Pig eaten’, Boar vs. Sow- East vs. West ?

[DaveC]

Pig eaten’, Boar vs. Sow- East vs. West ?

I’ve killed a few hogs through the years but have only paid to have 2 processed for regular non-smoker/bbq eating.

The first was a ~130# sow that was shot in East Texas (Splendora flat land) and DELICIOUS. Jucy, flavorful, tender- yummy yummy stuff.

The second was the ~130-150# boar from the Carta Valley area a few weeks back.
SO FAR the only two meals we’ve eaten were pork chops and ham steaks that were tenderized.
Three words- BOOT LEATHER TOUGH, dry, bland- not so great- honey pass the Heinz-57 type stuff.

What I’m wondering is if the difference was the sex of the animal or where it lived. Both were skinned, gutted, quartered and stored on ice for a few days before heading to the processor. (the sow made it sooner though due to location)

I can speculate the ET pigs have life much easier and more food options available to gorge on.
As to where the WT pig has to transverse the “mountains” and chew rocks most his life.

If my thoughts are correct it will be scrap pile minus backstraps on the larger Southwest Tx pigs from now on.

Thoughts?

[Shoot Low]

Local and diet have a huge impact on how the meat turns out.
The hogs I have killed down on Dolph Briscoe's Cochina and Catarina ranchs
are at best buzzard bait. Strong skunky smell and taste like they smell, sow or boar, it doesn't seem to matter.
The ones I take down on the Brazos by Glenrose are sweet, fat and tender for the most part. These latter hogs have a steady diet of corn, pecans, acorns, prickly pear, wild oats and the usual billion or so grubs and grasshoppers. I have had boars up to 150lbs that were fine to eat.
One thing I have learned is that if the pig is really really skunky smelling, I just leave it for the worms and yotes.
If just normal hog stink then I roll em on their belly and split the hide straight down the back from ear to tail and peel the hide back half way down on each rib cage and remove the back straps. Then I de-joint the hams from the pelvic and pop them straight up and take the lopping shears and cut the ham bone right above the first joint. Hams and backstraps all out in 5 minutes leaving the guts safely encapsulated and by not having this stinking mess permeate into the meat it seems to be much better to me.

[Russ81]

SIZE and Sex, a small 100# boar is okay if he's not musky, but a 50# sow is even better. I'd rather shoot a couple small pigs over one big one to process. large boars are not the best thing in the world over 250# unless cut.

[DaveC]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions.
From now on it’s back straps and then the gut pile for the larger westerners.