Opinion on eating boars

What is your opinion on eating big boars (200+)? I killed a nice one last week and didn't think the big ones would be any good.

If no stink then eat it.

Varmints gotta eat too. If they stink bad they stay where they fell.

If they stink I let the circle of life take care f them.? I shot a 190 pound boar we had processed and it was good.

If I can't pick it up with one arm, it goes to the bone yard. The larger, older hogs can carry some pretty ugly diseases, so you have to be real careful about what you take home to eat.

I honestly think there is a lot of missinformation out there on the web as far as feral hogs particuliarly good sized boars. Son just harvested a 196 pound boar. Of course he didn't smell like mama and dove moisturizing soap he smelled like a hog that lived out in the woods. We were careful when we skinned him and we used the gutless method. He was on ice for a week. I deboned his hind quarters and one front quarter and the meat hands down was some of the finest looking pork I have ever seen. Deep redish looking pork meat just like some store bought. I made him into sausage except for the loins but I think I could have gotten some chops and other cuts that would have been just fine. We had some Bratwursts from him the ohter night back out at the ranch. They were absolutely delcious! I can't wait to try the Italian sausages and Chorizo as well as the loins! Oh and I'll be shooting, trapping and processing as many as I can get my hands on.

There is just more meat ,the bigger they are

It depends. I usually cook a small piece in camp. If it's nasty it feeds the yotes. If tasty quartered and in the cooler. One thing I have noticed is if the pigs fat is white it will almost always be good. If the fat is yellow the odds are it will have a funky taste.

The one I took was probably 300-350. HUGE pig, just seemed like he was gonna be too big to eat.

I totally agree. I killed a big one last Nov didn't "officially" put scales on him but easy well over 200. He was delicious, tender, and some of the best pork I've eaten.

Now, I've also been on the flip side and brought back a big boar and it smelled the whole house when cooking.

Had big ones that ate great and big ones that stunk to hi heaven. Pig to pig basis for me and typically we shoot enough sows that we don't even mess with the boars.

Have killed feral hogs both boars and sows that were over 200lbs and were great eating and one that was about 60lbs that was not fit for food IMO.

I think it has to do with their diet more than anything else. The cooking test and fat color post above is spot on in my experience.


Killed one last Saturday that there was no way I was going to try to eat him, cuts on shoulders, brisket and back from fighting no fat visible at those cuts and smelled him before I got within 15 yards. He was pushing 200lbs with nice 2 inch cutters. If the yotes want to eat that nasty hog they are welcome to him.

Amazes me the weight people put on hogs...A dead 150lb-200lb hog will be near impossible for "average guy" to load on his own with out leverage or equipment. Then they automatically become "300-400lb" hogs. Ive been in a lot of camps but seen very few scales! True Hogs grow "heavy" everything about them is more "dense" bones hide scar tissue etc... I've shot several hogs and have never left one to rot or to nature yet...and only one could I load by myself!

Hogs stink on the outside. Wash him down good and get the stink off before you cut him. It won't stink on the inside unless the hog had issues.

Yes sir I agree with you. Me and my 21 year old son could not get this hog up and on the tailgate of my pickup. The hog weighed 196 pounds. My son is over 6 foot.

Clean um good before a knife hits the animal and then wash animal/knife again after skinning is done before quartering... gutless method of quartering is by far the best in this case

I use the 150 pound rule, usually avoid any over that weight. Have heard of people cutting the backstrap out of large boars and it was good. Neighbor told me of his grandson soaking boar meat in coke for 24 hours before cooking.

Gut him and you can load that rascal.

There is no magic poundage number on what determines a good eater from a not good eater. Not all large boars are stinkers.

This guy weighted 264, no stink, and we took out some very large back straps that tasted great.



And kmon1 is right. You can get some nasty small ones as well. Weight should not be the determining factor in whether or not a hog is an eater. It is not a good clue.

I've thrown very few away, and then only because we'd shot more than we wanted to clean. I've shot several that were in the 200-300 Lb range, and the only problem is that even the back straps are usually tough. However, none of the meat was so tough that it won't go through the grinder and become ground meat or sausage.
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I agree, the weight thing is Internet lore... bad and good in all sizes I guess. Just as kmon1 said, I think diet is a large determinant on taste. I weigh them with a scale (though DNS's tape measure works too), use the non-gutting method and put them on ice. Refresh the ice as it drains daily for at least 3 days. Have had very few bad ones.

