OT How long to hang Pork?

[brno602]

I will be heading up North in a month to do some fishing, We camp on private land and the Rancher / Farmer tells me he has seen the odd wild/ feral swine.Now the chance to kill one is slim and in 2009 the Gov was giving a $50.00 bounty on the ears if you turned them in, hay two would pay for my fuel hmmm?They are not a big game animal here so no rules just shoot them if you see one and it is a very slim chance I would see one as they are a varmint and every rancher will kill them on sight.But if it I see one I will not leave bacon in the woods. But never seen a pig, lot's of wild horses but no pigs mmm pig meat the best. But if my 94 should see one it's dead, how long to hang one in a meat cooler? Does pork need to be hung like deer( I always go at least 5 day's) I usually eat the tender loins in a day on Deer and the liver the first night, never ate pork lever but waste not want not is my thinking.
Just in case I should pop one, kinda like the needle in a hay stack, slim but if it happens I will be looking for one anyway, I need to know.
I really want to hunt some hogs one day in the U.S plus at least I can bring home the bacon with a simple cites Permit. But for now I have a very slim chance to get one local , but in case I do what do I do with the meat?
Never even thought of it before but what if?
Pork fat rules in everything I cook so what do you do with pork? I have never handled or seen a feral pig before.
P.S I have had some good tasting Bear from the same area that was hung 5 day's from the kill not bad, not great but not bad.

[cowboykell]

I have never aged a pork. Save the loin chops and grind the rest with vension for all kinds of sausage , brats, jerky, slim jims.......

[brno602]

I have never aged a pork. Save the loin chops and grind the rest with vension for all kinds of sausage , brats, jerky, slim jims.......

I have herd that before that you do not have to age it, but not sure? I would hang until the rigor left at least 24 maybe 36 hours. I always have my butcher add 10% pork fat to all deer or Wild game sausage but with say a 150lbs of raw pork ,I would want to hang for at least a few day's maybe the wrong thing to do and just cut it up would be best?
Off course it would be a very slim chance to shoot one, I stand a better chance of getting a monster 7x7 Elk or 40'' Bighorn! the the way things go.

[KCSO]

When we butcher 7 days or a little more in a cooler set at 40-45 degrees. This is domestic pork.

[Bruce]

Pork is not like any other game meat. It will spoil quick. If it is in a good walk in type cooler, you can wait a few days before processing, but not long. "Don't do the liver or heart". Get the hide off quick. If it is a boar, get rid of the go nads pretty quick also. If it gets upset or runs a ways after being shot, forget all the above and skin it like now and soak the meat in ice and water (ice chest) for a few days. It gets strong if the hog is excited, especially a boar.

In the south, we cut out the back strap and tenderloin for almost immediate cooking. We save the hams by freezing for later cooking (BBQ) and the rest gets cut up for either fry meat or sausage. No matter what, if not cooked within 24 hours (cooled of course), it gets frozen. "Don't do the liver or heart".

The fat can be saved, but it would take a lot of instruction to tell you how. A little fat on the meat is OK and actually preferred, but don't try too hard to save it. Just to cover my butt, wear gloves when cleaning a hog. "Don't do the liver or heart".

Wild hog is a prefered meat over store bought pork in my area of the south (Florida). If the fat turns a little yellow after it is skinned, that is a good thing. That means they have been eating a lot of ground moss and tuber type plants - in Florida we call it wamp pee (swamp peet). It makes the meat very tender and adds good flavor.

If you are going out of country (US to Canada) and a CITES permit is required to bring it back - cook it there. Shoot the smaller hog (75-100 lbs.), skin it and clean it. Stick a chicken inside it and wrap about four layers of good tin foil around it and put it on a grill for long enough for it to start falling off of the bone (5-6 hours). Salt and pepper to tatse before. Tell your hosts that you are a master griller and they will agree when you eat.

I could go on forever but there is one last thing you need to know. "Don't do the liver or heart".

[SFRanger7GP]

I've taken quite a few hogs in Texas and Florida. I never age or hang them. What I do is pack them on ice a couple of days (depending on how lazy I am) and drain the cooler and add more ice daily. Even after just 2 days the meet is half frozen and easier to cut up. When we make sausage, we just cut up some pork fat like you buy at the grocery store (salt pork) and add it as needed. A little goes a long way.

[jd45]

Please allow me to chime in here. I go along with what Bruce advises about the pig liver, at least. Two things from my point of view, the first being pigs used to be on God's Old Testament, "My people, YOU WILL NOT EAT THIS DISGUSTIN STUFF" list. Second, as far as I'm concerned, within 100 ft of a piece of cookin liver, OF ANY KIND, & that putrid stench will cause me to wretch! The liver is the filter for all impurities circulating thru the body........any wonder it smells & tastes so bbbllleeecccchhhh!!!!!?????? Maybe it's my individual body chemistry. I've tried to eat it.........it would be a good form of torture for me. Thanx for lettin me rant, jd45
P.S....I love pork meat, tho. That's why my recent Heartcheck America heartscan came back with two serious blockages, at least partly why.

