# feral pigs



## GBov (May 4, 2008)

Hi, the area we are looking at moving to has quite a few feral pigs and my sis in law has told me I am welcome to shoot as many on her land as I want:banana02:but my question is, what do they taste like? I have been reading on the pig forum about boar taint so should I target sows or will boars be eatable or not?

Sorry for the silly questions but having never tasted anything wilder than free range long white its got me wondering lol

cheers


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

if you just want the meat go with sows & small boars. how big you can go on the boars depends on whether they have russian blood or not.


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

Pops2 said:


> if you just want the meat go with sows & small boars. how big you can go on the boars depends on whether they have russian blood or not.



How on earth can I tell if they have russian blood or not, listen for an accent when they grunt? lol

and its just meat I want, a freezer full and a whole pig pig roast is my goal, just learning as much as I can before I find myself out in the woods for the first time looking at a heard of pigs rootling round and wondering which one will taste the best


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## Guest (Jun 20, 2008)

I'd think long and hard before moving to an area with a serious feral pig problem if you want to actually plant anything.

As was said already shoot the sows, shoats, and younger boars. Sometimes the older boars are good eating, sometimes they are so gamey you can't even eat the sausage for the stink.

.....Alan.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> How on earth can I tell if they have russian blood or not, listen for an accent when they grunt? lol


Russian Boars are darker colored and MEAN. A purebred Russian Boar can be 4 ft tall at the shoulder. They are the only truly "wild" hogs in most of the US.
"Feral" hogs are just domestic breeds running loose


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Wild Pig is good eating.Not all Russian Hogs are Dark.I've killed Pure Bred Russian Hogs that had light brown and I've killed Feral Hogs that were Black.

I've found Russian Hogs to be smarter and meaner.And it seems their cutters are longer.

big rockpile


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

I remember seeing a herd of these pigs from the road on day, they looked just like any farmers pigs, just fatter, happier and with more variation in colour. Butterballs with feet really, cant wait till I get the chance to pop a few in the freezer.

Thanks for the help guys, it would have been a shame and a waste to kill one and not be able to eat it.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

If you shoot one go for the ear.If you want Heart,Lung go way forward and Low.

Here is some Ferals we killed last time we was out










big rockpile


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## netexan (Jan 3, 2008)

I've never experienced any foul flavors from hogs up to about 250# though I've not killed or cooked anything bigger. I also smoke all of the wild hog meat low and slow with a combination of hickory and mesquite woods so that may have something to do with it also.


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## EDDIE BUCK (Jul 17, 2005)

If any of you folks get the Outdoor Channel,Advantage Outdoors, this evening at 5:30 they will be showing hunting wild hogs using Thermal Imagery scopes. I saw it last week. Check out all the damage they can do to woods and farm land. Eddie


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

the difference between a russian (eurasian wild boar) & a feral is simple
a feral will run a little ways, get gassed, then try to kill you & your dogs. a russian will run a long, long ways, get gassed then try to kill you & your dogs.

seriously ask around someone will know if there is "russian" blood in the local hogs. someone knows how they got there in the first place & knows what's in them.

our local population has russian blood on ferals so the meat is hit or miss w/boars over 100#


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Pops2 said:


> the difference between a russian (eurasian wild boar) & a feral is simple
> a feral will run a little ways, get gassed, then try to kill you & your dogs. a russian will run a long, long ways, get gassed then try to kill you & your dogs.
> 
> seriously ask around someone will know if there is "russian" blood in the local hogs. someone knows how they got there in the first place & knows what's in them.
> ...


One thing I noticed with pure Russians is they love to swim and they will hunt for meat.In other words if you are hunting them,they might be hunting you.The only true Pure Russians that I've found is in Europe.

This one was in mountains of Austria.I like it because of the off color and size of cutters.Wasn't a Big Hog,but we still figured it was around 6 years old.I'm not saying there is not Russian Blood in Hogs around here,just hard to find any pure.










big rockpile


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## ChristyACB (Apr 10, 2008)

Not that I hunt them, but they sure did hunt us at my home farm! They used to get into the horse pasture at night and go after the horses. During bad times, either my dad or me had to sleep in the family room for quick access to the deck and near pasture in order to shoot quick. Quick on floodlights and the whole nine yards. What a pain!

In a couple of weeks we got three and a few more got away. First 2 we had processed and they tasted good. Third was hugemongous and it took forever to get him so I spent a miserable pre-dawn morning hauling this thing way into the back woods so the animals could have it.

Not sure about russian or regular, but we always went by the thought that the more ticked off they were and the longer it took to get them, the more gamey the meat would be. It may be pure bunkus, but it seemed to hold true. Now that I think about it, that could be simply adrenaline or what not.

