and processing such a large animal.