[bo]

How hard is it to field dress and process those hogs? I've got a friend that wants me to shoot some off of his property and I won't do it unless I can eat them.

[loopy]

As for eating them, avoid large males.  They stink, their meat stinks.  Perfect ideal size is 80-120 pounds of either sex or less than 200 pound male.  I have made delicious sausage of a very large (450+ sow).  I would avoid large boars for food but you should have no trouble eating the others. 

As for cleaning them, well, their hide is very tough.  Skinning them is not exactly fun, but is doable. 

After many years of dulling hunting and pocket knives I found this secret.

Utility knifes - with good disposable blades.  I really like these titanium ones, they hold up well.  And when your done, you throw them away and do not have to sharpen anything.  They make cleaning these things much easier.  Go to amazon and read the reviews on a search for "lexon titanium blades".  They fit into any regular utility knife like a stanley or the like. 

.. second, after skinned, I use a dewalt cordless sawsall to remove my roasts at the joints and remove the feet.  Sometimes I can go from live pig to dead pig to 2 shoulders and 2 hams in the cooler on ice in under 10 minutes.  I'v never brought the ribs home because they go on the smoker at camp. 

[bo]

Any diseases or that they need to be watched for?  How about any musk sacks that need to be removed quickly? I assume you wear disposable gloves when dressing them.

Thanks.

[loopy]

I meant to say Lenox blades not lexon.

For diseases, I dont do any lab testing or the like.  If the animal looks healthy I assume it is, if it looks sick I assume it is.  I do cook any game animal to 160 internal which would kill any parasites. 

Yes I do wear disposable gloves, you can see my son wearing a pair in the previous picture. 

I do not remove any glands, just pull them up by their hocks in a gambrel, skin away the hide on the roasts, make cuts, wash them under fresh water, and put it in cooler on ice. 

Perhaps this is not the best thread for this discussion, if you want start a new one I'll try to answer any questions you or others may have.  I wouldn't mind learning new things from other hunters or animal farmers as well  

[thebigbaker]

How do you have the temp probe set up?  Mine sits at the side.

Drilled a small hole in the side of the barrel, then stuck a spare turkey fryer probe (extra long) in there and secured it to the outside with duct tape to keep it level on the inside.

Is this a dial thermometer?  I'm spoiled by my digital remote temperature probe - I can read it from the kitchen while I do other things.

I've got a Redi Check digital with a probe for the meat and a probe for temp inside the smoker.  Amazing how much off the temp gauge is that came with my Brinkmann Trail Master Limited smoker.  I can set the the temp probe next to the meat to get exact smoker temp where my meat sits.  The remote transmitter is nice cause I can sit it in the kitchen like you and keep an eye on it.  Comes with alarms to let me know when the meat has hit temps or when the heat inside gets too high or low, but don't use that feature.  My next gadget is a fan that attaches to the smoke box inlet to control the air flow to keep steady temps.

[boulderbrewer]

Everything went well, finished cooking a bit early! It was like cutting into a wet sponge. It was wonderful.

Before



After

[tschmidlin]

Drool . .  .

[maxieboy]

Sorry about the bandwidth, but, LOVE IT! Git r done. No factory farm meat there. Way to bring the young man up.

[bluesman]

Beautiful color man! 

[bluesman]

Unfortunately...there's no chance of me getting any of them around my house. 

[boulderbrewer]

The bird was a our own pastured broad breasted white. I got all 10 to live to full size. Not bad for a $3.89 and 16 weeks.

The best wild hog I had was a bar boar that my roomate shot while deer hunting. That was some great eating. We did a have for the superbowl that year, I still drool thinking about it!

Our pork is raised by our friends a tamaworth/Large Black cross. It is very good pork. Not the store bought the junk. Just saying. Find a good reputable hog grower if you can't kill your own.

Loopy,
Great way to raise your kids that way! That is cool you brought the kids out for some hunting!

[boulderbrewer]

Beautiful color man! 

Cool, I thought it was a bit light, cooked her a touch hot at 300.

[euge]

Beautiful color man! 

Cool, I thought it was a bit light, cooked her a touch hot at 300.

Beautiful. That is one large bird.

[boulderbrewer]

Less than 12#, great bird but the bourbon reds are even better, pictures do anything about taste.

[phillamb168]

NICE! Although, what's the difference between wild hogs and wild boar?

Around here we've got a lot (a LOT) of wild boar, you see them just sitting in the fields. Most of the hunters I've seen use dogs and then if they're sows or small males they just use a big bowie knife, no rifles/shotguns. I have to admit I kinda like that approach, but if it's my kid on a hunt I'm gonna prefer he uses a rifle :-)

My uncle-in-law lives in the suburbs of Orleans but he goes hunting about all the time, you can tell his driveway from the others because there's usually a red stain flowing down towards the road.