I was told by a friend that shot a Wild Boar many years ago that the meat stinks, is tough, and is not fit to eat, is this true? If so what about other wild pigs?

Swede44mag

I've shot two, each about 250lbs. give or take a few. I usually have most of the meat done into sausages but leave the hams as is. The first boar was quite good. The second one was a really battle-scared veteran that I unfortunately did not get a clean kill on. The meat tasted like rectum filets. Not sure if it was because he was so high strung or the lack of a clean kill got too much adrenalin, etc. into his system.

From what I understand the smaller ones ( around 150lbs. or less ) make for more consistently good eating.

Thanks Borealis Bob for your reply I especially like your comment "The meat tasted like rectum filets." I haven�t had such a good laugh in a long time. I have had some deer that were that tasty.

Swede44mag

From my experience, they are excellent eating with the exeption of the males during rut, from November to January or so. This I guess only applies to European Boar in temperate climate where the rut is very predictable.

The meat of the very old ones is very good for stew or smoked meat and ham.

Many people here prefer wild boar to deer, it is a little less "gamey". I like both.

Sows of any size are just fine; young hogs, either male or female, of under 100 pounds are always good; boars of 150 pounds or more -- leave them lay and let the coyotes enjoy them. By the way, the surest way to start a population explosion of feral hogs is to kill the biggest, meanest boars. They are the principle predators of the young.



DUK: I'm sure that the true wild boars of Europe do have a "rut" or breeding season, but the feral hogs of the U.S., even those with some European boar bloodlines, breed all year round. Theoretically, a sow may have three litters a year, but in practice they probably average about two.

The ones I've killed and eaten were excellent table fare.

Sows of any size are good eating, if even fairly healthy. A lean boar will taste like the afor mentioned fillet de colone'..

one HUGE trick on boars,,, do NOT cut the bladder.... if you have, you have made an ERRRR

i took a 105# this past weekend,,, mighty fine animal, healthy, FAT FAT FAT (acrons are down) and the meat smells great... no "boar piss" stink


ah, yeah, on woods pigs, if it's a lean time, and they are eating roorts and carrion, they till tast like it.

jeffe

Shot two boars in Tennessee a few years back. The meat was fine but it did have a distinct odor while cooking.

As a certified California Hawg Hunter my advice is to shoot sows through the neck or the head. If you just have to have a big toothy boar for your wall, cape him and leave him for the buzzards unless you love strong flavored sausage. They's probably be O.K. that way if there was enough garlic, chili powder, onions and fennel seed in them.

The first hog I shot weighed approximately 300, and was a boar. I smoked the hams and hocks, made sausage and cut the loins out and made steaks. My only complaint is that he was a lot leaner than store bought pork butts I had been using for sausage, I had to mix some pork fat in with it to get the consistancy right. My hunting buddy swears that the bigger they are the better they taste, so he shoots the big ones. I can tell no difference in the taste of boars or sows, or in size, other than the effort to get it out of the woods. The meat has a different taste than store bought, it should, it is a wild animal, but not offensive. We are also very particular in the skinning process.
We gut the animal when it hits the ground, when we hang the hog one of us uses a knife to skin and the other pulls the hide down. To handle the hide and then touch the meat is grounds for a first class Texas cussing. Together we have made over 120 lbs of sausage this fall, not to mention pork chops, ribs and steaks (we invested in a meat band saw/grinder from harbor freight, best money spent in a while). We also try for a head/neck shot if possible, for a quick dispatch.
As to "shooting them and leaving them for the coyotes" I would never do such and thing and if I did I damn sure would not mention it to anybody. If you dont want to bother with the hard work that follows pulling the trigger I suggest you stay home and watch ESPN. I have lost some hogs, that comes with hunting, but I have never left one, regardless of size, that I had located and wont condone it.
BTW, we have taken 4 hogs this fall, they weighed 240, 220, 190, and 70. All weights were hanging, using scales.

Good luck and good shooting,
Eterry

Wild boars are very good to eat, except the male in the rut. Normal you will smell at once, but if not sure take a piece and cook it. The urin smell you will aware at once.
If that happens, then forget.

The rest is as always. The younger the better for grill...
The elder the more sausages or smoked meat.
We shot last week 7 boars. One sow and 6 piggies. The 230 pound mother is now in the pickling liquid, the rest will be used direct for kitchen.
Only the fat I did not use full. Some of them I will feed the birds.

Largest weighed boar I've ever shot was 319 live weight and served up well on the table. The largest wild hog I ever saw shot and weighed was 750 (a castrated escapee) and it was terrible. Not the odor but the grain size of the meat and total blandness. Didn't even make decent sausage. There was enough fat left over to make a whole Rosanne Barr, though.

Given the choice I will always try for 30 to 40 pounds, either sex. We call them "Webbers" because they fit the grill whole so well.

we call em footballs, cause there's barely enough hide for a ball@@
jeffe

I used to think that big boar were lousy tablefare, but the last couple have been good. I think a lot has to do with meat care and what the pig has been eating. Fall hogs, full of acorns, do not seem to taste as good as Spring hogs, full of nice green stuff. The last two boars, shot in June, went 196 and 215 pounds with 3-inch tusks and they were in a walk-in cooler within a hour. They tasted just as good as the 170 pound sow. I always bone out the hogs now, too, as I think the bone marrow adds gaminess.



If you do get a gamey hog, try simmering in a pot with about 25 to 50% citrus juice. Then drain and cook it the way you planned to - baked in a roaster with a tight-fitting lid and covered with barbecue sauce always worked well for me.

When I was younger we worked hard at finding ways to mitigate the aroma of a bad boar but with age comes wisdom. Whiskey (in the diner party, not the pot) works wonders.

I wouldn't claim to be a "certified hawg hunter" but I have shot well over 50 of them, all by hunting, none with dogs and the total includes 4 boars that were in the 300 pound area. Largest was 330. ALL of them were good to eat. I'm convinced that with rare exceptions, how they were shot, how quickly they were located, gutted and chilled makes the most difference.

Just as an example, we just barbecued last week end all of a boar hog that weighed just over 200 live weight. He was exceptionally tender and great tasting. Of course, we had a good barbecue cook (not me, although I ain't bad).

I'm sure that a lot depends on what they're eating, in this area of NE Texas that is usually agricultural products or forest type forage, mast, etc. I've always heard that if a hog, male or female, REALLY stinks then let them lay. I haven't run into this to date. I think most of that is caused by dogging them or maybe the rut, but male hogs around here are kind of like me, they're always in the rut.