Field Dressing
 

Howdy all, been quite a while for me. I'm trying to find a video or DVD that deals specifically with field dressing hogs. I've found several big game videos, but none that specified pigs. I need to brush up and my son who will begin hunting this year wants to do all his own field dressing. Since it's been about 8 years since I've done this, I figured I'd better do some more learnin before I go out. Thanks for any help.

RE: Field Dressing
 

Let me revise my post above. It's actually been about 12 years since I've done this (when did I get old?). I've dressed about a dozen pigs, but as you can imagine, the first several were done with a lot of help from the buddy who got me into the sport, and that was a long time ago. I don't want to go into the field unprepared to teach my son. I've seen some articles on dressing pigs and they seem different in some respects to dressing a deer. Is this true, or were they just different methods? Can I expect to use the same technique as on a deer without running the risk of ruining some meat?

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Maybe I don't do things right, but I hang Pigs and Deer the same way. Back legs high and spread apart. I do them both the same, Start as the anus and start to peal the skin down to the head. Sharp knife. Once the skin is off get into the belly, be careful not to poke any thing. Cut around the anus etc. and remove the intestine, bladder etc. along with the rest of the guts.

I do hose the pigs down real well before I start. Takes some of the stink and fleas away.

Not sure what else to say. . .

Enjoy. . . :D

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Thanks. I'm sure it'll all come back to me. Just want to make sure.

RE: Field Dressing
 

RE: Field Dressing
 

LATEX GLOVES

Skinning of Wild Hog Leads To Disease
BACKGROUND: A 27 year old forester field-dressed and quartered several whitetail deer and feral hogs after a successful hunt at his deer camp one winter day in the South.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: Adept with a skinning knife, this young hunter was considered very skilled among his friends in cleaning and dressing game.
UNSAFE ACT OR CONDITION: In spite of his experience, he was unaware that a wild hog he was cleaning was infected with a bacteria that causes Brucellosis, and that he could contract this and other diseases simply by touching the contaminated meat. Since he was not wearing latex gloves, a nick or briar scratch on his hands or arms would provide enough of a cut for infection to result.
Brucellosis, commonly known as "Undulant Fever" in humans, can be transmitted from animals to man by handling infected animals or by drinking contaminated, unpasteurized milk. In the 1930s, the disease reached epidemic proportions among cattle in the U.S.
USDA workers traveled from farm to farm across the country slaughtering infected livestock. As a result, Brucellosis is now rare among farm animals, although livestock veterinarians continue to wear gloves and take precautions.
The incubation period for Brucellosis varies but averages 2 weeks in man. Early signs are chills, fever, headache, malaise, neck and back pain, diarrhea, and muscle aches. These symptoms, particularly fever, will fluctuate for weeks. The victim will seem to get well only to have the symptoms recur, in many cases, frequently. Brucellosis is rarely fatal in humans, but serious complications can lead to meningitis, encephalitis, liver disease, and spinal cord damage.
ACCIDENT/INJURY: At first, the afficted forester complained of back pain and his physician, believing that he had pulled a muscle, prescribed pain killers. When this medication was ineffective, the hunter was admitted to the hospital for tests. Because bovine brucellosis has been nearly eradicated in the U.S. and its symptoms often mimic common diseases, the real cause of his ailment was not initially detected. The numbness and tingling in his legs and back became more and more pronounced. After several days of tests, the parient was walking across his hospital room when he collapsed to the floor. An MRI revealed a mass the size of a grapefruit growing from his spinal column and pressing into his lungs. After hours of surgery, doctors were able to remove the mass. Cultures taken from it finally identified the cause of his disease. Fortunately, the forester recovered fully and was able to return to work.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CORRECTION: Always wear latex gloves while cleaning and dressing wild game. When finished, scrub your hands and arms carefully with antibacterial soap to kill any lingering bacteria. Thoroughly cook all meat -- from wild game and domestic livestock -- before eating. -- Courtest American Pulpwood Assn. as printed in SAFETY FOCUS.

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Do it just like a deer, or anyother animal. Id suggest to wear gloves, hogs carry hook worms. Better safe than sorry.

