Pig hunting

[10-Ring]

A couple of buddy's and myself were able to get on a land owner exemption list and are doing some pig hunting.  I took the first one the other night.  We are hunting over a feeder that is on a timer and the pigs seem to be all trained up.  I spent a bunch of years hunting pigs unsuccessfully but I believe I've finally figured out enough to have some success within the past couple of years. 

I certainly don't mind to discuss strategy and tactics, but I will not discuss where I am hunting.  

This one was a smaller 40ish pounder that came in with 6 others.  My buddy and I agreed to shoot on 3, he counted and forgot to shoot, and I took home the bacon.  He was still nice enough to help me dress it and it was on ice in less than an hour after shooting.  

One thing for sure is that the rest of them don't stick around.  I swear they were fine before the bullet hit this one.  

http://imgur.com/gallery/uDv3d45 

For some reason I am unable to embed the picture.

Edited August 18, 2019 by 10-Ring

[KahrMan]

Nice!  Fresh pork. 

[MacGyver]

Nice. 

Pig hunting is my favorite. 

[10-Ring]

9 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Nice. 

Pig hunting is my favorite. 

After I killed my first pig I pretty much lost all interest in hunting anything else. 

[Quavodus]

Wow head shot. Lights out quick. I've never got the chance to hunt them. We don't have them around the areas I hunt. Would love to try it someday though.

[bersaguy]

Back in my younger days I thought about going hog hunting. That was until my little brother went. This was back when Catoosa had hog hunts and my brother went with a couple other guys and a guide with dogs. My brother Cory was using a Blackhawk 44 mag and he did kill a hog. It to was also a head shot. Thing is it was a head shot from directly above the hog that sent my little brother up a tree and he had to shoot the hog while hanging above it in the tree. That was enough to change my mind about hunting hogs...........

[Quavodus]

I grew up with some guys that used to hunt them a lot. They would chase them with atvs. The shooters waiting at the far end of a ridge or bottom would sometimes see some action that they didn't want. Woah!

[10-Ring]

2 hours ago, Quavodus said:

I grew up with some guys that used to hunt them a lot. They would chase them with atvs. The shooters waiting at the far end of a ridge or bottom would sometimes see some action that they didn't want. Woah!

That's one of the things that I like about pig hunting, there are a bunch of ways to do it and none of them are wrong.  

[Handsome Rob]

It's pretty much my favorite thing to do with clothes on!

Once you get a taste for hog hunting, you're almost ruined for deer!

[10-Ring]

30 minutes ago, robtattoo said:

It's pretty much my favorite thing to do with clothes on!

Once you get a taste for hog hunting, you're almost ruined for deer!

No doubt.  I saw a pretty nice buck in my driveway a couple of weeks ago.  Snapped a pic, but I haven't put out cameras, salt licks, or corn this summer.  Focused on pigs.  

[sybo]

It’s the ONLY hunting I do any more. I LOVE blasting and eating them!,,,

 

[10-Ring]

1 hour ago, sybo said:

It’s the ONLY hunting I do any more. I LOVE blasting and eating them!,,,

 

Help me out here.  I'm pretty experienced cooking wild game.  But I need some help with pork.  This last one was tough and stringy even though it was <50 pounds.  I barely cook deer (as in rare), but I don't want to go that route with pork. 

[MacGyver]

Low and slow is king. 

Just like cooking something tough like a brisket - long, low heat really breaks down those tougher muscle fibers and renders the fat well.  

[Chucktshoes]

38 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Low and slow is king. 

Just like cooking something tough like a brisket - long, low heat really breaks down those tougher muscle fibers and renders the fat well.  

Low and slow is the only way to cook pork that isn’t processed in to sausage or such. 

Edited August 19, 2019 by Chucktshoes

[Handsome Rob]

Yep, don't be expecting much in the way of tender loin steaks. It's always worth trying a cut from the center of the loin, cut thin & fried. I would say 1:3 is awesome. However the other 2 can vary between tough & almost indelibly tough.

I always save my hams whole for curing (10 days in a pickling brine would tenderize an anvil) but everything else feeds the Doomgrinder for burger & sausage.

[MacGyver]

5 minutes ago, robtattoo said:

Yep, don't be expecting much in the way of tender loin steaks. It's always worth trying a cut from the center of the loin, cut thin & fried. I would say 1:3 is awesome. However the other 2 can vary between tough & almost indelibly tough.

I always save my hams whole for curing (10 days in a pickling brine would tenderize an anvil) but everything else feeds the Doomgrinder for burger & sausage.

All the salt or sugar used in the curing process certainly shouldn't be discounted.  Yes, it preserves the meat - but it also does such an important job in tenderizing it.

