This has always been an interesting question for me.

I have gotten to the point that I only try to eat those pigs that are about 70 lbs or less ... if they are in good condition. I make a long cut down the spine and the back of each ham to the hock, then peel out the backstraps and the hams. This has generally resulted in very good meat.

Anything bigger, I've been staying away from. Boars are just too rank, and even a 100 lb sow is just flat tough meat. It might be dandy stuff slow cooked on the smoker ... but that is something that I rarely do, would just as soon grill.

I haven't eaten any of them this year. The winter was tough and wheat crops were negligible and the hogs have just been in poor shape.

I have also been a lot more cautious lately; last year, I got a leptospirosis infection in my cow herd that I strongly suspect was transmitted by feral pigs.

Just curious ... not trying to start an argument as to whether a feral hog should be treated like a game animal and all the respect that entails (though personally I rate them just below a coyote).

Mark

I butcher and process all the pigs I shoot.

The biggest ig I have shot was @325 to 340 pounds. I base this weight on the fact that my scale onloy goes to 300 lbs hand he moved it past the 300 lb mark.

It was a boar, and I have shot another boar almost this big.

Both of them were great eating.

I have weighed a lot of the pigs I have shot before gutting. My favorite size is 225 to 275 lbs.

I have never shot a pig that was bad eating.

I try not to shoot them less than @125lbs.

I have shot them all times of the year, from snow on the ground to the summer when it is over 100 degrees.

If it is hot when I shoot one I just get it gutted,skint, cut off the front shoulders, backstraps, rear hams, tenderloins, ribs and the trim meat, and get it on ice quickly.

I have shot pigs that stunk so bad, covered in mud, in the middle of their rut.

Get the skin off and the meat is great.

We eat 95% of the pigs we kill. The remaining 5% are pigs that had infections looked sickly in one way or the other. We also keep the meat on ice draining each day, it's amazing how much this helps on the flavor.

I would respectfully suggest you learn a bit more about cooking wild meats.

As we like to cook a lot on the BBQ, most of the time we bone out the rear hams, and cut it into steaks that we wrap with bacon and cook on the grill.

I cook the shoulders as a pot roast with vegetables, or if I want loose meat for sandwhiches I just leave out the vegetables.

I prefer wild pig to deer and elk meat.

I cook a fair amount of wild meat - but it is venison and elk.

I have been wondering if part of the issue here is what the devils are eating. I have only hunted hogs out here in the western part of the state ... not where there are corn or milo crops, or even wheat or oats that actually make grain.

Have not personally run into a boar that was really smelly bad ... so have butchered everything I've taken.

Some goes to sausage and some is mixed with venison for sausage and burger. Never had any that was rank.

I just hate to waste good meat.

What they feed on will make a big difference in the way the meat taste. Try draining the meat like we do and see if that helps, you might be surprised.

I agree with what the others have said, especially the part about cooking the meat.

I shot a 270 pound boar yesterday, that was possibly 18 months old, and that animal had been hitting several folks deer feeders.

He had as much, if not more fat as I have ever seen on a feral hog and the meat is perfect, both in smell and texture.

Just my opinion here, don't know how anyone else feels about it, but I have found over my career as a hunter, that the people that don't like game meat, usually either don't know how to cook it properly or have never eaten it when cooked properly.

To me and my wife the biggest factors affecting the taste and texture of game meat is what happens to it between the shot and the skillet.

Many people forget or do not take into consideration that game meat is not feed lot beef/pork/chicken/lamb.

The muscling is completely different in tone and texture, the fat content is greatly reduced or non-existant.

I have killed a few feral pigs between the 100 and 250 pound mark, that were excellent table fare, it is not the same as commercial pork out of the store, but it is damn good.

From mine and my wife's experiences, wild game meat of nearly any kind has to be cooked slower at a lower heat setting and some for of additional moisture has to be added, such as wrapping a neck roast or such in bacon, it keeps the meat from drying out.

The 2 main complaints Lora and I have heard over the years, was that game meat was tough and dry, that simply translates out into cooking too fast at a high temperature.

You can accomplish the same thing by taking a 1 inch thick New York Strip and cooking it well done, where if the steak had been pulled at say medium rare/to medium well, it would have been more tender and flavorful.