RE: Field Dressing
 

I've seen several write-ups talking of tying off the anus with rope and then skinning them. Is this common? Or do you just cut the skin around it and then skin them like a deer?

RE: Field Dressing
 

Thanks! I knew I could count on you guys to help me out.

RE: Field Dressing
 

very interesting post everyone... I've never had the pleasure to hunt hogs although I have always dreamed of doing so. I never even thought about the possibility of getting a disease from the wild hog when cleaning them. I have skinned, and butcherd more domestic hogs then I care to remember maybe that is the reason for my stupidity. Thanks for the wake up call. I just figured you would gut them like you would a whitetail deer, and then after you got them home, hang them, skin them (I vowed I'd never boil and scrape another one), and then let them age until you're ready to butcher.....

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Around here we use a razor blade box cutter to cut the skin on the hog in strips and then pull the 4 or so inch strip off the hog. Its a lot easier than trying to take it off in one piece.

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Had to field dress and process two hogs. I went out bow hunting for deer and saw none. Did see some hogs so I went and arrowed two. Ill have to post pics because It was two hogs and a rattle snake. I hate the heat.[:@][:@]

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Way to go, bro! Like to see them pic's!

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I had to use a regular camera for the pics. When they get developed Ill scan them. The snake is pretty neat. I have never arrowed a snake from a tree stand.

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I say to field dress them the same as a deer. The only difference for me is I skin and quarter a hog on the ground. I use the skin as a blanket. This is just how I was taught and has stuck with me for years. I find it to be cleaner as well it keeps hair off the meat.

RE: Field Dressing
 

First off i know very little about hog hunting,have taken one with a bow years ago and one with a rifle this past march.
In march I was hunting on a payed hunt at a plantation in the south,the weather was pretty warm.The guide told us if we shot a hog not to get out of our stand he would get it when he picked us up at dark.I shot one at 4:30,he came to pick us up told him I shot one and showed him where,he looked forit the dark for about 4or 5 minutes said I must have hit it in the shoulder and didn't do any damage to the hog,(I,m shooting a 270 wsm and a barnes TSX 130 gr bullet)Then he said he would look for it again when he picked us up for lunch the next day.When he picked us up we all helped him look and the hog had went about 20 yds and dropped.He said the hog may or may not be any good after laying there all night without field dressing.So he took it back and skinned it hung it in the cooler,the next day when we were to leave the hog had allreay turned green ,black and yellow.I told him to through it away I wasn't eating anything like that.
Now this guide has had many,many clients over the years do you think he should have had enough knowledge to know that the hog had very little chance of being good after laying there all night and half the next day?? What would you have done if you were the guide??

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That is a no brainer for me! Almost anywhere that you have the ability to hunt hogs it is way to warm to leave an animal with guts in. I hunt hogs in SW FL and can tell you there is no way I would have attempted that. I also believe that it was not ideal to only track for a couple of min. There were to many issues here that casused you to loose your hog. Many hog hunters simply do not care if they find the hog or not because #1 there are no bag limits, #2 these animals are a nusience. I am not saying it is right but that is the way it is. I am not this way. You were paying your guide you should have told him to track longer and harder to be able to obtain your animal that is what he gets paid for. Just my opinion. Sorry I get a little upset when people put no effort into finding their animal.

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If the guide only searched for a few minutes he did not do the job he was paid to do. My uncle used to work as a guide down in South Texas and they used to use dogs to track and find any animals shot that they couldn't find after about 30 minutes. Where I hunt we have searched half the night to find a hog or deer we shot. We've crawled through the brush on our hands and knees with flashlights looking for blood spots to find them. We've had to search for as long as 4 hours to find a hog. We mark the trail as we go and if we loose the bloodtrail we look back at the general direction it was travelling and try to look farther ahead to pick the trail up again. We'vefound a few hogs by doing that.With a hog they normally don't go far though they don't bleed alot externally because if the fat so you don't have a very good blood trail to follow a lot of times. We've found them alot of times piled up in thick brush where we walked right past them the first time and didn't see them.