and on the third day...

[Jean]

We were up on the ridge on Saturday morning. He was overlooking one saddle and I was on the next one over. I watched some quail guys fight over wimmen. They did this little dance smacking each other with their wings and bumping chests and yelling little quail swear words at eachother.

I watched a little hawk attack one of the coveys but he was unsuccessful. All the quail yelled little quail swear words from behind the bush at him.

It was a great show to me.

About 8am, a pig made the mistake of showing up about 80 yards downrange from me. One shot, down she went. She tried to get up but I had made it pretty much impossible for her. I placed a shot to her head and she was quiet. I didn't want her to struggle and suffer for it. I called my other half on radio and told him "WE HAVE PORK FOR DINNER!"

A side note:
The last time I killed a pig, I was by myself and it took me much longer to get it gutted and skinned than most of you folks would have taken. While I was doing this, I was out of range as far as cell phone, etc. We had several rather "heated discussions " on this matter. Also, he has never gutted an animal on his own and was very nervous about about the prospect of shooting something an possibly wasting it because he couldn't get in touch with me.

Okay, back to the story:

He brings the truck and we take a couple pictures. Then I ask him if he wants to make the cuts and I will talk him thru it. He says no but wants to see and help where he can.
It was really, REALLY neat working with him to gut the sow and he is now much more confident about doing this himself. I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I got into hunting about ten years ago and he has come along with because it is something I do. He would not hunt if I didn't hunt. I have seen a change in his attitude over the years. It is a slow process but it gives my heart much gladness.

We skinned it in camp and picked up to go home. That 80 lbs of ice came in handy after all.

We decided to butcher it ourselves. Another intimidating process but I think we did good. We learned a whole bunch on this pig and the learning continues. I am grateful and happy.

Jean

 

[myfriendis410]

Good job. Doing it all yourself just shows respect for the animal.

 

[ltdann]

As one that butchers my own, I'm jealous, yours looks better than mine. Excellent!!

Pork, It's whats for dinner!:smiley_yahoo:

 

[huntingbret]

Good hunting out there and a great job doing the butchering yourself.

 

[inchr48]

Strong work (and writing) Jean!

Congrats on the fine swine.

I butcher my own domestic pigs, and 5 main cuts once you have them halved, and you are ready for chops and roasts. Of course my band saw helps speed the process along.

 

[Jean]

We used a SawzAll while it was hanging on the gambrel in the garage at home. That's Todd's work cutting down the back bone. I think he does beautiful work.

I used the fiskars geared down prunging loppers to cut the ribs, etc. I had a few bigger bone chips, but they were easy to see and remove (especially for a semi-blind old woman like me).

I had The pictures in Mettler's book and a .pdf from the Woolypigs website to guide me in making the cuts. I made a few boo boo's but I think they'll still pass the final test.

Jean

 

[Raully]

Good story and congrates on the hog!

 

[bassassassin772]

where was the porker taken

 

[Jean]

San Benito County, Willow Creek ranch. It's a WU property.

 

[larrysogla]

Jean,
Awesome!!!......congrats...............thanks for the wunnerful story.
God Bless, always
larrysogla

 

[ltdann]

Sawzall, what a great idea, much easier to clean than a bandsaw. Thanks Jean!

 

[Jean]

Thank you all for you kind words.
.410, when I started actually bringing in game, I took it to a butcher because I was afraid of screwing up the cutting. I think the respect is just trying to do right by the animal, once we've started the process of turning it into food.
Inchr48, On the 5 cuts: Is that the cuts you see on the diagram like on page 53 of Mettler's book? I did things a little different, especially on the shoulder. I cut those out whole because a good friend advised me on how wonderful a slow cooked pulled pork shoulder can be. Rubbed with peppers and spices and drizzled with homemade apricot jam.
I'm guessing that the hogs you process are much bigger than the one I have done.
Itdann, The blade we used is an 8 inch long, 10 teeth per inch, wood and metal combo. Todd also put a baggie over the end of the Sawzall to reduce the amount of cleaning to the saw. I didn't ask him how well that part worked.
Lastly, thank you all for not commenting on the GHASTLY picture of me. I had a choice of three pictures and this one did the best job of showing the pig.:bag-on-head:
Jean
:JHO rocks:

 

[559hog]

Awesome job on the hog! That half cut is better than anything I've ever done .

 

[Speckmisser]

Great job, Jean!

Also, nice work on stepping up and doing your own butchering. Not wanting to put the processors out of work, but it's a skill every hunter should learn and practice, even if they won't do their own every time. You don't have to be perfect.. I mean, no matter how bad you screw up, it's still meat.

 

[ltdann]

Love the bit about little quail swear words! I see the same thing in my chickens every day, just never heard it put quite like that, but it's appropriate.

As for ghastly, obviously you've never seen what everbody else looks like after three tough days in the field. I know I feel and probably look like the backside of a dead rhino.

 

[inchr48]

Jean,

Not sure if I use the Mettler book (I'll look tonight), but bet the diagram is close if not the same. I use a Sawzall on my deer to cut in half. I cut from the inside to follow the spine. Go slow and it won't wander much. From the piggies, we love pork steaks cut from the shoulder, so end up with one "Boston Butt" and the other half in pork steak. The 3 legged bone in the pork steak is a cross-section of the shoulder blade. I also use a 15" or 16" meat saw I bought from Cabelas.

Glad you enjoyed the process. Very fulfilling to have a successful hunt, then nicely cut meet ready for the freezer (to your own specifications). Now I see Sausage making and some brining/curing in your future ...........


Edit: Yep that's the book. I photcopied the diagrams and laminated them for shop use.
http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Butchering-Livestock-Game-Mettler/dp/0882663917

 

[dkhuntr25]

san benito county is some great country i have a guided ranch we archery hunt down there 15,000 acres hundreds of pigs beautiful area

 

[Jean]

I did take the hams to Los Gatos Meats for brining and smoking. I think it's money well spent right now.
I have a little over 10lbs of meat pieces in the freezer for sausage making attempts.
We also have the sections of meat normally used for bacon. It has almost no fat but Todd is anxious to try some sort of cure process on it

This morning I spent fleshing the hide. This time I've told myself I will get through this process correctly and not ruin the hide.rayin :
I've got the boiled skull soaking in a bucket in the back yard (at the fence nearest the noisy neighbors). It wil probably only be used for a Halloween decoration because the back of it is, er, missing. Okay, that's enough of the gross stuff.


San Benito County has some awesome gorgeous country. The ranch I wander on is 5000 acres. 15000 acres sounds wonderful.

 

[HOGHUNTER714]

Strong work Jean...Thats gonna be some tasty meat!!!

 

[Mel Carter]

Jean,
Congrats on your pig. I've hunted that ranch a few times, took a nice 20" buck from there and my son missed a couple hogs there over the years. It's great country for sure.

Again, congrats!