Just my opinion on all this, but me and Lora and our kids eat a lot of wild game during the year, including Javelina, and most people feel that Javelina's are inedible, but if handled properly and cooked correctly it is quite tasty.

Harold, I will give it a try ... I have done that with venison a good bit and it does help.

Crazyhorse, I agree with that as well. Game is an acquired taste. I have got to where I prefer it to beef ... particularly when I am eating it a lot. But I have just not had the luck with feral hogs that I have had with deer and elk. It might have some to do with processing time ... being targets of opportunity, I do not always have a cooler of ice to go straight to as I do in deer season ... but I think it also has a lot to do with the lack of grain in their diet

On all of the above topics I may indeed be wrong.

Since I hunt pigs year round I always have a cooler and lots of ice.

I have only shot 2 javelina, it was in TX near the Mexican border.

Both were put on ice quick, butchered and frozen back at the house. Both tasted good to me.

I like black bear meat, my 12 year old Nephew really likes it, and I have eaten gray fox as well.

Uh...I would like to say that I eat all that I kill...but that wouldnt be quite true. The "Webers" seem to be pretty good. Even had a couple 150lbs tasting pretty good as sausage and such....I like to make cajun sausage patties which make great spicy burgers. However the big ones are around here are pretty nasty...I dont care what you do to them. My dogs love em though....I have had the whole neigborhood of dogs howling.
The exception was the big boy I took in Hawaii. It smelled like some good meat however I donated that boar to a local familiy as I wasnt prepared to bring it back home.
Now that I have a couple big boys on the wall I would rather take look for bacon and sausage.

i just put it in a bag, for a couple hours, and be tortured by the aroma

quote:

the biggest factors affecting the taste and texture of game meat is what happens to it between the shot and the skillet.

This is the key--and I have a friend who will not turn one down, regardless of size--he says "bring 'em all".

I've been fortunate in that I've been able to take lots of pigs -- well into three figures.

We have eaten many of these, and many more were given away when I either don't have the time, was not feeling strong enough to handle it at that time or when the freezer is full.

I have a number of little tricks I've used over the years, and the wild game meat generally turns out to be quite savory.

Nonetheless, there have been a handful of hogs -- both sows and boars -- that have become buzzard bacon. Nothing could make those edible.

But that has been only a small percentage of those I have taken.

I've eaten every pig I ever killed. Some recipes better than others. Lately have been smoking on the pit away from direct heat. Charcoal on the bottom and water-logged pecan wood placed on the coals for flavor. Let it smoke for about 5-7hrs then bring inside, wrap in foil, and refrigerate overnight. Following day unwrap, place in an enameled baking pan with a lid that fits well. Pour about a cup to a cup and a half of your favorite sop or just water into the pan. Cover and bake at 225*F until falls-apart tender usually 6-7hrs. Remember pork must come up to 170*F. Ours usually exceeds that temp.

Did a ham the other day from a pig I shot in Victoria. 6 hrs inside and went to remove from oven and the bone pulled right out. That pig was about 125 pounds.
It is finger-lickin-good!!!

Sasquatch

quote:

Originally posted by Mark Hargrove:
This has always been an interesting question for me.


I have also been a lot more cautious lately; last year, I got a leptospirosis infection in my cow herd that I strongly suspect was transmitted by feral pigs.

Just curious ... not trying to start an argument as to whether a feral hog should be treated like a game animal and all the respect that entails (though personally I rate them just below a coyote).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis

I consider leptospirosis infection a serious concern. There are probably a bunch of nasty problems one could get from hogs. IMO, thinking otherwise or denial and not using precautions, such as rubber gloves when butchering is silly.

You guys who are proud of eating everything you shoot - what are you doing to protect yourselves and your family?

KB

When it comes to meat, and protecting your family, one of the best things you can do is to never eat commercially prepared ground meat.

Well Kabluewy, I have been eating wild game of all kinds here ion Texas and tghe stuff I have killed in 4 other states and two Canadian provinces for about 55 years now and neither myself nor any of my family have had any problems.

And just to clrify some of your information, it is not leptospirosis that caused the concerns with eating pork, but Tricinosis.

