Wild hog meat… do you eat it or is it too risky?

[skydiver386]

@skydiver386 , one question, how do you know what a sweaty armpit tastes like?

Because I was in the Army for 25 years, and have multiple combat tours. I know exactly what a smelly armpit smells like.

 

[CBH Australia]

Now that is just plain BS. I killed and ate a boar that dressed 546lbs and it was delicious. 2 smoked hams that wouldn’t fit in the freezer until cut up. To die for ribs on the Barbie. Breakfast sausage and Italian sausage to fill the freezer. If prepared and cooked properly it doesn’t matter how big they are. That has been my experience. But as with any wild game it needs to be dressed and skinned promptly and aged before cutting up.

I never sold Pigs to a chiller but I do know they were taking wild harvested Feral Pigs for the export market many years ago.

A friend was working for a Kangaroo shooter/chiller manager. In Western NSW which is generally dry and they could have been eating anything.

Bigger pigs were worth more per KG for the wild boar export market. I believe these were headed to Germany for human consumption.

We always thought the bigger smellier boars were more highly regarded in the market although most locals would not have touched them.

People would fatten piglets caught in the wild although transporting them or keeping them is still illegal.

 

[Hunt anything]

Because I was in the Army for 25 years, and have multiple combat tours. I know exactly what a smelly armpit smells like.

My mistake, thought you said tasted like.

 

[skydiver386]

You are correct, if you've smelled an old Boar filled with testosterone, you pretty much know that's how it's going to taste.

 

[thriller]

I never sold Pigs to a chiller but I do know they were taking wild harvested Feral Pigs for the export market many years ago.

A friend was working for a Kangaroo shooter/chiller manager. In Western NSW which is generally dry and they could have been eating anything.

Bigger pigs were worth more per KG for the wild boar export market. I believe these were headed to Germany for human consumption.

We always thought the bigger smellier boars were more highly regarded in the market although most locals would not have touched them.

People would fatten piglets caught in the wild although transporting them or keeping them is still illegal.

You sure they were headed to Germany? I had a Vietnamese oyster fisherman friend who would trade oysters for the big smelly ones. Worked out for both of us so I traded him quite a few over the years till he got out of the business. My least favorite hogs were highly prized by him and his family.

 

[Curtisstykbow]

Better than store bought if you cook it right!

 

[Hunt anything]

You sure they were headed to Germany? I had a Vietnamese oyster fisherman friend who would trade oysters for the big smelly ones. Worked out for both of us so I traded him quite a few over the years till he got out of the business. My least favorite hogs were highly prized by him and his family.

Doesn’t have anything to do with pork but we have some Vietnamese shrimpers in Bayou Labatre and they will catch laughing gulls, ring their necks , pluck them and hang them on their rigging in the scorching Alabama sun to age and gut them later and cook them for supper.

 

[HankBuck]

Doesn’t have anything to do with pork but we have some Vietnamese shrimpers in Bayou Labatre and they will catch laughing gulls, ring their necks , pluck them and hang them on their rigging in the scorching Alabama sun to age and gut them later and cook them for supper.

Hunt anything: I believe All sea gulls are Federally Protected in the U.S. - same as hawks, owls, eagles, vultures. I’m surprised Fish & Wildlife haven’t ticketed & fined these guys

 

[CBH Australia]

Doesn’t have anything to do with pork but we have some Vietnamese shrimpers in Bayou Labatre and they will catch laughing gulls, ring their necks , pluck them and hang them on their rigging in the scorching Alabama sun to age and gut them later and cook them for supper.

@AfricaHunting.com
Jerome, can we get a puke emoji please.
Sometimes I think we need one and this time I think it's appropriate.
I've never been that hungry.

 

[CBH Australia]

@thriller I'm pretty sure I was told the pigs were for export to Germany. Possibly some other parts of Europe.

It made sense to me as I think European countries eat Wild Boar. Probably sounds more appealing than Feral Pig.

The local chiller did not buy pigs for long and was well inland away from ports and markets. I don't think our area produced enough and they were likely lean coming off dry semi arid country they survive near water eating rotten dead stuff.

There might be chillers operating in Queensland but I don't know if there is export or human consumption markets in
Australia. I see Wild Boar Salami advertised by processors selling game meats but I'm not sure on the origin of the "Wild Boar"

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I have heard that wild hogs are great table fare. I have also heard they can be full of bad nasty things and should either be cooked to death or not eaten at all.

What does the group think?

When I lived in Northern California we used to shoot them and eat them. They seem to be best used as sausage. one friend of mine has his families market and butcher facility. He made the greatest linguica and Italian sausage out of them. While pigs can carry and pass on a couple of illnesses to humans, I've never heard of anyone actually getting sick from eating wild pork. Just be sure it's cooked to well done, as you would with any.pork.

