# Feral Hog Flavor



## Paulj2 (Oct 12, 2010)

Never having eaten feral hog, is the flavor close to domestic hog or does it have more of a wild/gamey flavor?

Thanks


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## hassell (Feb 9, 2010)

Never have tried it but imagine if its like most wild animals what ever it eats is a big factor on how it will taste plus how much its chased around!!!


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

Most hunters don't eat them from what I hear but it may have something to do with parasites too. Be sure if you do eat one it is cooked properly, even domestic hogs get them but they are treated chemically I think.


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## Antlerz22 (Apr 18, 2011)

Ive shot wild hog and eaten as well and it was every bit as good as domestic/tame hog, only that IMO it was definitely leaner as they get around a lot. I am not sure how their diet comes into play as far as affecting taste, but mine was tasty and my wife even said so, and shes skeptical on wild critters we've never tried before.


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## Paulj2 (Oct 12, 2010)

Antlerz22 said:


> Ive shot wild hog and eaten as well and it was every bit as good as domestic/tame hog, only that IMO it was definitely leaner as they get around a lot. I am not sure how their diet comes into play as far as affecting taste, but mine was tasty and my wife even said so, and shes skeptical on wild critters we've never tried before.


So you would say it compared well with flavor of domestic?

Thanks


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## wilded (Feb 10, 2010)

Most feral hogs are so lean you have to add fat to make sausage and burger. The key for me is no boars over about 150 pounds and no sows over about 250 pounds. If it is borderline on size I will not dress it out if it has a strong smell. I have never been able to get that strong smell out of the meat. Dress your hogs quick and get them on ice. I then leave them on ice and drain the meat for at least 24 hours adding ice as needed so the meat bleeds out completely. Put rock salt on the top of the ice to make it last longer. I leave the drain on my cooler open and prop up the other end so it drains out of the cooler and place the cooler in the shade or the garage where it runs out under the door. Then cook as you would any other lean meat just make sure it is cooked all the way through. JMHO


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## bar-d (Feb 3, 2010)

I usually cook a couple at our Christmas shindig. We always use young pigs at about 40 to 50 lbs. and never have had any trouble with "gamey" flavor. Like Ed says, they must be dressed quickly and have time to bleed out completely. We season them and smoke them for about 5 hours or so over a mesquite fire then shred the meat off of the bones. Half of the meat is put back in a foil covered pan by itself and half is cooked in a mushroom gravy. After another 3 hours or so, we remove covers from both pans and brown the meat. Open a cold one and have at it.


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## ebbs (Feb 7, 2010)

Danny that sounds incredible!!! Dangit, I'm hungry again!


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## Antlerz22 (Apr 18, 2011)

wilded said:


> Most feral hogs are so lean you have to add fat to make sausage and burger. The key for me is no boars over about 150 pounds and no sows over about 250 pounds. If it is borderline on size I will not dress it out if it has a strong smell. I have never been able to get that strong smell out of the meat. Dress your hogs quick and get them on ice. I then leave them on ice and drain the meat for at least 24 hours adding ice as needed so the meat bleeds out completely. Put rock salt on the top of the ice to make it last longer. I leave the drain on my cooler open and prop up the other end so it drains out of the cooler and place the cooler in the shade or the garage where it runs out under the door. Then cook as you would any other lean meat just make sure it is cooked all the way through. JMHO


 Come to think of it Ed my hog was a boar but he was only about 80~90 lbs and we cleaned him within 1 hour after I shot him and it was still fairly warm and steaming as we cleaned it--it was cool outside. But tasty he was.,


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## On a call (Mar 3, 2010)

I have had tried two boar and neither was fit to eat...but every sow was great.


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

In a drift of pigs does only the dominant male breed the females ? or is it like a jenny craig orgy ?

You Michigan boys better get on them pigs.


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## Antlerz22 (Apr 18, 2011)

Ive been told that a true wild hog will have wallers on them. Its a piece of fatty tissue? thats got hair on it and hangs off either side of the pig on their necks near the shoulders. Im not sure if doemestic pigs mixing with true wild pigs will develop these or not, but all the wild pigs Ive seen with them were black and those wild ones that had domestic colorations didnt. Any body else notice wallers or not etc..?


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## bar-d (Feb 3, 2010)

I hate to be ignert (Texas spelling) but the only hog waller I ever heard of is where they waller (also Texas spelling) up the ground.


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## wilded (Feb 10, 2010)

Antlerz22 said:


> Ive been told that a true wild hog will have wallers on them. Its a piece of fatty tissue? thats got hair on it and hangs off either side of the pig on their necks near the shoulders. Im not sure if doemestic pigs mixing with true wild pigs will develop these or not, but all the wild pigs Ive seen with them were black and those wild ones that had domestic colorations didnt. Any body else notice wallers or not etc..?


