Wild hog is good if you clean shoot one. I typically shoot them in the head with a .270 or larger. Same skinning process as a deer. If it stinks when you walk up on it, dump it and don't eat it.

Wild turkey are good too, they dry out quickly though if you're not careful.

Good luck!

Hogs are pests. Kill as many as you can. That said, you don't want to eat the boars. They are just nasty and it's hard to get the smell off everything, even your knife. I generally only eat shoats and the occasional smaller sow. After they get too big, they're too gamey in my opinion. The exception is bars. If you see any pigs with notches in their ears, they might be one that folks have caught, cut, and released. They're pretty good eating, but not that common.

Cleaning them is just like any other critter, but boar hides are really tough. I wouldn't bother with them, personally.

I've eaten quite a bit of wild hog over the years. It definitely has a gamey flavor compared to it's domesticated cousin.

It has ranged in flavor from good to God awful.

50-100 pound females are the sweet spot if you want a BBQ

DrHeadShrink said:

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Is it considered in poor taste / bad ethics to just kill and not eat hogs?

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Wild hogs are the only animal I will shoot at even if I don't have a clean shot. If I wing one and it crawls off in the woods and dies, I'm ok with that.

And unless it is a smallish sow, I leave them for the buzzards anyway.

98% of the pigs I kill feed the coyotes, fish and buzzards

highvelocity said:

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98% of the pigs I kill feed the coyotes, fish and buzzards

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I'm intrigued by the little football sized ones. Wondering about an earhole shot, then throw the whole thing in the smoker. That could be good.

I was taught that a humane, clean kill was part of being an ethical hunter.

When did the contrary become something "hunters" brag about publicly?

SanAntoneAg said:

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I was taught that a humane, clean kill was part of being an ethical hunter.

When did the contrary become something "hunters" brag about publicly?

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Feral hogs are not a game animal to be hunted. They are an invasive, destructive pest to be exterminated.

As I said, I will not shoot any game animal if it is out of range or moving, because I don't want them injured and croaking in the woods. Feral hogs just need to be dead, here, there, or wherever.

I saw a pile of about 15 coyotes the county trapped killed and piled during a hot July drought in Childress. They sat for like 2 weeks and bloated. The stink was unworldly.

One warm night the wild hogs came through the area and ate everyone of them. There was only hair, jaw bones, and pig scat remaining where the pile was the day before.

Bon Apetit.

I used to shoot the heck out of wild hogs on our Mason ranch and occasionally take a back strap off a young sow. Tasted ok , but just ok in my opinion. I finally noticed that nothing ate the dead hogs except other hogs, and that included most buzzards. After that I started baiting traps with dead hogs instead of corn and I caught a lot more. Needless to say I also stopped eating wild hogs figuring maybe the buzzards knew something I didn't.

Interesting. I've shot Edwards County hogs, pulled backstraps and hams, and then have had the carcass picked clean save for bones and hide by buzzards, caracaras and ravens the next day.

I shoot all I can but....there is too much cheap pork at HEB to mess with one. Support your U.S. hog farmer.

Shoot all the wild or feral hogs you see...

Leave them in the field for the varmints to snack on....

Head to your local HEB and purchase some pork chops...

Enjoy the pork chops !

I BBQ-ed both domestic pork (shoulder), and wild hog (90lb sow)....served at the family Christmas today. Plenty of compliments on both! I never detect any "gamey" taste on the sows, even the bigger ones...they just get chewier (and drier).

Stinky boars never leave the field...under 100 lbs or so, they are as good as the sows.


Hog carcasses never last very long at the ranch...buzzard and coyotes work them over quick!

Don't eat feral hogs.

Tried to cook one in my rent house as a student at A&M. So much regret.

You were doing it wrong.

How do you sharpen your knives?

They carry too much **** from parasites to brucellosis to fool with. As said above, pork at the grocery store is dirt cheap and safe. I cleaned probably the first 8 or 9 I killed. I've probably killed 50ish in the past two years and haven't cleaned one. Great coyote bait to hunt over the following night.

My family and friends eat wild hog all the time. If accidentally gut shot or huge boar we will let them lay. Back strap and tenderloins are great, front shoulders we usually roast and pulled pork style. Hind quarters we grind up and makes great taco or chili meat. Also can mix half ground with ground venison. We do all the processing ourself. Probably not worth it to take it to a meat processor. $$

You're more likely to get killed in a wreck on your way to the lease than you are to catch some sort of disease or parasite from a wild hog.

FSGuide said:

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You're more likely to get killed in a wreck on your way to the lease than you are to catch some sort of disease or parasite from a wild hog.

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Having known many people killed in car wrecks, that just confirms its not worth the risk.

SanAntoneAg said:

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I was taught that a humane, clean kill was part of being an ethical hunter.

When did the contrary become something "hunters" brag about publicly?

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Clearly Not everyone was raised the same. Probably like you, I won't shoot any animal unless I have a clean and ethical shot. Remember the "shoot it in the nuts" guy? Well, there are a lot more of that guy than I'd like to acknowledge exist.

Ok, there has been a lot of information and some misinformation here. Feral hogs can be eaten and can be tasty if handled and cooked appropriately. As said, the larger boars can be strong tasting associated with testosterone amounts. Some folks will eat them, many won't. Young pigs and sows are generally more mild, but don't expect them to look or taste like domestic pork. The meat is darker and has a different flavor. As with many domestic and game animals, but especially with pork, the amount of stress at the time of death can impact flavor. Hogs that have been captured in traps and highly stressed for several hours, regardless of size, can have that strong gamey taste. Likewise, one that has been killed quickly with little stress tend to be more mild with less of a gamey taste. Therefore, head or heart shots on a hog at rest or feeding is most preferred for the table.

As for diseases, yes, federal hogs can and do have diseases -- some of which can be transmitted to humans, but this is thought to be rare. Use of caution though is prudent. Use latex gloves when dressing, especially if there are any open cuts on your hands. Cleaning is just like any other large game animal, except as noted, skinning is a little more difficult than say, deer. One tip often used with feral and domestic hogs is to remove the hide in strips, unlike a deer where the hide is generally taken off in one piece. Simply make several shallow cuts (thru the skin to the fat layer) of the pig from head to feet. These are often 3 to 6 inches apart, then start at one end of each strip and peel, or peel and cut as needed, until each strip has been removed. This can be done prior to or after gutting but is much easier if the pig is hanging. In the slaughter house that I used to work in, we skinned from the head down, but I have done it with the hog hanging by the legs also, and don't find much difference either way.