hog hunt, how to process meat?

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  • steveh326

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 23, 2012
    1,598
    Mt. Airy
    headed to NC this week for hog hunt. been on my list to-do for years but this will be my first time.

    in the event I am successful, how should I have the meat processed? Thinking would like some sausage, and a couple big chunks for the smoker, but not sure if that will take car of it all or not? I don't think there is a ton of yield, but want to have a plan on how to have it processed.
     

    byf43

    SCSC Life/NRA Patron Life
    Have your guide/outfitter give suggestions.
    See if he/she has a butcher that is recommended.

    The last hog I got, was over 320 lbs.

    Had it butchered/wrapped/frozen just like any other meat/game.

    Hams. Ribs. Chops. More chops. Sausage. Roasts. Some bacon.



    I gave two pkgs of chops to my department's vice-president on a Friday.

    He came in on Monday, BEGGING for more!!!!!!! :D

    Sprinkled w/ some "Butt Rub" and laid on a hot grill.
    Mmmmmmmmm. Some goooooooooooood eatin'.
     

    Speed3

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 19, 2011
    7,816
    MD
    Good luck on your hunt, this is on my "to do" list also. Report back after on the outfitter/game you saw if you can please.
     

    steveh326

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 23, 2012
    1,598
    Mt. Airy
    Good luck on your hunt, this is on my "to do" list also. Report back after on the outfitter/game you saw if you can please.

    thanks will do. this has been on my bucket list for years also. I have never hunted with an outfitter before so this is ALL new to me. but when you only have 3 days in a place and don't know the area, it seems like the best/only option.
     

    ChrisD

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 19, 2013
    2,992
    Conowingo
    I killed one on a hunt in Alabama about 6-7 years ago. The outfit we hunted with skinned and quartered it and I brought it home in a cooler. I took it to a deer processor and had it cut up. Had some made into sausage, and some brined and smoked. I didn’t care much for the brine/smoke, the meat was really strong, it was a boar about 170-180 pounds killed in June. The sausage was really good. If I ever do another feral hog hunt, I will do my own processing and make it all into various sausage recipes. One thing I noticed, the meat on a feral hog is way leaner than farmed pork. The sausage left no grease in the skillet, in fact I had to add grease to cook it.
    Good Luck!
     

    steveh326

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 23, 2012
    1,598
    Mt. Airy
    Good luck on your hunt, this is on my "to do" list also. Report back after on the outfitter/game you saw if you can please.

    came home empty handed but had a good time. weather was horrible when we were there... full moon one night, rain for 1.5 days, high winds rest of time. was supposed to be prime week for deer rut, but it had not even started yet.

    saw 2 hogs but both were sows and those were off limits. saw a nice doe and an awsome buck but the buck disappeared into the woods before I could get a shot. Had 30+ turkeys by my stand a couple diff days.

    my hunting buddy connected with a nice boar on the 1st day, 200# or so guessing. outfitter skinned it and hung in walk in cooler, we quartered it and he took it home (outfitter woulda done it but we went ahead and did ourselves).

    never did anything like this before, and I would do it again if I have the extra $. accommodations were basic no frills but just how I like it. Guide was from Kentucky and a hoot to be around.

    not knowing what to expect, I took a couple rifles (ar10 and 45/70) and a 44 mag handgun. Ended up using only the ar10 as potential shots were out as much as 175 yards. was gonna use 45/70 on last day, but my buddy wanted that stand cause he was only using a 4x scope and my 308 has 12x so I took the stand with the potential longer shots.
     

