Slot limit for hogs

[Tominator]

Do you have a maximum size for eating and a minimum size for mounting or do you just kill all you can? Iheard alot about the larger wild hogs not being good eating and that got me to thinking (I know, I know)

 

[RIFLEMAN]

Tominator,

I personally do not adhere to any maximum size of table hogs, as I think that the stereotype against larger boars is unfair and grossly inaccurate. Most of the hogs I catch are larger boars and most are very tasty. The worst smelling hog I ever cooked was a mid sized sow.

There was a topic recently posted concerning this very subject, but I will restate my opinion and experience very briefly...

The size and sex of a hog have an influence on the flavor and consistency of the meat, but the diet of the hog plays the largest role in the determination of the palatability.

As far as what hogs should be mounted, I use a variety of considerations. Size is definitely a factor, but is certainly not the most important one. I mount more for memories than for trophies. I'm not out to advertise my masculinity or brag about my hunting prowess so the size of the animal has less affect on my decision than others.

I've caught quite a few hogs in my lifetime, but have had only two mounted. Both were good sized with nice teeth, but this was incidental to my decision. My first mounted hog was a feral boar that ran 15 miles in 11 hours in my favorite hunting spot before he was finally stopped for good by my two most favorite dogs of all time. My second mounted hog was a nasty Russian son of a gun with chewed up ears who put up a good fight in some thick brush. I caught him with a very close friend who passed away recently. Now that they are on my wall, the first thing I think of when I see them is not, "wow, nice teeth" or "wow, what a big boar" but "damn, I miss those dogs" or "I sure wish Harlen was here" The mounts are snapshots of my past and as I am very sentimental, they mean more to me for what they respresent than what they actually are.

Okay, so it wasn't so brief after all...

RIFLEMAN

 

[Boar Tracks CA]

I agree, the best hog I've ate was a 325# boar I got on base this year,full of grapes in his belly. I do think it is what they are eating that can make or break the taste of a hog,but I could be wrong. Taste is in the mouth of the beholder.

 

[Hawghunter]

Tom,
I to remember this topic. And, the best hog I have ever tasted was a 300# plus boar, from a barley field. The wors tasting hog was a 90# sow, also from a barley field. they were both taken care of asap. the difference was that the sow had just finished nursing her young. She was skinny and rank. Just my 2 cents.
Mark

 

[SDHNTR]

Agree with all above. I just shoot what presents itself. If it happens to be a stinky one, I'll soak it in a mix of ice water with a bit of vinegar and lemon juice. Removes the nastiness very well.

 

[JungleBoy]

I also agree. I think that by far THE BIGGEST factor is what the hog was feeding on.

I've eaten some pretty BIG hogs that tasted ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLY GOOD, including the 200lbs sow my friend (Shot) got in December of last year. Prior to that, I've had hogs that were 300lb class, and tasted EXCELLENT.

The NASTIEST, most FOULEST hog that I've had, was an 70 lb boar that I suspect had been feeding on some crap.

 

[hogs wild guide]

This has been my experience with taste and also the smell of hogs are concerned. It is true that larger boars contribute to the higher percentage of stinky hard to eat pigs. Here is the reason for this. When it comes to breeding boars have a gland which secretes a very fowl odor that is very pungent in smell. Now as nature would have it the larger boars breed much more than younger ones in most cases. If a boar is shot a couple of weeks after his last breeding then the meat will taste and smell better than one who bred a sow a day ago. This is why one can shoot a hundred pound boar that stinks, and shoot a 300 pounder that hardly has no odor at all. Now as far as sows go ones that have never been pregnant between the 100- 200lb range tend to be the tastiest. This is the point in which they have the ability to build up the most fat. Oncethey have had their first litter then the quality quality goes down hill. When a sow will taste the worst is when she has just weaned a litter and is trying to regain her fat. Thus tasting worst than a stinky ol' boar. Also as a couple of posts read diet plays a big role in taste, also will determine maturity of a hog. In this i mean in one region a hog at 300 lbs, might be only a couple of years old, where in another region with less feed a hog of the same size might be 5-7 years old thus also making a difference in taste. However when looking for a meat hog one will have a better chance shooting a smaller hog than a large one as far as meat quality goes, however there are always exceptions to the rule.

 

[hogs wild guide]

oops hit the wrong button. Another factor that effects meat quality is the process in which the hog is killed. A hog that is shot ears high in barley with no complications such as a head shot, (not recomended) is going to taste better than a hog that has been gutshot and has ran for 13 hours before getting another shot in it, or has been run for a long time with dogs or any other reason. And the reason for this is adrenaline once it has entered the bloodstream and pumped through the body then the quality of meat is decreased. Finally the last is the way the hog is processed. One who debones a hog will have better tasting cuts thhan one who runs it across a band saw. Bone marrow is spread to the meat which has a less than desirable taste to it. Hope these posts weren't to long. Jeremy

 

[pitdog]

Jeremy,
Thanks for the info and welcome to JHP

 

[Tominator]

Thanks fellas! Sorry for rehashing a topic, I did a little searching and didn't run across it, my bad.

 

[>Killzone>]

Tominator,

moved it up for your reading

Good luck,

Killzone, going for 1st hog hunt next week

 

[HaveGunWillTravel]

the only standards i keep are shooting mature boars. im not hunting for the meat but rather the thrill of the hunt, so i see no reason to shoot a sow.