Commercial ground meat of any variety and factory produced chicken are way more dangerous than any wild game meat.

I have been eating wild game for a long time too, and in the last year or two, wild pork, and I've had no problems either.

As a matter of fact, the only problem I have had was from a domestic turkey from the grocery. Last year, I spent Thanksgiving visiting with an old friend, who is really an old-timer, and the real deal. Anyway, he is traditional about his handling of meat in the kitchen too. I doubt he has ever read the precaution labels, and has little knowledge or care about salmanela, etc. As he went about helping his wife prepare the meal, as I watched and we talked, he would pat down the raw turkey with spices, etc., then wipe his hands on a towel hung in the door handle of the frig, then go directly to making potatoe salad. Later, when he did wash his hands, he dried them on the same towel. Etc., Etc.

My stomach was turning before the meal, and I avoided the potato salad, but when I got home, I had to suffer with a dose of salmanella fr two weeks, and take the medicine to get rid of it.

All that is mild compared to what is possible from wild pork and bear too.

I'm just saying, that some people seem to be in denial, and the salmanella incident sort of woke me up to the potential.

Am I being paranoid, or realistic?

KB

That is for you to decide.

I have never had any problems, and to the best of my knowledge no one that has eaten my cooking has had a problem.

Did the Dr. confirm that it was something you ate there that caused the problem?

I think, and this is just my opinion, that most folks have had their systems sterilized by all the chemicals/growth stimulants and stuff that is in or has been taken out of our foods, and our digestive systems have lost much or all of the muti-flora and bacteria that kept many organisms from affecting us.

I think me and my family will continue to take our chances and eat as much natural foods as possible and stay as clear as possible from manufactured and processed foods.

Any number of things could have given you the illness you experienced after that meal, it could have been the turkey, was it a wild turkey or a factory raised/processed bird.

Poultry is notorious for ecoli and other organisms.

It is your choice as to what you eat and how you cook it, to label all game meat as unsafe, is in my opinion paranoid.

Didn't mean to start an argument about it ...

I have noticed that it seems like people either despise the feral hog and all the baggage that comes with it, or consider it a game animal.

Around here, ranches have been signing up with the government trapper to control them. Airplane flyovers, traps, and the like. The landowners that did not sign up for it tend to be absentee owners with recreational property who want to preserve them for hunting.

In the short time they've been around here (4-5 years in big numbers) they (the hogs, not the absentee landowners, though actually they've only been around 4-5 years too, in large numbers) have made bitter enemies of those that are in daily contact with them and trying to farm and ranch.

I shoot more of them than I could possibly eat, if all my family ever ate was pork, AND they were all palatable. I leave them where they lay or haul them to a corner of the pasture where their bones won't be a nuisance. Sometimes in the winter I will butcher one ... but a year like this when the crops have failed, it just ain't that pleasant.

None of the alternatives are that great.

As to the danger, I'm more worried about the health hazards they present while they are running around ... I use a lot more caution cutting one up than with any other animal.

It ain't and arguement, just a difference of opinion.

Wouldn't this site and the world in general be a terribly boring POS if everyone got along together and agreed on everything all the time???

I know it would be for me.

Feral Hogs in Texas are a major ecological disaster and need to be controlled.

Problem is, the numbers I have heard kicked around by TP&W biologist is something like 60% of the population would have to be killed off annually to manage the dang things.

Any Math majors out there want to tell us what 60% of 2 million equals out to?

I do agree that the health hazards posed by feral hogs while they are alive, being hit by vehicles which ain't nothing like hitting a deer or a dog, Brucellosis, PsuedoRabies, the damage to fields/crops/fences, predation on ground nesting birds i.e. quail and turkeys, damage to fences and the list goes on.

It is neat to have them out there because they do make for an exciting hunt, but is it worth the overall potential for harm to the environment?

quote:

Originally posted by Mark Hargrove:
Didn't mean to start an argument about it ...

As to the danger, I'm more worried about the health hazards they present while they are running around ... I use a lot more caution cutting one up than with any other animal.

You didn’t start an argument. More like a lively discussion. This is what we do here on this forum, and we have a darn good time at it too. I think you are wise to use caution.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
That is for you to decide.