Actually there are no real native wild hogs in America as the only native hog like creature, the Javelina is not a true hog. Feral hogs can be hogs that just escaped from the farm yesterday or they can be decedents of the first hogs brought by the Spanish to the Americas. Which ever they are after a generation in the wild for all practical purposes they are wild. Later hunters brought in European wild hogs and released them to hunt on hunt clubs. Some of these escaped and crossed with feral wild hogs creating crossbreeds. There are very few over 50 % European type hogs in the wild. That being said some of the feral hogs after a few generations in the wild look just like true European wild hogs but are really what we call razorbacks. Even many of the babies are striped like a watermelon in color when they are born but develop a color usually black brown or reddish brown as they grow older. The flap of skin you are talking about also occurs on some domestic hogs and not really on very many others so it is not an indicator of wild blood. Having killed well over 1000 hogs in wildlife control I have only seen a couple with the flaps and both were solid red hogs that looked to have not been far removed from the farm. I have seen young wild hogs every color of the rainbow including some that looked like they were bred in a show barn. They will however change as they grow older and do not feed out well if captured and penned. JMHO ET


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## bar-d (Feb 3, 2010)

Very informative as usual Ed.







To me, they are all just a pain in the pocketbook.


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## Bigdrowdy1 (Jan 29, 2010)

Properly Prepared Pork is Perfect for the Palet or Party


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

Good post Ed, thanks for the info.


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## Antlerz22 (Apr 18, 2011)

bar-d said:


> I hate to be ignert (Texas spelling) but the only hog waller I ever heard of is where they waller (also Texas spelling) up the ground.


 I will make it a point to get some photos next opportunity and show you what Im talking about.


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## Antlerz22 (Apr 18, 2011)

wilded said:


> Actually there are no real native wild hogs in America as the only native hog like creature, the Javelina is not a true hog. Feral hogs can be hogs that just escaped from the farm yesterday or they can be decedents of the first hogs brought by the Spanish to the Americas. Which ever they are after a generation in the wild for all practical purposes they are wild. Later hunters brought in European wild hogs and released them to hunt on hunt clubs. Some of these escaped and crossed with feral wild hogs creating crossbreeds. There are very few over 50 % European type hogs in the wild. That being said some of the feral hogs after a few generations in the wild look just like true European wild hogs but are really what we call razorbacks. Even many of the babies are striped like a watermelon in color when they are born but develop a color usually black brown or reddish brown as they grow older. The flap of skin you are talking about also occurs on some domestic hogs and not really on very many others so it is not an indicator of wild blood. Having killed well over 1000 hogs in wildlife control I have only seen a couple with the flaps and both were solid red hogs that looked to have not been far removed from the farm. I have seen young wild hogs every color of the rainbow including some that looked like they were bred in a show barn. They will however change as they grow older and do not feed out well if captured and penned. JMHO ET


 The hogs I saw where captured in Quincy Florida, and there were no other colors but the black ones, so thats why I assumed only the blacks. And almost all that I saw had them on them. To say there arent any other colored hogs with the flaps I cant--but those I did see were only black. As far as only a few as you said having them, almost all they captured had them. So Im thinking its some kind of a genetic thing going on that maybe hasnt spread as far to the west and or is more common in that particular area. And in the Mobile river delta, and like you said- Ive seen hogs that literally looked like porky pig but were as wild as ever.


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## Antlerz22 (Apr 18, 2011)

Bigdrowdy1 said:


> Properly Prepared Pork is Perfect for the Palet or Party


 Hey wait a minute! I know the 6 p's and it goes Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance:sheep:


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## halfbreed (Aug 13, 2012)

those hogs you are talking about are a distinct variaty of hog and the term is wattles and we didn't have them in texas for a while but now find an occasional one [ wonder how ] they are like the mule footed hogs that we didn't youse to have either .you will occasionally find a hog with both wattles and mule feet but they are mainly and east coast variaty . the true wild pigs are the russion or uerasion pigs wich all domesticated pigs came from after selective breeding . there are some crazy looking porkers out there especially on the islands heck they look prehistoric lol the standard wattled and mule footed hogs are jet black but like angus cattle you will find some reds . and unfortunatly we have a good population of russions to deal with they are a whole new ballgame when running with dogs . but as far as eating i prefer them to domestic to me the flavor is tottaly differant . and we eat em boars and sows alike right out of the skin like bananas lol if you smoke it right even road kill taste great lol


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## chuck richards (Feb 1, 2010)

Son and I shot a 225lb boar last March. We washed the hog for about 20 minutes with running water to remove most of the foul stench. Then we dressed it out, iced it down and took it home. All the while being very careful not to conaminate the meat with anything that touched the outer skin.

