Originally Posted by
rockport
Thanks guys, I shouldn't have any trouble judging size as Ive worked with domestic hogs most of my life. I don't think I'm gonna be real picky. I think the part I'm looking forward to the most is hunting without the pressure of aging,managing and all that stuff. I just want to go hunt and not worry about any of that like I did when I was a kid.
I do want to bring home some good eating though.
So if I understand any wild hog will make good sausage but if I want chops,butts,steaks etc I need to keep it around 150 or so but could go a little bigger on a sow?
Are the butts/shoulders good for smoking or pork steaks? Spare ribs good for smoking or too thin?
I'll be doing all my own butchering/processing and while Ive butchered hundreds of domestic hogs Ive never done a wild hog.
How they taste depends a lot on what they have been eating. I've boiled it down to good times of the year and poor times of the year. I usually fill my freezer (when I have the room) shortly after harvest time and before the Acorns fall. Here the hogs eat better than I do, fresh from the farmers field.
Nothing at all wrong with a smaller Sow, a hundred pounds or so. Here they only mate once a year, so the Hogs come in sizes, first year, second year etc.
I make a lot of Goulash, you can smell quick when you brown the meat what it is likely to need for spices. Most of the Hogs I get aren't gamey and as good as or better than beef. Everybody has different tastes though, maybe it is just me.