How big is too big?? When it comes to eating a hog....

[dbrock63]

As long as we have plenty of wild hogs to choose from, I don't put a knife into a hog unless it is under 100lbs. I always thought it better to eat the younger smaller ones to get better tasting meat. We shot a big 250+ lbs male hog and my FIL was dead set on cleaning, processing and eating this thing. He is very good at processing and this big hog has tasted way better than I thought it would. Of course the worst part is having to admit to him he was right!

What is the max size hog you will keep to eat? Do you care as long as it is process correctly?

[TXBowhunter11]

Mine is 150--- but there are going to be a lot of people who have "ways" of making a bigger hog taste great.. I'm just not a firm believer in that, and don't have to time for that. So 150 is my limit.

[Double-O-Dave]

Wow! In for the responses. I've not killed a hog, yet - but have always been told not to bother trying to eat any hog over 150 lbs. or so, and the ideal ones for eating were around 50-60 lbs.

Regards,

Dave

[Bminchew]

No such thing as a sow or barr being to big. Boars if they stink I don't mess with them.

[dgrantlpc]

As long as you remove as much far as possible and remove the embeded glands in the hams. If you make sausage out of it, size doesn't matter.

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[jbhunting39]

150lbs Boar. I have eaten a sow that weighed 190 and she tasted good. The quality of they meat will depend on what happens right after it hits the ground. How it is taken care of. I've started field dressing them with them still twitching lol.


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[Double-O-Dave]

Wow! In for the responses. I've not killed a hog, yet - but have always been told not to bother trying to eat any hog over 150 lbs. or so, and the ideal ones for eating were around 50-60 lbs.

Regards,

Dave

[texashunter]

I never worry about the size, but if they smell I leave em alone. The meat will taste just like they smell. Every now and then you get a big boar that doesn't stink, and the meat will taste just fine.

[CastAndBlast]

From someone that has hog hunted his entire life and cleans, eats, kills a lot of hogs every year size does NOT determine if the meat is good/bad. We did believe this in the past as we only shot sows and smaller boars to eat. I started making the decision to process on the smell of the hog. If a hog has a strong musk smell, I won't eat them. It doesn't matter if they are 50 lbs or 300 lbs or boar or sow. As long as they don't stink, I clean them and eat them. I can guarantee you that you won't be able to tell the difference between a 250 lb boar and a 100 lb sow as long as they don't have a stong musk smell.

[Patton]

Agreed on going by scent, not worth the effort if they are rank, otherwise no problem. And like mentioned, how quickly and cleanly they are processed (any animal in general really) is a large factor in determining the quality of meat.

[dphillips62]

About 250 on a boar some of them tend to get a little rank heavier than that, don't really like nursing sows either meat tends to have a funny taste to it to me anyway

[stickman]

Ate some of a 320+lb boar last month, He tasted like store bought pork. Worst pig I ever tried to eat was an 80lb boar.

[Fishndude]

No such thing. The bigger the better.

[jmangrem]

Like most others have said, I judge based on the health and life cycle of the animal and time of year.
March - October I leave 'em laying.
During the winter I will process one a) if I need the meat, b) am in the moode, and c) it isn't a big ol' nasty rutting boar.

I have eaten anywhere from 20 lbs up to 250 lbs and both are great if done right. One of the most tasty ferrel pigs I've ever eaten was a ~250 lb boar shot in the headlights driving back from a blind one december evening. He had been eating so much corn he actually had a sweet smell when we cleaned him.

I known plenty of guys who will eat any pig no matter what and some who wound't if they were starving. Both kinds seem to be doing just fine...

[diamond06]

No such thing as a sow or barr being to big. Boars if they stink I don't mess with them.

This is what I do.