Good eating or NOT??

[Eric70460]

I have had good luck the past few years with hogs. I have learned the hard way that big boars (200+) have a musty taste to there meat. I have been told that big sows that are nursing piglets have a bad taste. Is this true? Thanks for your info....

[jloop]

I have worked on my uncles pig farm for 4 years before I moved. If we slaughter a big sow we would make it into bratwurst. But U coulnt tell the diff between them and young ones that way but I never ate a old one like chops or anything.. Boar get musky cause there nut. I dont think it would matter if the sow was nursing or not. I think it would be good eatting.

[P3FE]

My experience for what it's worth is this. My son and I have shot boars from 180-220 lbs and they taste just fine. Shot some large sows that taste very good. My rule of thumb is , if I walk up on them and it smells super musky no thanks I'll let it go. I have been down wind of boars and if I smell the musk I move on. I have heard all kinds of wives tales about having to de-nut them right away or you'll get lousy meat, never found it to be true. I just use good field dressing and cleaning procedures. I always have water on hand to rinse out the cavity when I'm done.

[dylanm]

i was always told the musky flavor or whatever ya want to call it comes from only 2 things

1) a gut shot ripping open intestine or stomach

2) when gutting to always seperate there "junk" before continuing because theres a scent gland in there that mixes with there uring so if they drip urin or you cut the gland and either spill on your meat you might as well stop cutting and throw it away right there.

now i didnt think number 2 was true i thought it was an old wifes tale till i looked it up one day and found this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeO4ogItu7s

[JoeA]

Brining meat from a musky boar will help reduce the funk. The general rule in Hawaii, is to soak the meat in ice water. Once over night, then change out the water and soak again for 6-8 hrs.

Boar meat is usually smoked before freezing, but meat from sows and boars <100# is just marinated before cooking.

Hogs that feed on fruit, avocados or even better mac nuts are great!

BUT...there are places where the pigs fed on fern roots which renders them inedible no matter what you do to the pork.

[huntnma]

I usually will keep the meat in a cooler on bags of ice for a week, well 5-7 days...I drain it daily and replenish the ice if needed....haven't had a gamey piece of meat since I started doing that.The adrenaline seems to get them stinking too...like the hogs we kill with the dogs running them, some were rank, but it seems like the ones that are just doing their thing , then shot are much better.

[falcon]

The vast majority of "strong tasting" wild hog meat is rotten hog meat. When the temperature is 80-90 degrees one has a maximum of four hours to get the hog on ice or it will spoil. Hog meat will spoil if left hanging in a butcher's cooler too long: One week is about the max.

A couple of guys complained that the meat from the big sows i gave them tasted "strong". Turns out that the meat processor kept them in his cooler for over two weeks before butchering the animals. The meat even smelled rotten.

[Rebel Hog]

We try to take all the 65 to 85 pounders.....We are not after Trophy hogs......To us a 200 pounder is Dog food!

[Valentine]

"Let's assume that you've raised a pig and that the porker is now about the right size (175 to 250 pounds) and age (8 to 10 months) for butchering. (Overly fat or old swine don't usually make for good eating.) Generally, a barrow (a male hog that's been castrated before reaching sexual maturity) or a gilt (a young female) is the best candidate for table fare. Boars (uncastrated males) and sows (adult females) in heat should be avoided at butchering time, since their flesh tends to have an unpleasant undertaste often described as "musky" or "rank"."

[romat]

I agree with most all, hunt for the 50 to 150 pound pigs, clean and process the meat quickly, you can't go wrong.