Sometimes I think the stink excuse gets used all too quickly in order to take the easy way out, just being lazy about cleaning. However, I have come across a few that were so bad I left them too.

well said sir

Most hogs are probably edible. it helps when they are rolling fat like the one pictured above with the tractor. that hog is fat like a barnyard hog.

agree as well that most people do not weigh them. I've killed a lotta hogs, and some big ones. and not very many weighed over 200lbs with the guts in them.

the biggest "wild" hog I've ever seen was a huge boar that was raised in a pen by a friend of mine. he lived 4yrs in a 16ftx16ft square pen and lived on a wonderful diet of just about anything and everything that the guys wife brought home from the feed store. including horse sweet feed and such. pig was very spoiled, it was like a big dog. he would drink beer out of a dish.

long story short....he killed him because he was tired of what it was costing him to feed him.

hog was huge and massively fat. about 4yrs old. weighed I'm guessing about 300lbs live weight. I only weighed him after he'd been gutted. he tipped my scale at 265lbs gutted. and even this hog, lost almost 100lbs after I skinned him. had about 4in of fat on his back. he was excellent eating, but he also had the life of king.

I've never seen a hog in the wild anywhere near his size.

the above hog was trapped wild as a shoat and then raised in captivity. just FYI...I didn't specify above. but he did originate in the wild.

not that larger boars are not, or cannot be edible. but I've killed and eaten enough of them of all sizes to know some are better than others. and wild hogs in general do not seem to improve with size.

I do not notice the same with deer. old deer and young deer, bucks/does....to me is pretty consistent. hogs are not the same.

they can all be eaten though if you want. a little spice in the seasoning helps. I don't fault anyone for leaving them in the field either.

This was within a few lbs of him then when he had guts

looks like a big boy. I don't mean to say it never happens. I would imagine in certain parts of the state where conditions allow for it it probably happens with more frequency. there's a lot of hogs out there over estimated though.

not that everyone turns their pigs in for game awards. but there's a whole bunch of big buck contests on some big ranches in texas. most of them have a heaviest hog division, and i'll be honest I don't follow them extensively so there could be more out there than I think....but most of the winners are in the 275lbs-325lbs range. that I'm aware of at least. I could be wrong.

I've always been a big advocate for eating what you kill.. and most of the big boars (2-300lbs) I've killed were edible. Until last year on opening morning of deer season, I shot a 200lb lean, straight russian ugly toad of a pig. Thinking he'd eat we quartered him up, threw a slice of his ham on the grill a few days later and he tasted like stagnant pond water mixed with tarsal glande. Even worse, thinking I had done something wrong with the meat, I gave it another shot, trying to slow cook some in the crock pot. The whole house smelled like burnt frogs arse for 3 days.

That same day my buddy shot a boar about the same size, but he was a butterball.. his meat was delicious.

Moral of the story, If it smells bad and looks bad, it's probably gonna be bad and when in doubt, cook it outdoors.

(Not edible)


(Delicious)

No doubt it takes a lot of pig to hit 300. iv shot around 150 a year and only a handful would even hit 250

I only keep the big ones 175+ pounds. I have killed several 175-300# boars and eaten every one of them even ones that have a strong odor when quartering. I have never had anyone complain about the taste but I am sure there have been cases for somw people just not me. If a hog is under 150#s I just drag it off for the varmints, since I butcher all my own I want it worth my time. That's just my experiences.

Like most people so far I have eaten a ton of wild hogs of all differnt sizes and sexes. I know the big makes smell worse than the small females but they still are edible. My take on any species and size of animal when it come to eating them it all depends on how process the animal and then how well you can prepare and cook it. you can make the best cut of meat taste terrible and what some would consider the worst meat and make it very well. I've traveled all over the world and eaten with te locals any chance I've had. Stuff that seems terrible I've had them cook and comes out surprising well. Just my opinion.

My son took these 2 last Saturday night. The boar was stinky..he didn't make it out. 'Yotes gotta eat too..the blonde that thought she had a good camo coat, no stinky..she's going in the freezer.