# Wild hogs



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I've been reading more stories about the expanding wild hog populations and am wondering how they taste? They must not be very good eating with the high cost of meat today if hunters can't keep the numbers thinned down.

Why aren't more of them going in the freezer? Too tough? Too lean?

That could be solved by trapping them and then feeding them for a month before butchering.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

fishhead said:


> I've been reading more stories about the expanding wild hog populations and am wondering how they taste? They must not be very good eating with the high cost of meat today if hunters can't keep the numbers thinned down.
> 
> Why aren't more of them going in the freezer? Too tough? Too lean?
> 
> That could be solved by trapping them and then feeding them for a month before butchering.


They taste great.Problem with keeping number down.A Sow may have up to 10 Pigs twice a year,the Gilts out of her first litter can have one litter in a year.So number sky rocket in no time.As far as hunters if they are killing them for meat the most they kill is 3 or 4 a year.

So you see it don't take long for numbers to get out of hand.

big rockpile


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

why feed them out catch them in the summer at night when they are young. barr them and turn them back out. catch them again in the fall when they are fat off acorns and fruit.

the problems w/ the spread of wild hogs is poor regulation that effectively puts closed seasons on them, [email protected]$$ releasing them on purpose and everybody wanting you to shell out big bucks to fix their problem.
add to that, truly wild hogs are extremely smart, aggressive, w/ a nose & ears like a whitetail and far better eyes than they get credit for. they can run longer & harder than a deer. they can eat stuff that you can't imagine anything being able to eat. and under the most productive circumstances (deep deep south) they can raise the better part of FIVE litters in a two year period. they travel A LOT so they can't be patterned like deer. the most effective ways of hunting them require an investment of time & money most fellas can't justify to the spouse. they have a learning curve like a horseshoe. in TX some have learned to hide from helicopters after seeing others shot. once they learn something is a threat they'll avoid it pretty much for life.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Here in MN we have a food shelve program that accepts deer. The deer are processed and the meat is distributed at the food shelves. The cost to the hunter is $0.


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## zant (Dec 1, 2005)

Here in S.Al we are starting to see more coming up from Fla,local farmers will pay for you to shoot them...I don't see how they can't taste good as the one's around here are eating good crops...I don't think the season closes on them down here...It's amazing how much destruction they can do to a field.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

If their habits change too much to pattern why not bait them to a hidden blind like we do bear here?


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## mrpink (Jun 29, 2008)

just got finished cleaning two tonight. have put 13 in the freezer in a month. we trap most of ours. some of the big boars have taint but the sows and the smaller boars taste fine. I think alot of hunters nowadays don't want to fool with them.

greg


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## Slugmar (May 26, 2008)

I would love to get some here but it seams like the only place to hunt them are on private land anymore.

PLus im just getting into hunting and dont really know to look on public lands at but im learning.


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## Cason (May 28, 2007)

My brother went hog hunting in Texas one year.. and passed through here on his way home. He stopped at my Subway store to freeze his kill. I was shocked the next day when I went in- what the Hell is THAT? Lined up on the bottom shelf were ~ 15 small pigs- vacuum packed. He said they are good eating.. I don't know.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

mrpink said:


> just got finished cleaning two tonight. have put 13 in the freezer in a month. we trap most of ours. some of the big boars have taint but the sows and the smaller boars taste fine. I think alot of hunters nowadays don't want to fool with them.
> 
> greg


I was thinking that trapping might be the way to harvest large numbers.


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

trapping and dogging are the two most effective ways. either one can fill a freezer to overflowing. and either one requires a sizable investment of time (and money) to be effective, which is where the unhappy spouse comes in for a lot of fellas. don't forget what i said about the learning curve. you educate them trapping and you'll have to take up dogging. dogging is the only way to catch the ones that have been educated to baits, spotlights and traps.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

What about baiting them to a concealed stand like bear hunters do here in MN?


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

it'll work at first but you'll educate the others and after a bit bait stops working.


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## Tom Bombadil (Mar 25, 2008)

Some guys I work with went down to the southern half of Georgia and went to this place where they took you out to hunt wild boar. They each brought down one. The meat from one tasted AWESOME and the meat from the other one was not as good - some of it tasted bad and the rest was still a little "gamey".


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

There was a news story yesterday about some jerk smuggled 30+ wild hogs in from out of state and then released them in WI establish a population for guided hunts. His fine could be $30,000+. Not enough IMO.

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/29630244.html


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## colby1979 (Sep 29, 2008)

I harvest a few large pigs every year and enjoy them year round. The ones we have out here are great. I shot one a few years back that was 465 pounds and we processed with the assistance of my friends meat saw and made little t-bone steaks, man were they good! They are also great for chicken frying, roasts, asado, sausage and my other fav jalapeno wraps. Man, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Hog dog hunting is very exciting! You should try to do that but it requires a lot of your time and money to get a bay pen set up then raise up the dogs to understand they're born to hunt and get the feral hogs only then take 'em to the woods with the possiblity they can get hurt or killed. I was starting to get into that in TX then ended up moving to KS...they have feral hogs in Udall apparently and I'm now trying to find a way to get 'em hogs!