I have never had any problems, and to the best of my knowledge no one that has eaten my cooking has had a problem.

I think, and this is just my opinion, that most folks have had their systems sterilized by all the chemicals/growth stimulants and stuff that is in or has been taken out of our foods, and our digestive systems have lost much or all of the muti-flora and bacteria that kept many organisms from affecting us.

I think me and my family will continue to take our chances and eat as much natural foods as possible and stay as clear as possible from manufactured and processed foods.

Did the Dr. confirm that it was something you ate there that caused the problem?
Any number of things could have given you the illness you experienced after that meal, it could have been the turkey, was it a wild turkey or a factory raised/processed bird.

Poultry is notorious for ecoli and other organisms.

It is your choice as to what you eat and how you cook it, to label all game meat as unsafe, is in my opinion paranoid.

As I said, I haven’t had a problem yet with wild game including hog. I dunno about this system sterilized business, etc. but I do know that if a guy has to take drugs to get rid of E. coli, salmonella, girdia, leptospirosis, or any other nasty bug, his gut won’t be right again for a while. As I understand it, you can’t get rid of Trichinosis if you get it in your system.

I don’t consider the meat sold at the grocery store manufactured or processed food. I reserve that definition for hot dogs, Vienna sausage, and maybe spam, but not a steak.

It’s easy to dismiss what I said by asking if I was 100 % sure, doctor confirmation, etc. It was a domestic turkey, and they can all be presumed to be toxic raw, according to the label, just like all poultry and fresh meat at the store. Special handling is required to be safe. I don’t think they would say so if it wasn’t true, because by saying so may discourage sales.

Just yesterday, I bought a tank of gas, and within less than a mile down the road the engine started running rough. I figure it is the gas, but when I told the folks at the gas station, they said they regularly check their tanks for water, and of course they don’t know what was in my tank before I gassed up. I said that the one thing I know for sure is that their gas was not in my tank before I gassed up, and the engine was running fine.
It started running rough when the new gas hit the system. It all depends on what point of view one wants to justify. There are people who believe in aliens and Roswell and bigfoot too.

I agree with you that labeling all game meat as unsafe would be paranoid. I can't think of wild game meat any better than what we have right here - wild salmon and sitka deer - the best of the best, and clean chemical free. I didn’t label all wild game meat as unsafe. I didn’t label wild hog as unsafe. Obviously the majority of the time we get away with eating it without special precautions. I’m just saying maybe it shouldn’t be taken for granted, just because it hasn’t happened to you in the past. The past suddenly doesn’t count for much when you get sick, especially when it could be avoided with some minor precautions.

KB

Sows over 100 are poor eating, huh? Well, I guess these cuts from the 230 lb sow these came from wasn't told that. It was some of the very best meat I've ever had, including domestic meat. How many pounds of meat have you wasted then, I wonder? No skin off my nose and not to sound nasty, but I'd suggest trying it before making any blanket determinations about table quality, because you've either been misled or are just flat out wrong. But then you've already been told that above, I will assume...

Kamo

That looks mighty good.

Dang, Kamo, you just HAD to post that when I am hungry -- and that makes my late night snack seem a lot less palatable!

Those pictures are putting my salivary glands and taste buds into overdrive...

quote:

Originally posted by Harold R. Stephens:
We eat 95% of the pigs we kill. The remaining 5% are pigs that had infections looked sickly in one way or the other. We also keep the meat on ice draining each day, it's amazing how much this helps on the flavor.

That's a real nice moon shot you have there Harold!

Kamo Gari -

I am not making blanket assertions about table quality based upon internet supposition or lack of experience.

I am starting to think a big part of the answer to this question is geography and diet.

I've only killed a couple of hogs that had that much fat on them.

As I said, the only size that I've found to be pleasant eating "out here" has been those 50-70 pounder weanlings that you often find running together.

Too tough, you say? Here's a great tenderizer:



The pic is probably misleading. The sausage just came out of the smoker and was close to the grinder which I had not cleaned yet.

quote:

It’s easy to dismiss what I said

Sorry Kabluewy, that assertion is not gonna fly with me.

I ain't dismissing anything you said, and I do agree with a lot of what you are saying about being careful in the handling and cooking and consumption of wild game.

