usable meat on hog,taste?

[hans g./UpS]

Is there a rule of thumb asto amount of boned meat versus live/dressed weight on wild hog?
Not having tasted wild hog before,how does it compare to domestic pork?
Finally,any difference in curing/smoking wild hog versus domestic pork?
Thanks.

[Oldtimer]

First of all, I think that you wll be able to figure about 50% of live weight for the meat.  All meat is influenced by what it is fed, so that there can be no one answer about the taste.  I once was boat camping on a island on the west coast of Florida and there were hogs on the island.  Our host had an M-! carbine on his boat to kill sharks. I wanted to borrow it to hunt the hogs, but he said that they lived on fish washed up on shore and the meat would taste like fish cooked in bacon grease.  Finally, wild or feral hogs don't have as much fat as domestic hogs, and you have to make allowance for the difference in preparing the meat.  I will say that the worst I ever had was mighty good.

[markc]

they taste better than any store bought pork and dare I say, taste better than whitetail deer  too.
markc :-)

[hicard]

I take my hogs to the butcher and have it all ground mixed with cow fat and spiced medium.  They taste better than store bought sausage.  I make hamburgers out of them, use them in chili and any other application you would use hamburger.  I like it better than the best hamburger.

[Lawdog]

Wild Boar is some of the best meat you can get.  I butcher all mine just like I would a tame hog.  Steaks, chops, hams, sausage even bacon.  The most important thing to remember is the thoroughly bleed the hog.  Most if not all the so called wild taste is in the blood.  I many times soak the body of wild hogs in cold water to get all the blood out.  As stated use cow fat for sausage making.  Grain of the meat is finer on wild hogs than tame ones too.  Like I said best eating out there.  Lawdog
 

[howie1968]

I agree  with  all  of  you  but  on  some  big   boars    they  do  stink  and  the  meat  is  strong  smelling  the  main  thing  is getting  it  processed quickly  and  cleanly  no urine blood   guts   or  other  conaminents  on  the  meat.   i  agree  much  better  than  venison.   they  can  be  tough  to  skin  especially  around  the  shoulder  area

[JDSRPH1225]

i agree withlawdog. bleeding makes a difference, even with deer. as i type, i'm eating sausage from a wild florida sow, and it's great. i'm glad that i finally found something fun to do at disney. it makes it that much easier to go again next year. jds :grin:

[JeffG]

That's true, I was surprised at the size of the intact full bladder my buddy removed from his boar during gutting, gotta be careful!