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Twenty years ago there were 8 states with wild hog populations. Now it it up to 38 states. Most of these states have tried to eradicate them. Some states spent a lot of money. So far no state has been able to get rid of them once they are here.
Hunt clubs get $3000 and up for an elk hunt and over a grand for deer. A hog hunt is cheaper and have become quite popular. Lots of wild hogs have ben shipped to these Hunt Clubs in Michigan and others got them to raise and sell to the hunt clubs. One guy brought in 250 to his 40 acre fenced swamp. Within 90 days, they were gone, spotted in three counties. All hunters are encouraged to shoot any they see, anytime. The USDA spent a bunch of cash testing domestic hogs and after a decade were able to get rid of the pig disease psudorabies. These wild hogs, however, can still be carriers of psudorabies. Would be easy for a wild hog to infect a bunch of domestic hogs.


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## jamala (May 4, 2007)

we trap them and feed them for a few months and then to the freezer they go, we just got one this morning and she is in the pen now.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

haypoint said:


> Twenty years ago there were 8 states with wild hog populations. Now it it up to 38 states. Most of these states have tried to eradicate them. Some states spent a lot of money. So far no state has been able to get rid of them once they are here.
> Hunt clubs get $3000 and up for an elk hunt and over a grand for deer. A hog hunt is cheaper and have become quite popular. Lots of wild hogs have ben shipped to these Hunt Clubs in Michigan and others got them to raise and sell to the hunt clubs. One guy brought in 250 to his 40 acre fenced swamp. Within 90 days, they were gone, spotted in three counties. All hunters are encouraged to shoot any they see, anytime. The USDA spent a bunch of cash testing domestic hogs and after a decade were able to get rid of the pig disease psudorabies. These wild hogs, however, can still be carriers of psudorabies. Would be easy for a wild hog to infect a bunch of domestic hogs.


Haypoint, I think as long as you have any kind of hunting liscense you can shoot them in Michigan now, is that right?
I think they are in even more counties here in Michigan now. Peolple up around are area have said they seen them too. They will destroy a farmers field in no time.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

haypoint said:


> Twenty years ago there were 8 states with wild hog populations. Now it it up to 38 states. Most of these states have tried to eradicate them. Some states spent a lot of money. So far no state has been able to get rid of them once they are here.
> Hunt clubs get $3000 and up for an elk hunt and over a grand for deer. A hog hunt is cheaper and have become quite popular. Lots of wild hogs have ben shipped to these Hunt Clubs in Michigan and others got them to raise and sell to the hunt clubs. One guy brought in 250 to his 40 acre fenced swamp. Within 90 days, they were gone, spotted in three counties. All hunters are encouraged to shoot any they see, anytime. The USDA spent a bunch of cash testing domestic hogs and after a decade were able to get rid of the pig disease psudorabies. These wild hogs, however, can still be carriers of psudorabies. Would be easy for a wild hog to infect a bunch of domestic hogs.


Well here in Missouri you can no longer ship Wild Hogs across state line.As far as Fenced acres I think here it can't be less than 300 acres.All the Hogs are to be contained if any get out the owner is charged for damages.

I hunted one place that had pure Russian Boars from Austria.These hogs were brought in through Canada the security was so tight on these Hogs if one got out it would be a miracle.One thing about these Hogs they knew how to hunt as good as the ones hunting them.It was really fun that was hard to find anywhere else.But this Guy was put out of Business by the state law.

big rockpile


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## Oldcountryboy (Feb 23, 2008)

They have a few wild hogs around here where I'm from but I have never seen one yet. 

Personally I wouldn't mind being able to harvest a few wild pigs every year. I wouldn't raise them anymore if I could just go out and shoot one.


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## yachtnick05 (Feb 2, 2006)

zant said:


> Here in S.Al we are starting to see more coming up from Fla,local farmers will pay for you to shoot them...I don't see how they can't taste good as the one's around here are eating good crops...I don't think the season closes on them down here...It's amazing how much destruction they can do to a field.


Where in S AL. I will hunt for free my son and i need the meat.
















m














my son and I


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## swamp man (Dec 25, 2005)

jamala said:


> we trap them and feed them for a few months and then to the freezer they go, we just got one this morning and she is in the pen now.


Yep, common practice in these parts, and it sure cleans up the flavor.

For those who ain't aware, how the meat tastes depends on the forage and other factors. A hog that's been browsing farmland (especially cornfields) is gonna' taste waaaaaay different that a hog that's been eating out of the swamp or hardwood forest.
Old boars tend to have a more gamey taste, too. For the freezer, I'll take a youngish sow over a big boar hawg any day. I prefer the flavor, and ain't faced with trying to figure out how to haul 450 lbs of pure stinkiness out of the swamp.


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