My words were a bit tongue-in-cheek, and I think my point was lost on the intended ears. But anyway, yeah we need to stick together.
On the hogs, I have hunted wild pigs for over 20 years. I have seen the local herd go up and down in size for a variety of reasons, but the main reason is commercial trapping. There are hog buying stations near me, and apparently a fair market for them as so many people are trapping them and taking them to sell. Though, some of these guys I know might consider the price of a case of beer to be enough reason to go to such trouble.
I have seen them in herds of over a hundred in the past, but in more recent years much less than that. My neighbor thinks we need to wipe them out, but I sort of like having them to extend my hunting season a bit....though they do over-populate very quickly. Ive shot young piglets and cooked them whole, but the older ones I usually grind up into breakfast sausage, and my efforts on that are sort of hit and miss (good one time, not so much another)
Roger that. I used to keep everyone, the 1st boar I killed charging me & all I had was a Compound Bow (that’ll get you online!) and tastes sweet like he been eating Sugarcane. We’ve stuffed the small ones full of boudin, wrapped in bacon & grilled. My family had a bad experience on one that had a bad taste, then the last ones I drug out to give away filled my boat with 1K ticks & couldn’t give em away. After seeing all the [emoji3544] warnings (use gloves when cleaning, don’t get their blood in your cut skin, some carry disease, make sure the temp is hot enough when cooking) we just cut and let em lay now.
My son & I have run into as many as 50-80 in one pack, and regularly see them in packs of 12-20. I’ve been charged by boars on more than one occasion, but have been fortunate to jump up on a fallen tree and avoid getting cut; literally like combat.
Our Wildlife Biologist are glad every time I relay a kill, they say “kill em all”. It’s definitely not as easy as some may think, as we hunt Public Land in the swamps of Louisiana and cannot bait; they are very intelligent.
Where are you from?
Not far away, just to your west and a bit north. With a strong south wind I can just about fly a kite over Oklahoma
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Ive heard lots of different stories about when not to eat them (hogs again) but havent found any that I have been able to prove in the field. For instance the idea that big old boars will never taste right, yet some of the best meat Ive had was from just such a boar. I also killed a couple of sows that stunk FAR worse than he did, and made me shy about bothering with their meat. But in recent years I have stuck to much younger pigs, and as far as I'm able try for a gilt if possible.
That said, nothing works every time, sometimes they turn out okay and others- well we can always use more dog treats. I havent been made sick so far, but like you Ive read so much that puts the fear in you, that Im very careful- or at least try to be- about which ones I butcher.
Yeah, Ive shot several and just let them lay. Trying to keep them under control to some extent. Coyotes need to eat too, maybe an occasional pork sacrifice will keep them away from my chickens to some degree