Any truth to that from anyone else?


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

Rockpile
not true there are plenty of small pockets of eurasian wild boar that escape high fence operations. the funny thing is most people would disbelieve your boar is really a boar on the color alone. no matter how many pinto colored whitetail you show them they insist off colored boar are mixes.
head & body shape are the best indicators. the long slanted head & high heavy shoulders are characteristic of true eurasian boar. the problem comes after 20 or more generations feral, hogs develop identical physical characteristics to eurasian wild boar.the determining factors that cause it are the demands of foraging and predation. the more demanding both are the faster they breed back toward the wild boar phenotype.


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## tamsam (May 12, 2006)

One way to kill the gamy taste is to slow boil in garlic or onion and then either bake it in a browning bag with fruit juice or a good beer. Another way I like to cook meat is put a cup of good bbq sauce in a pan and add about a half cup of soy sauce and enough water to cover the meat and bring to a boil and add the meat, then simmer until done and tender. Dang making me hungry. Wish we had some hogs here as meat is gonna get scarce. Good luck with your hunting. Sam


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## jen74145 (Oct 31, 2006)

GBov said:


> Thanks for the help guys, it would have been a shame and a waste to kill one and not be able to eat it.


Err... I would *_never_* say this about any other creature, but considering our pig population here, I wouldn't find it a tragedy to kill one and not eat it. There are way too many feral hogs, and they do not belong here in the first place. Dogs don't mind boar taint anyway.  

Dh has found himself hiding in a bundle of cattails and unable to see more than a few feet while a herd screamed and carried on all around him. There are stories of people having hogs burst out of clumps of weeds and disembowel the horse under them. This isn't Wilbur.


DH's favorite hunting spot... and yes, he forgot his boots, lol.


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

Actually, having read a bit more about the damage they do it mightnt be a bad idea to start feeding my dogs and cats on pork lol

beautifull mounted head Rock, I just love the colour, did the boby taste nice?


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

GBov said:


> Actually, having read a bit more about the damage they do it mightnt be a bad idea to start feeding my dogs and cats on pork lol
> 
> beautifull mounted head Rock, I just love the colour, did the boby taste nice?


Well my wife was cutting it up thought her knives wre dull.It was jusr tuff.Flavor was ok,but had to use the Slow Cooker.I killed a Feral Gilt that had been eating Acorns,she had clearish Fat and she was good.Plus she was ugly,had real long hair,Big scare on her face from fighting.Here is a pic of her.











big rockpile


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Here is another Russian,normal Color,but much Bigger.










big rockpile


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## PlowGirl (Nov 16, 2005)

Rockpile,

Do ya'll run the hogs with dogs or just go out with guns?


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

PlowGirl said:


> Rockpile,
> 
> Do ya'll run the hogs with dogs or just go out with guns?


If its cold out I like to Stalk them.Have hunted over Bait with Luck and have Spotlighted.

Have been out in Summer time,been 5 yards from them,didn't have a clue they were there until they would bust out of the brush.The one mount on the tree,I shot him after a rain,he come out feeding I shot him from the ground with a Muzzleloader.He come running right for me  Piled up at my feet.Guy that was with me thought I was Dead Meat,but we was laughing afterwards.Last time we was out had a Guy shoot one 4 times with 12ga. and Slugs before it dropped.

big rockpile


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## mousecat33 (Jan 9, 2004)

Van Zandt county is full of Russian cross....never seen thin sharp cutters like that RP!!! That scares the poop outta me!! Killed a shoat in march that had spots on one side and stripes on the other, she was mostly brown. Her 2 siblings that escaped my 223? One was black and the other was red. She was delicious. 8 lbs. and absolutely the best pork in the world.

mc and co


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## 2Dogs (Jul 18, 2008)

Wild hog is good eat'in. Tastes like chicken with a grunt.


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## swamp man (Dec 25, 2005)

The flavor also depends on what they've been foraging on. Even a big boar, if he's been feeding on AG land, robbing corn and whatnot, can have a pretty clean taste. Old boars that have been feeding mainly on acorns and other mast crops, are usually gonna' be gamey as all getout.
A friend of mine has hog problems at his place, and has to thin the herd prety often. They chase the deer off the corn feeders, and tear up everything in sight. He fills lengths of 4"pvc with corn, caps the ends, drills holes just big enough for a little corn to get shaken out of the tubes, and hangs the tubes from a tree. The hogs go bananas on the tubes tryin' to shake some corn out, it makes a heckuva' racket, and he shoots 'em outta' the kitchen window.


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