    Speed3

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 19, 2011
    7,816
    MD
    came home empty handed but had a good time. weather was horrible when we were there... full moon one night, rain for 1.5 days, high winds rest of time. was supposed to be prime week for deer rut, but it had not even started yet.

    saw 2 hogs but both were sows and those were off limits. saw a nice doe and an awsome buck but the buck disappeared into the woods before I could get a shot. Had 30+ turkeys by my stand a couple diff days.

    my hunting buddy connected with a nice boar on the 1st day, 200# or so guessing. outfitter skinned it and hung in walk in cooler, we quartered it and he took it home (outfitter woulda done it but we went ahead and did ourselves).

    never did anything like this before, and I would do it again if I have the extra $. accommodations were basic no frills but just how I like it. Guide was from Kentucky and a hoot to be around.

    not knowing what to expect, I took a couple rifles (ar10 and 45/70) and a 44 mag handgun. Ended up using only the ar10 as potential shots were out as much as 175 yards. was gonna use 45/70 on last day, but my buddy wanted that stand cause he was only using a 4x scope and my 308 has 12x so I took the stand with the potential longer shots.

    Glad you still had fun! That is the important part. Thanks for the update.
     

    rmocarsky

    Active Member
    Apr 20, 2011
    294
    Who was the outfitter? Was it Buffalo Creek Guide Service?

    Please give a detailed review of the entire hunt.

    Food, accommodations if you don't mind.

    Rmocarsky
     

    Jake4U

    Now with 67% more FJB
    Sep 1, 2018
    1,150
    Good luck on your hunt, this is on my "to do" list also. Report back after on the outfitter/game you saw if you can please.

    Yes! It's also on my list. Picked up a .450 Bushmaster in prep for that day.
     

    steveh326

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 23, 2012
    1,598
    Mt. Airy
    Who was the outfitter? Was it Buffalo Creek Guide Service?

    Please give a detailed review of the entire hunt.

    Food, accommodations if you don't mind.

    Rmocarsky

    ok I'll give a review, might get long winded.

    1st disclaimer, never did anything like this before, so I have no comparison to anything else. Originally I was concerned it would be like hunting over a hog pen, but was nothing like that.

    yes Buffalo Creek Guide Service. do not confuse with Buffalo Creek Outfitters... stay away from them. I think my non-res 10 license was 120... 60 for basic license for hogs, plus another 60 for a deer stamp.

    accommodations are rustic but fine. the lodge is an older house on some acreage. front porch and wrap around deck. on the back of the deck is the mess house where we take our meals and got together. tv in there, gets 1-2 stations. we were able to watch football game one evening. food is adequate, not 4 star restaurant but did not starve. trying to remember... breakfast... 1 morning biscuits gravy, other day pancakes/sausage, other day eggo waffles/sausage. lunch... soup/hotdog, cold cut sandwich dinner... porkshop/corn/beans, lasagna, pizza from local shop one night. array of lodging. buddy and I stayed in one cabin w twin beds. bathroom had to walk outside to building next door that had sink/toilet/shower. well water stunk but I think that is normal down there. other cabin had indoor bathroom. another cabin was refurbished fema trailer, so accommodations varied. building/area for skinning/gutting and a big walk in cooler for hanging.

    hunting: 600-700 acres main grounds, but they have other leases also that they can hunt. guessing 40-50 stands scattered around the property. I hunted out of box blinds that were great, also saw just about every other kind of stand imaginable. In the morning they take you out in sxs and drop you off at the stands... option to hunt all day or come back for lunch and go back out at 2pm. most days I stayed out all day. Stands were over feed plots or feeders that went off a couple times a day. Shooting distance ranged from 50-175 yards from what I saw. as I noted earlier, the weather for our 3 days was horrible. game was just not moving much. I could have shot a nice doe but I opted not to. side story... I was in box blind with 360 views of shooting lanes... I was watching this big doe to my RIGHT for 2-3 mins using my binos... finally decided to grab my rifle from the corner behind me... when I spun around to grab it, off to the far LEFT was a really nice buck, but at that point he was 10' from getting back into the woods, and I could not get the scope on him in time before he disappeared... SOB.

