auction house pigs

[ratdog]

i thought i would look up hog hunting here in utah there are two places to hunt here around 50 miles from home .these land owners buy old pigs at the auction then turn them loose on there land they go some what wild i guess the pigs they buy they get for around 35 bucks then they guide you to the pigs you want to shoot 375 each .35 for skinning they load it and send to butcher then you get charged by the pound for curing and packaging or any thing else you might want done to it.some of the pigs weigh over 400 pounds. no russian bores .these guys are smart land owners.i have raised pigs not cheap bought for 50 bucks around 50 pounds of live pork spent a lot on feed. fed a lot of bread i noticed the breed of pig made quit a bit of difference how they tasted.my son gave me some Russian bore he shot in texas tasts alot different.

[Tommyt]

my son gave me some Russian bore he shot in texas tasts alot different

Good ??
 
What did you think of the wild hog taste
 
Tommyt

[RevJim]

 Hey there Ratdog, I live in Sandy! I and my friend went to the place at Castle Dale and shot a couple of condemned pigs there. It isn't the best way to do it, but it is the only way you "can" do it in Utah, unfortunately. You can go over to Colbran, colorado at "Little Creek" ranch and they have some wilder pigs out on the property, they even have dogs to to hunt with if that's your thing. His prices are higher though. I like to BBQ all my pork. I am going to the UP, MI in March to shoot a bonafide Russian boar. Always wanted to see that part of the country, and shoot those big wooley hogs!

[ratdog]

tommy i cooked some cops not really impressed i am a fussy eater going to cook a roast next in wine will see.

[swordfish]

tommy i cooked some cops not really impressed i am a fussy eater going to cook a roast next in wine will see.

I recommend the back straps instead of chops, same meat but they cook up better IMO.
250 deg. all day and the meat will fall off the bone if you cook up a small one whole.
I kill the big ones if people want me to get rid of them, but I kill the smaller ones to eat.
Wild boar is best cooked long, low, and lots of spices.
 
Good hunting

[Land_Owner]

How the pig is hunted and killed has a lot to do with how it tastes.  It should be easily understood that running a hog with dogs, and how it is eventually killed, in the sight and smell of man, isn't going to taste good compared to a naturally occurring, randomly foraging, at peace with the forest, shot through the heart (or spine or shoulder), dropped in its tracks, DRT pig.

The "Primordial Soup" of fight or flight adrenaline (and chemistry) being distributed in every artery, vein, and capillary throughout the muscles (meat) in the minutes (or hour) prior to death by dog run hog just does not taste good to the human palate.

Another bold and bad taste in hog is the number and placement of scent (musk) glands that if not double checked and removed before baking or roasting will poorly flavor every piece of meat on the grill or in the oven.

I am told that big old boar meat can be "seasoned" to taste significantly better if it is quartered, placed in a cooler filled with ice, the ice replenished as needed over three days, and the blood allowed to drain out of the muscle during that time.   I have not verified this.

[ratdog]

land owner tried a dutch oven roast browned on both sides first put crazy daves steak sause in cooked slow fell of bone it was bad hot or cold i didn't like it and wife didn't and she can't taste much my dogs really liked it ill stick with domestic cured pig i really only eat pork but not that much good luck with your pig hunting and keeping air heads off your land.

[tobster]

RevJim-What are condemned hogs?

[hillbill]

RevJim-What are condemned hogs?

yeah what are condemmed hogs? ive farmed all my life and never heard of one. even a old sow or boar is used to make sausage and othe pork products and still brings a decent price.

[RevJim]

  They were released on the property for the sole purpose of me hunting them down and killing them with extreme prejudice = "condemned", ha.

[tobster]

The pigs that I've seen go through the sale barn for $35.00  usually weigh around 35 pounds.

[Land_Owner]

ratdog...thanks.  Early on, we baked a ham once, from which the musk gland(s) had not been removed (discovered in the fat).  The smell throughout the house was horrendous.  The meat could not be eaten.  You could not get it past your nose.  You wouldn't have wanted to.  We went out to dinner that day.  Never again.  All glands are searched for and removed, now that we know to look for them.  I still get shivers from that meal but I still eat (a lot of) wild pork!

[hunt-m-up]

Sounds about as fun as shooting pen-raised pheasants, probably belly ruptures.

[markc]

We do not remove glands from the hams. We do bleed them out in ice for as long as 5 days. Until the melted ice runs clear.  Smoke in the smoke house with meat temps around 160 for 7 hrs, then into the oven at 250 (bake) until done.  We rub the hams with brown sugar and other spices before placing in the smoke house.   Never a bad taste at all that way.

[I make oil]

I kill many wild pigs every year.  Sows are never a problem.  Boars I castrate them as soon as I walk up on them.  I don't know if it helps but that's what the old timers say to do.  I then soak all wild pigs for at least 5 days preferably 7 in a large ice chest filled to cover the meat.  I drain the water every day and refill with ice.  (helps that I have a ice machine)  This gets all the blood out of the meat and makes it much better.  Sometimes even this can't help an old Boar hog.  If they still stink after 3 days I haul them off and feed the crabs.  I hunt in Louisiana and we have a real problem with feral pigs.  We kill them on sight.  4 years ago we killed 54 off our property.  I try to use them or give them away if I can't they go to the crabs.  They cause more damage than you can imagine.  If you don't have them count yourself lucky.

[Land_Owner]

I have run a 55 gallon/300 pound capacity corn slinger for almost 15 continuous years.  That's a lot of corn and a big price tag.  However, the smattering of corn eaten by the pigs I kill makes them taste so much better.  The mesentery that holds the lower GI organs together turns a nice corn yellow.  The fat layer gets thicker and yellowish (vs. gray) and I am not talking about a lot of corn a day.  Just a couple of pounds of corn per day for 10 to 12 wild pigs per day.  When the pigs are not getting the corn, the deer, coons, turkeys, squirrels, and doves are.

[Ironwood]

 Back about 40 something years ago we didn't kill boar hogs.  We had feral hogs here in East Texas but no where near what is here today.  Back then there were no automatic feeders.  Very few enclosed stands.  Hunting was done from the ground and on foot.
 
I always took my sows to the butcher shop. Hams, Shoulder Roast, and Pan Sausage was what the butcher made up for me.  Processed and wrapped back then, if I remember correctly, was only $35.00 no matter what size hog.  The sow was very good eating.  The meat was darker with hardly any fat.  Much better than commercial ham.
 
Of course all that has changed now. 
 
 
 
   
 
 

[gstewart44]

My experience has been very similar to what LandOwner describes above.    My first experience with a "dog run" boar cured me of chasing critters with dogs  -  when the animal starts running scared the adrenaline does kick in and after a while lactic acid will start to develop in the muscles.....if you drop the swine while all that is still in the meat, it gets a funk about it that is rather unpleasant to say the least.     
 
My only (thank goodness) experience with the glands not being removed was when my cousin said he would show me how to clean a hog real quick.     He missed on of the glands and when he put that hog in the smoker it smelled like something real rancid.    We didn't even try to eat it.    thought we could feed it to the dogs but they turned up their noses to it also.....
 
Nowadays we make sure there is plenty of water and ice on hand before we clean the pig.   If it is a boar over 100lbs I usually set him soak for a couple of days in the cooler with ice, water, and about a cup of apple cider vinegar.     The acetic acid in the vinegar softens the meat pretty well.