[JReed]

Yep get it cold quick. Wild pigs carry all kinds of nasty things in their system. Don't eat the innards parasites are equal opportunity.

[Hobie]

I always made every attempt to get the meat to the fridge ASAP and if not eaten quickly to the freezer.

I should like to know how folks deal with wild hogs. I was thinking the other night that when we were killing them on FT Hunter-Liggett we all did it a bit differently, mostly in some remote area of the post AFTER checking them, so that we neither offended the neighbors nor had a problem getting rid of the offal.

[wilko]

Mine was gutted and skinned as fast as possible. That same night it was cut up. NO hanging/aging..

came out reeeal good !!! Yum

[encore4me]

I would sooooooo much like to hunt wild hogs, I have the perfect gun (Marlin 1895 guide gun cut to 16.25")for it but no hogs. I allways hear what a problem they are and how everyone down south hates them but you never hear of a free hunt for them.


Matt

[Lawyer Daggit]

I only ever eat feral swine where I am able to get a sucker- the rubbish they eat leaves them subject to worms and all manner of health issues.

Having said this Australia sells a lot of feral swine to the europeans-especially Germany, and until the rules changed, requiring shooters to have stainless steel trays on their vehicles and other such nonsense, I used to put swine that I have shot in the chiller with the farmers name and details on it so that he got an unexpected cheque in the mail a few weeks after my visit as a thank you for letting me stay and enjoy his hospitality.

I would age the meat under refrigeration and cook the meat very well.

[Lawyer Daggit]

I note encore has a guide gun for hunting swine. Most I have shot have been targets of opportunity and have been taken with a .222 (Remington model 7)- with the pill inserted just behind the ear it is an instant recipe for porcine deep sleep, or while poking around lignum swamps with a 12 guage or Winchester 94.

One of the best guns I have come across but don't own, is one of the european combination guns on a double barrel shotgun action- giving you a rifle calibre and a shotgun barrel to use after the first shot is fired and they make a break for it.

[nwtradegun]

in 20 yrs of hog killing 14 hogs i have never aged it. use it as soon as i get it in and cooled off. freeze the rest. best to smoke wild hog slowly. now thats finger likin good

[FWiedner]

The effort should be to get the animal dressed and the meat cooled as quickly as possible after killing a feral pig. Makes no difference how long it hangs in the cooler, with the possible exception of allowing it to spoil. The best is to drop it into a cooler for a few days, draining the water off once a day and adding fresh ice until you're ready to butcher.

There may or may not be anything wrong with organ meat from feral hogs, might be a cultural thing, but I'd never eat that craap.

[brno602]

Thanks for all the info!
If I see one I will know what to do I will have to check and see if they still have a bounty on them as the gov wanted them gone.
P.S I will take the 94 30/30

[wilko]

the 30/30 will do just fine. I have 3 hogs seen shot with them.. 3 hogs, 3 bullets... worked perfectly fine!

[Lawyer Daggit]

Yes, I agree 30-30 is excellent for pig. Even the German's adopted the calibre, giving it a ref 7.62x51R.

Pigs love close cover and also have poor eye sight so range is hardly an issue- unless you want to ambush them from the other side of corn fields etc

[brno602]

Yes, I agree 30-30 is excellent for pig. Even the German's adopted the calibre, giving it a ref 7.62x51R.

Pigs love close cover and also have poor eye sight so range is hardly an issue- unless you want to ambush them from the other side of corn fields etc

Yep it is thick cover I bet more Moose have been shot in that area with a 30/30 or .303 than the big mags over the years. But I have a funny story my Dad was chased by Boars in the Black Forest in the old Country Pre WW2 wile Mushroom hunting. He said his Uncle shot the pig my money is on a 8x57 from the info I tried to get wile being a young gun nut. Now if it was on my Mom's side of the Family it would have been the some kind of big Nasty say a 9.3 of some kind lol. My wife was also chased by pigs as a little girl also wile Mushroom hunting I Would bet they fell to a 7.62 x54 Russian just a hunch? I am thinking I live in the wrong country! all we have is Grizz story's here and Horny Moose story's lol.
We can't carry Hanguns up here so my 94 is now my truck, camping,fishing and just always with me gun to be legal.
Anyway I have lot's of faith in the old girl 30/30 although I know my 99 in 300Sav is better, okay only if more than 150yds lol.
But my chances are slim to see a pig , if the Wolves don't eat them afterall they are dumb live stock they really do not fair that well when they hit the real world but my rancher friend said he seen them and want's them gone, I will be happy to help. Remember I am not down South we still have lot's of critters that eat critters here and Wild pigs are a pest but not a real threat. As are furry Predators like pigs too. They are keeping a good balance, I just hope they leave one or two for me.And maybe I will be like Clint in a Few Dollars More and collect on that bounty for a pest non Native critter.
P.S why does the internet always get me off topic? But I love old Cals that's why I stick to 7x57, 375H&H ,303 and 30/30 and 06 you just can't go wrong!!!I think of my 7x61 as a old pre 7mm mag and the best long range gun not cal but gun would love a S&L in 308 Norma, then I could sleep at night lol! oh I have it bad!,but always have.