These wild hogs that aren't finished on corn (unless they've torn up your field in September I guess) are going to be straight muscle. You've got to plan for tenderizing them - they're going to be more work than your typical deer to get that perfect meat. But man, when you do - it's great.

Definitely don't discount curing some of that meat - capicola, sopressata, capicola, whatever. It's important to treat the pig you've just shot with integrity and get it cold fast. But, if you've done that, you can make some really great product.  I'd definitely suggest trying your hand at curing your own bacon with a wild hog.

There are some really great resources on this topic - I've got several and recommend this one for beginners: https://www.amazon.com/River-Cottage-Curing-Smoking-Handbook

[Handsome Rob]

I've been using this basic recipe for cured hams for ages & I've yet to have it yields anything but sweet, pink perfection....

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/cured-and-smoked-deer-ham.129141/

These 2 I brined for 16 days, washed & dried for 3, vaccuum marinated in pineapple, brown sugar, garlic & paprika for 3 days, then smoked for 3 hours. Finished in the oven for another 4 with a glaze made with a reduction from the marinade. Without a doubt, the best ham I've ever eaten. I have one to a buddy to take to a Utah hunting camp, to split with 6 others. Those 6 deny having even tried it because my bud ate the entire freaking thing on the drive!

 

Edited August 19, 2019 by robtattoo

[Quavodus]

Have any of you heard that you shouldn't eat the meat right away? A game warden told a guy I used to work with to put the meat in freezer for about a month before cooking and eating. Said it had more parasites than domestic pork.

[Handsome Rob]

Just now, Quavodus said:

Have any of you heard that you shouldn't eat the meat right away? A game warden told a guy I used to work with to put the meat in freezer for about a month before cooking and eating. Said it had more parasites than domestic pork.

It's not a bad idea, but as long as it's cooked to an internal temp of 160° you're fine. Trichinella is super rare in hogs, but Bruscillosis & Tularemia are legitimate concerns. Both are killed at 145°f though.

[Handsome Rob]

Also, I'm not sure if it's an actual 'thing' or just coincidental experience, but for me TN & Georgia pigs are 50/50 on tenderness. Alabama hogs are universally tough as old boots, Florida & Texas hogs are all amazing.

[MacGyver]

39 minutes ago, robtattoo said:

Also, I'm not sure if it's an actual 'thing' or just coincidental experience, but for me TN & Georgia pigs are 50/50 on tenderness. Alabama hogs are universally tough as old boots, Florida & Texas hogs are all amazing.

I wonder if that's genes, or climate, or diet, or all of that combined?

[Chucktshoes]

1 hour ago, MacGyver said:

I wonder if that's genes, or climate, or diet, or all of that combined?

I’d be pretty confident it’s diet. There’s some really interesting work in the study of average individual size of deer populations. Folks are fond of saying that deer in certain areas or larger or smaller due to genetics. When the scientists take the deer into captivity and adjust the diet or transplant them, the deer size will grow or shrink within a generation. It’s believed to be almost completely due to in utero diet of the mother.  

Whats the quality of the food the mother gets while pregnant, and then what’s the quality of, and how hard do they have to work to get food as they grow?

[10-Ring]

1 hour ago, Chucktshoes said:

I’d be pretty confident it’s diet. There’s some really interesting work in the study of average individual size of deer populations. Folks are fond of saying that deer in certain areas or larger or smaller due to genetics. When the scientists take the deer into captivity and adjust the diet or transplant them, the deer size will grow or shrink within a generation. It’s believed to be almost completely due to in utero diet of the mother.  

Whats the quality of the food the mother gets while pregnant, and then what’s the quality of, and how hard do they have to work to get food as they grow?

That would explain a lot with pigs since they are breeding year round.  In the winter when food isn't as plentiful it would make since that the sow isn't getting the nutrients that she would get in the summer. 

[E4 No More]

4 hours ago, robtattoo said:

I've been using this basic recipe for cured hams for ages & I've yet to have it yields anything but sweet, pink perfection....

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/cured-and-smoked-deer-ham.129141/

These 2 I brined for 16 days, washed & dried for 3, vaccuum marinated in pineapple, brown sugar, garlic & paprika for 3 days, then smoked for 3 hours. Finished in the oven for another 4 with a glaze made with a reduction from the marinade. Without a doubt, the best ham I've ever eaten. I have one to a buddy to take to a Utah hunting camp, to split with 6 others. Those 6 deny having even tried it because my bud ate the entire freaking thing on the drive!

 

You lost me at the glaze but those look pretty good.

[owejia]

Those loins can be made into Canadian bacon pretty easy also. You can use dry cure or brining.

Edited August 20, 2019 by owejia