Problem is, or at least as I see it, more folks go to the hospital over illnesses caused by domestically raised/commercially prepared foods, than organically raised, natural wild game.

In fact, and I am sure that someone will correct me on this, or at least try to, but most, if not all wild game related illnesses affecting humans come thru contact with an infected animal during the skinning/field dressing process, not after the meat is cooked properly.

I don't wear gloves when I skin anything.

Am I taking a chance, Yes.

Have I been lucky in not being affected by something, Hell Yes.

Do I feel that I am "Bullet Proof", in a way, simply because I believe that after the years I have been dealing with animals of many kinds, both on farms and ranches, at the zoo, and dealing with the game I have killed or been in on the kill of, I can often enough, look at an animal, smell of it, feel of it, and tell if it is health or if something is wrong with it.

I ain't saying I am perfect at it, but if a person spends enough time around animals, they can develope the ability to look at an animal and tell if it is healthy or if something is wrong with it.

It is nothing that can be taught, it has to be learned thru observation of hundreds of animals over time.

Don't take my disagreement with your statements as a dismissal of your thoughts or ideas, I just do not completely agree with them, but I do agree that people should use reasonable precautions and common sense when handling and cooking wild game and fish.

Kamo Gari, excellent pictures of a really great looking piece of hog and a really excellent looking meal. Many Thanks for sharing that with us.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:

I ain't dismissing anything you said, and I do agree with a lot of what you are saying about being careful in the handling and cooking and consumption of wild game.

as I see it, more folks go to the hospital over illnesses caused by domestically raised/commercially prepared foods, than organically raised, natural wild game.

In fact, most, if not all wild game related illnesses affecting humans come thru contact with an infected animal during the skinning/field dressing process, not after the meat is cooked properly.

I don't wear gloves when I skin anything. Am I taking a chance, Yes. Have I been lucky in not being affected by something, Hell Yes.

Do I feel that I am "Bullet Proof", in a way, simply because I believe that after the years I have been dealing with animals of many kinds, both on farms and ranches, at the zoo, and dealing with the game I have killed or been in on the kill of, I can often enough, look at an animal, smell of it, feel of it, and tell if it is health or if something is wrong with it.

I ain't saying I am perfect at it, but if a person spends enough time around animals, they can develope the ability to look at an animal and tell if it is healthy or if something is wrong with it. It is nothing that can be taught, it has to be learned thru observation of hundreds of animals over time.

Don't take my disagreement with your statements as a dismissal of your thoughts or ideas, I just do not completely agree with them, but I do agree that people should use reasonable precautions and common sense when handling and cooking wild game and fish.

OK, I’ll pick out the choice comments:

“I ain't dismissing anything you said --- Don't take my disagreement with your statements as a dismissal of your thoughts or ideas, I just do not completely agree with them”
OK --- Thanks

“I don't wear gloves when I skin anything. Am I taking a chance, Yes. Have I been lucky in not being affected by something, Hell Yes. Do I feel that I am "Bullet Proof", in a way, ----- I ain't saying I am perfect”
OK --- it is what it is

“I believe that after the years I have been dealing with animals of many kinds, both on farms and ranches, at the zoo, and dealing with the game I have killed or been in on the kill of, I can often enough, look at an animal, smell of it, feel of it, and tell if it is health or if something is wrong with it. if a person spends enough time around animals, they can develope the ability to look at an animal and tell if it is healthy or if something is wrong with it. It is nothing that can be taught, it has to be learned thru observation of hundreds of animals over time.”
OK, CHC – we are all not so lucky to have such extensive experience. Our experiences vary – of course, and so does our objectivity and ability to be observant, and to actually translate the reality of what is actually observed. Our attitudes are very subjective, heavily influenced by ego, machismo, tradition, denial, etc., which ain’t a bad thing, it just is what it is – human nature. I'm just saying that IMHO that by the time disease or pathogen is easily seen in an animal, it is very progressed, and the early contageous stage is far less obvious. It would take a vet and lab analysis to be anywhere above a wild ass guess.