    My hunt was a 3 day hunt, split up as follows: arrive noon day 1, get settled into cabin, have lunch, head out to stands @2pm. picked up around 5:30 after dark. day 2-3, hunt all day. day 4, hunt till noon then check out and leave. because of our long drive home, and because there was no one coming to use out cabin, buddy and opted to pay a couple bucks and stay till the next morning (no hunting). thats when we had time and went ahead and quartered his hog ourselves. as far as game goes... nothing much was moving. full moon at night let game move all night long. rain for 1.5 days had them hunkered down, followed by some fairly high winds. we were scheduled to be there in prime rut season, but for some reason the rut had not even started yet. saw a couple deer, and a couple sow hogs, and a couple diff flocks of turkeys but nothing I could shoot. my buddy connected with a decent hog almost at dark on the 1st day then saw nothing after that. the father/daughter who were there same time got 2 smallish does and a very small hog. at the time I thought I would not shoot a hog that small, then later learned they are the best eating... just put the whole thing on the grill... so go figure. at the end of our stay there were 3 guys from Philly who came in to hunt hogs only. one of them connected with a decent hog on our last day.


    the main guide Harold is a hoot to be around. Has led a varied life, and has ton of stories to keep you entertained. really nice fella... I am considering riding to outdoor show in Harrisburg in feb just to say hi. Adam was secondary guide and cook and also nice fella but not as talkative as Harold. It does seem to me like johnny dale, who owns this place, is putting most of his efforts into his bear camp a few hours away, and not focusing much on this place. nothing bad, but you can see the bulk of the resources and attention going into the other camp. Since my buddy and I were there for extra night and not hunting, we took it upon ourselves to repair a couple things around there that needed fixing. nothing major, we rewired/rehung a ceiling fan in our cabin that was falling down, and we repaired one of the dining booths in the mess hall where the welds had broken.

    would I do it again... I think yes, depending on if I had the extra $ to spend or not... aside from paying to belong to a hunting club here in MD, this was the 1st time I ever paid to go hunt with an outfitter. guy at my IWLA was telling me of a place he goes in SC to hunt hogs that is way cheaper but I can't remember the name of the place and need to check back with him. the problem as I see it is scheduling months in advance and taking your chances on what the weather will be or what will be happening that far in the future.
     

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    delaware_export

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 10, 2018
    3,143
    Sounds like you had good trip!

    Hog hunting is what I miss most about Georgia. Especially if you get into a sounder, just shooting until empty or they are gone. (They usually get gone before you get empty, but not always)

    The mrs liked the Pork better then venison.
     

    steveh326

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 23, 2012
    1,598
    Mt. Airy
    Sounds like you had good trip!

    Hog hunting is what I miss most about Georgia. Especially if you get into a sounder, just shooting until empty or they are gone. (They usually get gone before you get empty, but not always)

    The mrs liked the Pork better then venison.

    these guys make a living off of the hogs, so limit is one per day and boars only.

    I was REALLY hoping for some pulled pork or backstraps on the grill for tomorrow, but alas, stuck with the stinkin turkey...lol.

    my wife won't touch venison but she said she would try the pork if I brought it home.
     

    Surt

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Aug 2, 2019
    193
    So, funny enough I went on my own first hog hunt the week before this. I went with Bryant Place Outfitters, also North Carolina and shot a 140 pound boar at around 2 AM of the only night we had scheduled. The owner really does his homework and we found a hog pretty quickly after he took me out ground stalking. I had such a good time, I'm making arrangements to take my wife there for her first hunt, as I got her a compound bow for Christmas.
    It was a charity hog hunt for veterans that the outfitter donated his weekend for, so I didn't pay anything and don't know what he charges, and processing was minimal for his donated time. He just cut off the ribs, the shoulders and the shanks. Feral hogs have no real belly or bacon cut to speak of. As stated elsewhere, the meat is very dark and strong in flavor and would make good sausage and not very good ham steaks. I've found that sharp mustard goes really well with it, as well.
     

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