First pig of 2011

[npaden]

Made a very quick trip down to my hunting property last Friday afternoon to fill my protein feeder, check my shed trap, and check my trail cameras and do some shopping for some pork. The shed trap was a bust, but the rock river arms stuck again.

That thing is a tack driver. Right behind the ear sure does the trick.

About a 150lb boar. I used to weigh every one on a scale, but I only weigh the ones I think will go over 200lbs now. He was still hanging with the ladies and cutters are pretty small. Probably a 2 year old.

Gonna cook up some ribs tomorrow for supper and get some ham started curing tonight.

Probably smoke the shoulders for pulled pork after I get the ribs done.

 

[nbell]

Nice hog. I'm sure he will eat very good.

 

[JohnCushman]

Nice hog!! I'll be hog hunting in Oklahoma in May with my bow

 

[npaden]

Here's the biggest pig I've shot on my place. Shot him last year. Put a stalk on him to about 75 yards and let him have it with my 7mm Rem Mag.

That one had some pretty good cutters.

 

[Big Slick]

Nice work.....One of these day's I want to go pork shopping!

 

[MN Public Hunter]

How do these taste compared to "real" piggy's from the grocery store?

 

[Dana]

npaden, mighty fine groceries you got there! That second hog is a brute! Love hog hunting...some buddies and I went in Arkansas two weekends ago and got 5, mostly good meat hogs, but one big old boar. Nothing like wild hog on the smoker! Way to go!

 

[npaden]

How do these taste compared to "real" piggy's from the grocery store?

Taste is very comparable. Toughness is not though. These pigs don't have much fat on them either so it's really tricky to get them cooked without drying them out. I soak them in a cooler of ice water for 4 or 5 days and that helps with the toughness, but it still isn't as tender as a pig raised in a pen. These wild pigs put a lot of miles on and their muscles are very lean and well developed.

I've eaten them about every way that you can cook them up and smoked or turned into sausage is about the best way I've found. I'm getting pretty good at making them into ham too. Curing the backstraps and slicing them thin makes some great Canadian bacon.

 

[Big O]

npaden- always wanted to hunt those critters, but not many here in the NW.

Just curious, I was watching some pig show last weekend and the trappers kept chasing them down with dogs, hog tying them and then killing them. Why dont they just shoot them like we shoot coyotes if they are a menace? They hunted primarily at night and always seemed to end up with one or two versus alot more if they had your weapon of choice. Is it something to do with the regs? Can you shoot as many as you want? Those shows make it sound like there is a major pig problem down there.

Nice pig by the way!

 

[Mikeflies]

Nice piggy. Thats going to make some nice meat for the freezer as well. What caliber is your RR?

 

[MN Public Hunter]

Taste is very comparable. Toughness is not though. These pigs don't have much fat on them either so it's really tricky to get them cooked without drying them out. I soak them in a cooler of ice water for 4 or 5 days and that helps with the toughness, but it still isn't as tender as a pig raised in a pen. These wild pigs put a lot of miles on and their muscles are very lean and well developed.

I've eaten them about every way that you can cook them up and smoked or turned into sausage is about the best way I've found. I'm getting pretty good at making them into ham too. Curing the backstraps and slicing them thin makes some great Canadian bacon.

I'll PM you my shipping address....LOL

 

[npaden]

Thanks for the comments everyone. One of the few benefits of living in Texas from a hunting perspective is getting to hunt pigs 24/7/365.

npaden- always wanted to hunt those critters, but not many here in the NW.

Just curious, I was watching some pig show last weekend and the trappers kept chasing them down with dogs, hog tying them and then killing them. Why dont they just shoot them like we shoot coyotes if they are a menace? They hunted primarily at night and always seemed to end up with one or two versus alot more if they had your weapon of choice. Is it something to do with the regs? Can you shoot as many as you want? Those shows make it sound like there is a major pig problem down there.

Nice pig by the way!

In Texas you can hunt hogs 24/7/365 by any means possible. No limit, no regs other than the fact that you can't tresspass onto someone else's land to hunt them. I really want to get a thermal imaging scope, but can't justify the $$. I have a setup with LED lights at one of my feeders, but never have been able to shoot one and recover it at night.

I personally have a hard time just shooting them and letting them lay because of the waste of the meat, but a lot of folks around here do exactly that. Shoot them and just leave them lay where they fall. They really are a nuissance and do a lot of damage though, so I understand why people do that. I will interupt a deer hunt anytime I see pig or a coyote to try to reduce the population. I also try to shoot more than one if there is a group of them and don't spend a whole lot of time trying to track the extras down. That's what the AR-15 is for. Pigs don't bleed very good so not much in the way of a blood trail if they don't drop on the spot.

Nice piggy. Thats going to make some nice meat for the freezer as well. What caliber is your RR?

It's the standard .223. In retrospect I probably should have gone with the 6.8, but for now the .223 seems to be working pretty well. I'm also using it for coyotes and bobcats.

 

[Dana]

npaden, I'm curious about your process of curing the backstraps for canadian bacon. Could you post up some details please? Thanks!

 

[wyoming556]

Nathan,

Nice work on the hog removal. Being young he should be good eating. You should be able to haul quite a few of those in the ranger.

Rowdy