I was pleasantly surprised at the flavor of this pig. Though it was not domestic pork, it had a mild flavor and actually tasted great. The texture was a bit different but easily cut and devoured. I have e few more pounds left in the freezer and really need to get it out an try some more recepies.


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## toasty (Dec 18, 2012)

If any of you pork hunters would like to donate meat to someone who has no wild pigs running around feel free to pm me


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## chopayne (Jan 26, 2013)

wilded said:


> Most feral hogs are so lean you have to add fat to make sausage and burger. The key for me is no boars over about 150 pounds and no sows over about 250 pounds. If it is borderline on size I will not dress it out if it has a strong smell. I have never been able to get that strong smell out of the meat. Dress your hogs quick and get them on ice. I then leave them on ice and drain the meat for at least 24 hours adding ice as needed so the meat bleeds out completely. Put rock salt on the top of the ice to make it last longer. I leave the drain on my cooler open and prop up the other end so it drains out of the cooler and place the cooler in the shade or the garage where it runs out under the door. Then cook as you would any other lean meat just make sure it is cooked all the way through. JMHO :eating:


Doesnt salt make ice melt quicker?


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## HunterGatherer (Dec 18, 2012)

I see a lot of opinions here in this thread. I won't reply to every point. I will just say that wild hog meat is one of the best tasting meat there is, period. The first wild porker I shot was in Texas on my deer stand. I like to spend every moment of available/legal shooting light possible before I call it a day when out in the field. This one particular evening, I was counting down from ten, when I would get up and call it a day. I'm on about seven and I hear something. Sounded like a popping noise. I strained my eyes and I see 100 yards out, the outline of a hog in the darkness. I knew they were around, but I had never seen one. Well, didn't take me long to decide I was taking him and I would deal with the particulars afterward. I took him down, a 100 LB boar. Next weekend, we roasted up a leg at the camp. Marinated in Italian dressing over night. Braised on the open fire for a half hour. Then we wrapped it up with a can a beer, onions, peppers, and seasonings in two layers of heavy-duty foil, tight, and placed it in a home-made dutch oven contraption over a wood fire for 5 to 6 hours. Roasted it long and slow. You want to talk about tasty and tender! I have been hooked every since. In fact, I prefer wild hog over whitetail deer. Parasites? C'mon! We eat wild caught meat all the time! Anyone who talks about being worried about parasites here on this website, I'm gonna call you out! LOL! Anyone who talks about parasites in wild hog is spending too much time reading government sponsored scare tactics on the internet and not enough time in the field!

Seriously, wild hog is right up there with axis deer on my list of desireable meat. *Get You Some!*


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## wilded (Feb 10, 2010)

Salt in a cooler makes the ice get colder just like in an ice cream freezer. Did you ever make homemade ice cream. It won't make in a hand crank freezer without salt. ET


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## HunterGatherer (Dec 18, 2012)

wilded said:


> http://wildedtx.blogspot.com/


I looked at your website. I see you know what axis deer tastes like!


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## wilded (Feb 10, 2010)

An axis doe steak is my favorite meat even over beef. ET


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## chopayne (Jan 26, 2013)

Ahh thanks Wilded. Axis doe, isnt that a bit expensive to eat since theyre only on ranches?


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## wilded (Feb 10, 2010)

About $300.00 per doe here to buy one. I have not had it in two years. I used to guide for a ranch that let me take several a year in my deal with them. I sure miss having a freezer full of Axis. ET


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## HunterGatherer (Dec 18, 2012)

chopayne said:


> Ahh thanks Wilded. Axis doe, isnt that a bit expensive to eat since theyre only on ranches?


There are axis deer running wild in Texas.


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## HunterGatherer (Dec 18, 2012)

Plus, in Texas, because axis deer are considered a non-native exotic, you can hunt them 365 days per year!


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## wilded (Feb 10, 2010)

Yes there are more Axis in Texas than in their native habitat. The places that have them charge high dollar lease fees to hunt on the properties. Remember there is very little public hunting in Texas.


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## Bait washer (Feb 26, 2013)

wilded said:


> Salt in a cooler makes the ice get colder just like in an ice cream freezer. Did you ever make homemade ice cream. It won't make in a hand crank freezer without salt. ET


We use an ice, salt and water slurry in our kill boxes when off shore for a quick chill on fish.

Ice and water will only get to 32 degrees at best. By adding salt you can get it down to 25 degrees.

And adding salt does not increase the ice melting much because of the decrease in temp.


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