“I do agree with a lot of what you are saying about being careful in the handling and cooking and consumption of wild game. I do agree that people should use reasonable precautions and common sense when handling and cooking wild game and fish.”
OK, --- so we agree on this. - perhaps we disagree on the concept of “reasonable precaution and common sense”. My point is that it seems that we are far closer to agreement than disagreement.

“In fact, most, if not all wild game related illnesses affecting humans come thru contact with an infected animal during the skinning/field dressing process, not after the meat is cooked properly.”
BINGO….I might add – during the butchering process, or simply contact with raw meat or blood, or consuming undercooked meat. I agree with your factual statement. Fact is that the heat of cooking kills off most pathogens and worms, etc. If wild meat is handled in a manner similar to the recommendations for store bought poultry or other meat, the risks will be diminished or minimized, but not eliminated.

However, I should add that I’m not classifying all wild meat into the same category. This discussion is mostly about wild hog meat, but it applies to all meat, just not to the same level of concern. For example, the Sitka deer around here are about as disease free as it gets, because they live on islands that are isolated from the rest of the world. So there is little to worry about when handling and processing them, unless the meat is contaminated somehow, maybe by coming into contact with an unclean place where domestic meat has been processed, say a wood cutting board. Same thing applies to salmon and trout.

Another example is the concern about the chronic wasting disease which is becoming common in some states. This is something that can’t be rendered harmless by cooking. I lived in Eastern Colorado for a while a few years back, and discovered that there is an area along the Platt River, (or tributary) where the disease among the white tail deer is considered the epicenter by the wildlife biologists. I don’t know the reason, but some claim it came from fenced in elk or red deer or other exotic. That discovery certainly took away my enthusiasm for deer hunting while there, and the deer were plentiful, and permission to hunt from landowners was readily available.

Regards,
KB

While it is possible that your cattle were infected by wild hogs, I think it is unlikely. Transmission is by fresh urine or semen and the scenarios where your cattle could ingest either are somewhat limited. OTOH cattle are a known carrier of at least one of the Lepto strains and if you introduced any new cattle into your here that could have been the source. Of course this is all speculation on my part.

OTOH, anyone cleaning wild hogs without latex gloves on is taking a chance since they carry several diseases which will transmit to humans, including lepto, brucellosis and salmonellosis, found in fairly high percentages of hogs killed and tested by various game departments.

Like most, I've done it and probably will do it again, but it is not a smart practice, especially when latex gloves are so cheap and readily available. The gloves are kind of like condoms, they aren't 100% protection but far better than nothing.

Since we have moved this somewhat off the OT, the evidence I have seen posted, points to the Federal Wildlife Lab that is/was at Fort Collins Colorado.

From the reports I have read, a disease, that had not been identified began showing up in the deer that were held on that site.

Research was being done to identify the disease, and just about the time progress was being made, funding was with drawn from the center, and instead of keeping their animals, mule deer in this case, quarantined until the disese could be identified, they were turned out into the wild.

There is still a lot of controversy over CWD and whether it actually can be transmitted to humans.

One line of thought is that as long as none of the organ meats or the spinal cord/brain of an affected animal is neither handled or eaten then there is no problem.

Some folks don't buy into that theory.

One of the side issues on this subject, is the impact on hunting that either reduced consumption of game meat, or the complete removal of game meat from human consumption would have.

Again this is just a side issue, but how much easier would it be for the anti hunting forces to advance their goals, if hunters were only allowed to shoot animals for the antlers/horns and the meat was just left to rot?

We do not live in a perfect world, and because of changes in the environment, pollutants that have been added to the environment, animal populations being managed to artificially high numbers in some locations which allows diseases in their populations to flourish, decreasing numbers of hunters, fewer hunters consuming game, we are facing a dismal future for our sport, and I don't see things improving.

Back to the subject, again, it is personal choices.

I don't use latex gloves, simply because I don't like them, maybe my luck will run out one day, maybe it won't.

I can remember a time when no body ever worried about such things and people did not get sick.

Maybe in my case it is a desire to hang on to the past, all of the diseases and parasites we have discussed, with the exception of CWD have been in existance for as long as humans and animals have.

It has just been during the past 20 years or so, that people have become so concerned with health issues and cleanliness, to the point that I feel the human body has changed to the point that many of the natural immunities and anti-bodies that were in our individual systems have died off, to the point where an organism/germ/pathogen that kills people today, would maybe have given a few people the shits for a couple of days 30 years ago.

