Stinky Pigs

[jerryt]

I've heard multiple people talk about wild pigs being stinky or having tough or bad meat but this has never been my experience. I've killed well over 50 pigs in
CA ranging from 80 to 300 pounds and I have yet to ever find a bad tasting one or one that I thought smelled bad. Do they just get stinky because people don't get them field dressed quickly or properly?

 

[Wild1]

I'm in your camp, never had a bad one. My guess is lack of proper field care, but who knows.

 

[baco]

I'm also with you on this close to 30 pigs and they have all been really good

 

[slowpoke]

I’ve shot one huge sow that had stinky meat… not the rutted up boar smell, but the meat smelled horrible. It was a clean kill and cleaned within 30-45 minutes of the shot. Been around quite a few pig kills and that’s the only one I remember where the meat itself stank. This was late summer outside of Red Bluff so maybe it was a diet and heat thing?

 

[JustGuy]

They are stinky if the guy who skins a boar punctures this gland in-front of the penis. Than it stinks. This is what i did with my first boar many, many years ago.

 

[TheGDog]

How to avoid puncturing that gland JustGuy? What must a person do to make sure to avoid this? (How far in front of penis is it located? How far around it should a person cut? I read on another thread that it is a 2nd bladder that is just in front of the penis? Use for marking territory? The other poster said it was just under the hide. So does this mean it is on top of the muscle tissues? Can a person feel where that gland is in order to carefully cut around it?

 

[Bubblehide]

Gary, it's called a perputial gland, or a pineal diverticulum. You can google it to get a better idea. I have seen them from a few inches long, to about 8 inches long. So now I give them a wide birth in all directions. I cut out a 1/2 football shape from where the ribs end (the tip) back toward the anus (the wide end), making it at least 8 inches wide, 4 inches each side.

 

[JustGuy]

Yep, exactly as Bubblehide explained, i cut the skin 4-5 inches around the penis, remove this part first including the balls, working my knife very carefully and throw everything away. I do it first thing for one simple reason, if accidentally i puncture it( which never happened since i learned my first lesson), this s..t stays on the skin and do not touch the meat.

Here i found a link how to to it.

And yes, it is not a bladder, it is a gland. It is used to mark his territory. Like deer has it on his hind legs and every time it pees, it pees on his legs to wash down the smell and mark the territory. Pretty stinky as well

 

[TheGDog]

I cut out a 1/2 football shape from where the ribs end (the tip) back toward the anus (the wide end), making it at least 8 inches wide, 4 inches each side.

Thank you, sir.

 

[JustGuy]

this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeO4ogItu7s

 

[Mel Carter]

Jerry,
I killed a hog close to 20 years ago that weighed over 350#. He was shot in a barley field down by San Miguel, gutted immediately, skinned and on ice within 2 hours. He didn't stink at all, but when cooking him, boy the smell would run you out of the house. Didn't taste bad, but stunk when cooking. Couldn't figure it out. All my other hogs have been perfect.

 

[flytrue]

I got a big boar at Sonoma this year that also stunk when cooked. Weird.

 

[Cowmanone]

I killed a big boar in the early 80's (head shot), cleaned, skinned, and cooled within one hour. He stunk - dead, cooking and to eat. Finally gave him to the dogs. They refused him as well (true story). My theory at the me was it has to do with what they are feeding on, and time of year taken. This particular hog was taken during deer season; but I did not think to biopsy is stomach and see what he had been eating. He was a throwback to the Russians, and looking back, I wished I had mounted him.

 

[wedgy]

I've had a couple stinkers....one guy told me it's when they eat acorns they stink. Another guy told me acorns make them sweet.
So I tried an acorn.....
I don't think It makes them sweet.

 

[Deleted member 33033]

Some pigs are stinky no matter what!

 

[Captjgray]

Ive shot a lot of pigs and I have only had 1 pig that tasted bad.
The big bastard had a tore up head and face, 1 ripped ear, and was missing a testicle..

Needless to say he was one pissed off Big old SOB...

We gutted him right where he dropped, which happened to be in the road about 50 yards from the truck. And we did not punter the gland, I do the same football patch avoidance method. He stunk like an SOB, He was the dirtiest, hairiest, nastiest, biggest boar we have taken. Normally we shoot sows.
The big old bore was so nasty that we actually cleaned the hide really well while he was hanging back at the cabin. Total time elapsed was from dead pig to gutted pig was about 5 minutes, about 10 minutes for pictures, and then he was hanging about 20 minutes later. Air temp was about 40 and it was cooling off quickly as the sun was setting quickly, so air temp was not an issue.
The pig was dressed and in a game bag approximately 1.5 hours after he hit the ground. The meat looked great but smelled absolutely horrible. Unfortunately it tasted as bad as it smelled. I tried to make sausage and it was not edible. I made a batch of pepperoni sticks that were still pretty a little off but edible so here is what I did. I ended up grinding the entire pig, mixed it with some beef, beef fat, and pork shoulder, I trimmed all of the fat off of the boar before I ground it. I made summer sausage with Jalapeños and cheddar, Habanero snack sticks, and pepperoni. I smoked it all over apple wood chips.

Even after the spice and smoke it was still funky, however it was all consumed. I can never bring myself to not find a use for as much of an animal that I harvest.

Long story short, I feel that we did everything possible from a clean kill to proper field dressing, as well as getting it and keeping it cooled down and it was still stinky and nasty.

Ive shot plenty of big Boars that smelled bad but the meat was good. I still think the meat from a big fat sow smells and tastes better, which is why I try to only harvest dry sows. If Ive got plenty of chops and I need sausage I will shoot a 100 - 150 pound boar. Id still prefer the sows though.