 

[mooze]

I’ve never heard of wild boar meat being wasted in Europe. I think this discussion comes more from the animal being considered a pest than a true game animal in the United States.

you also have compulsory trichinella testing for wild meat in Europe.

trichinella rates for black bear in Canada varies regionally from 15% in the prairies to > 70% on the west coast. freezing at -20C/48h or cooking to core temp >70C will also kill it.

 

[Foxi]

Anything over about 150#, we leave for the coyotes, buzzards, and worms.

The shoats and sucklings are pretty decent eating. Problem with wild hogs is they're often not much fattier than any other wild game, and when they are fatty, they're not fat from being farm fed. When cooked, the fat never sets up like you see in bacon from farm-raised pigs.

Trichinella and pork tape worms aren't a thing in feral hogs in the US. Most trichinella infections in North America come from undercooked bear, and there are thousands of times more pigs killed in the US annually than bears in the US and Canada combined.

Brucellosis and a few other microbes are potential problems. Wear neoprene gloves and try not to cut yourself when you're cleaning/butchering the meat, cook to an internal temp of 150 or 155 and you're good to do.

What you report is very interesting.
Especially that these pigs don't have trichinosis, is that a reliable finding?
Why would an omnivore in the USA not have one?
Do you know the reason for this?
In Germany, every wild boar must be tested for trichinosis by the official veterinarian and, since Chernobyl, for radioactivity; here in Bavaria, this meat is no longer allowed to be sold if it contains more than 600 Becquerel per kg. Burcellosis is unknown in our wild boar.
And yes, apart from the boars in the rut, they taste delicious.
All of them. But the best-with distance- are in the 15- 30kg class.(clear on the hook)
The big ones get into the sausage

 

[Daggaboy375]

I have eaten delicious feral pork fare.

I have also shot a 250 lb boar off a coastal island in South Carolina that smelled and tasted rank.

Think pissing on wet burning fur marinated in a vat of sweat.

DB

 

[Hunt anything]

Hunt anything: I believe All sea gulls are Federally Protected in the U.S. - same as hawks, owls, eagles, vultures. I’m surprised Fish & Wildlife haven’t ticketed & fined these guys

I know Alabama Marine Resources has had a battle with them before, I don’t think they do it as much anymore as the older shrimpers have passed on and the younger generations have either gotten out of the business or were born here and tend to follow the law a little closer.

 

[thriller]

Doesn’t have anything to do with pork but we have some Vietnamese shrimpers in Bayou Labatre and they will catch laughing gulls, ring their necks , pluck them and hang them on their rigging in the scorching Alabama sun to age and gut them later and cook them for supper.

So we live close together obviously.

 

[Hunt anything]

So we live close together obviously.

Baldwin county

 

[thriller]

I am in Mobile county myself

 

[HookMeUpII]

The size of the pig is everything. I shot two 80 lbr's back in 2019. Turned them into sausage. People couldn't get enough of it. When you start getting into boars that are 150 or bigger, the testosterone really starts to make the meat pungent. Still makes fantastic sausage though.

As far as safety, I'm pretty sure as long as you cook the meat to 160-165, there is little risk if any at all. That should be enough to kill off trich, tapeworm, etc. If you think wild pig is bad? Hope you aren't a fan of bear meat lol.

 

[sgt_zim]

What you report is very interesting.
Especially that these pigs don't have trichinosis, is that a reliable finding?
Why would an omnivore in the USA not have one?
Do you know the reason for this?
In Germany, every wild boar must be tested for trichinosis by the official veterinarian and, since Chernobyl, for radioactivity; here in Bavaria, this meat is no longer allowed to be sold if it contains more than 600 Becquerel per kg. Burcellosis is unknown in our wild boar.
And yes, apart from the boars in the rut, they taste delicious.
All of them. But the best-with distance- are in the 15- 30kg class.(clear on the hook)
The big ones get into the sausage
View attachment 594581
View attachment 594582

In the US, nematodes (trichinella is a nematode/roundworm) and pork tapeworms were eradicated from the domestic hog population around the same time as swine flu. Swine flu was transferred easily between farm hogs and feral hogs, mortality rate is close enough to 100% as to be meaningless. Feral hogs that carried worms and got swine flu died.

There is a slim chance, very slim, one could get trichinosis or a tape worm from a feral hog in the US. If somebody in the US gets ill from eating wild pork, the probability is very close to 1 that it's from a pathogenic microbe.

While this degree of worm-infection in bears may not be common, they are common carriers of parasitic worms. Hogs just aren't.

In the US, I believe there are around 1000 cases a year of tapeworm infection, and generally fewer than 50 trichinella infections reported. The overwhelming majority of tapeworm infections are found in people who've traveled to more unsanitary places like Central/South America, Africa, and southern Asia.