Then they would have been over it and developed a certain amount of immunity to that bug. JMO.

My philosophy on game meat is if the animal does not look right or act right before the shot, don't shoot.

If you are more comfortable wearing latex gloves while skinning an animal, by all means do so.

If the internal organs, especially the liver are discolored or smell strange, don't eat the meat.

For the meat you do eat, clean and store properly and when cooking it make sure it reaches the internal recommended heat level for the recommended amount of time before serving.

I got a ham in the oven right now off a 245 pound boar I killed friday evening. We grilled the back straps friday night. You have to remember to cook it real slow in my opinion. I promise you if I cook you some you wont know or care what it came from. I smoke a 220 pound boar a couple weeks ago for my sons wedding (about 100 pounds of meat) and we fed 118 people with no left overs. It all in how you cook it. The rest is myth!!!!!

Gato -

Lepto is spread by urine. I blame low water holes for the rapid spread. I have never vaccinated grown cattle for lepto ... been doing this since I was 10 years old ... but do it twice a year now. I also filled in the low water hole. All the water sources are now either very temporary, live water, or large.

I know that coyotes and deer can spread it as well, but I am more suspicious of hogs, considering the particular location of this hole and the number of hogs.

I know that a human does Not want to contract that disease ... it makes for a nasty infection.

Rem, I do not doubt it. Not doubting anybody's assertions. What I remain curious about is the extent to which the hog's diet factors into all of this discussion.

CHC,
Of course the Federal Wildlife Lab that is/was at Fort Collins Colorado, quarantine and shutting off funding, releasing into the wild version is plausible. As with so many things, it seems that after twisting it around, a guy really doesn’t have a clue as to what the real truth is. I think that is somebody’s intent. If you have ever had to deal with courts and attorneys, what I’m saying is very clear. Just like those folks arguing with me about whether the cause of my truck running rough is really related to gas I just bought from them, and whether the cause of my intestinal distress was really from the damn turkey. I mean, there are plenty of folks that would argue that just because it walks like a duck, and quacks is no assurance that it is actually a duck - it could be a quacking platypussy. This twisting of the truth thing really pisses me off, but it is so common in practically everything, from the little stuff to the big issues. It plays into our collective distrust of the federal government, and govt. in general. Again, as with human nature, it all depends on what version one wants to support, and what he chooses to filter out in his reality check, as to what he chooses to believe. As for me, it could go either way, because I don’t have the ability to really factually sort it out. I just know the disease exists, and it was caused by something we did as humans to phuck up the scheme of things, and it was not a natural act of nature. If anything it’s an anomaly or abomination of nature, much like this plague or surge in the hog population is because something is out of balance, probably with the natural predator thing.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m agreeing with you, and just adding my perspective. I think there may be something to what you say about our ability to fend off stuff nowadays, compared to several years ago. That old timer I mentioned says things like “we’re Alaskans and we’re tough”, like attitude really has anything to do with getting sick from bugs or not. But after all, he didn’t get sick from the turkey, and apparently he acts that way in the prep of food all the time. Maybe he has developed some sort of stand-off in his system with the bugs, and my system doesn’t’ have such a treaty. I remember once that I shot a particularly bad smelling old Sitka buck. The darn thing was so rutty, and his neck was so swollen, and the glands on his hocks were rancid. The fat on that deer had actually turned gray. I took it over to his house to hang it for aging – at least – and he practically ranted about how such a deer had “flavor”. I gave it to him. IMO anyone who could eat that buck and call it flavorful, has a tough gut and palate, or perhaps can't smell or taste what he is eating. I tried to cook part of that deer, and put some of it in a heavily spiced stew, and I could still smell it. It ruined the stew for me and my guest.

KB

Mark, not sure if you know it or not, but from the time I was taking Vocational Agriculture in High School in Newcastle Texas till this day, I have been told/asked by the various ranchers I have dealt with to kill all skunks I saw on their land, because skunks carry and spread Lepto, and evidently at a high rate.

Kabluewy, that was a good post.

May be...I had never heard that, always associated them with rabies.