I recently killed my first Javelina and cooked some up and I thought it tasted great. But I see more folks on here derate the meat than those that say they enjoy it. This got me to thinking what are the variables at play. Read any good book on game hunting before there were legal seasons and you will find that there are times and places where you would hunt certain critters based on thier platability. Browse, temperature, gender, etc play a big role. So, would you humor me and post up your Javelina eating experience AND also include where it was taken, what time of year/weather, gender, and how it was cooked.
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I will start:
I took my first by bow in mid March down near Laredo. It was a medium sized sow and it was still pretty cool temps. I cooked up a peice of the strap plus some meat from the hind leg and shoulder and pan fried it with a little bit of salt and pepper. My wife thought it tasted alot like beef. I agreed; it tasted more like beef than pork. -
Crock pot and seasoning makes a great javelina meal!!Comment
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i have always thought they were horrible based on experience as a kid and once 15 years ago when i tried to oven cook it.
but i am ready to give it another shot now that i cook a lot more wild game and have a better grip on how to do it properly.
i have heard so many people condemn aoudad too, but i have eaten several and will kill another to eat when the chance presents itself. they are quite tasty with a mild flavor.
i am convinced that my dislike for javelina was due more to how poorly we took care of the meat and how improperly i tried to cook it before.Comment
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I think it is fine. I wouldnt call it "good" but ok. I wouldnt buy the meat at the store but I eat em cuz I like shooting em. I would rather eat javi than duck.Comment
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I have killed many Javelina in the fall and I thought they tasted great. Usually cooked the meat in a crock pot and then used it to make bbq, tacos, etc. Just make sure the musk does not come into contact with the meat. Growing up in Az, they are treated as a big game animal and get a lot more respect than they do in Tx. I think they are the perfect animal to learn to spot & stalk with archery equipment.Comment
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It's good stuff.Comment
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that could have something to do with it, most is post kill handeling and how it is cooked. The show meateater he cooks some part of every animal he kills at the camp site. He has cook everything on the show from Javelina to coyoteComment
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I tried one once that was shot with a bow in October in West Texas, slow grilled on a pit and it was far from good and tasted just like it smells. To each his own, but no more for me.Comment
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Javies are God's gift to a stalking bowhunter.Originally posted by texizona View Post
I have not tried to eat one in over 20yrs. I tried several that I personally bow killed and skinned and dressed myself and it was horrible. All of the javis I tried were killed in the February time frame and near Laredo. I don't remember how I prepared it, but do know that I tried several different ways before I finally gave up on eating javi! The only way I could see to make it edible would be to cover it up with enough marinade and seasonings that you could not taste the javi anymore!
I love javi hunting because they are sooooooooooo fun to spot and stalk. I will not shoot them unless I have prior arrangements for someone to give the meat to.
BischComment
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Best description ever via BischAttached FilesComment
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I am a huge fan of javi tamales!! The last two that Hunter and I killed, we had made into tamales and they were very tasty. I have had it grilled also and it was good.Comment
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I think this is a very common situation. Alot of people will not admit that they don't really know what they are doing between kill and the table. There are alot of ways to screw it up between those two events. I for one strive to do it correctly, but even I know my own limitations and adjust my expectations accordingly.Originally posted by rsquared View Post
I rank it up there with squirrel, rabbit, and dove. They all taste "ok" when just cooked up with salt and pepper but can be made good when properly prepared in a stew or stuffed and grilled, etc.Originally posted by miket View Post
Absolutely no doubt. I got my first lesson this year and plan to keep on learning for the rest of my hunting lifeOriginally posted by texizona View Post
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See, it is reports like this that make me scratch my head... is there a certain flavor that some folk can pick up that others cannot? Kinda like if you can smell when somebody has eaten aspargus or not.Originally posted by Bisch View Post
I'd beleive you know what you are doing from kill to table, so is it maybe what they were eating... was it all from the same ranch? Maybe Javelina diets vary enough that they are like catfish... some lakes produce tasty catfish... while others, not so much...Comment
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only ate it once , because I've only killed one when I hunted in Ozona (fall gun season)
deboned and slow cooked a hind 1/4 roast in a cast iron pot for 5-6 hrs
seasoned it well, stuffed with garlic, and made a brown gravy
it was denitely a little gamey. Ate most of it, but didn't lick the pot, and it wasn't my favorite wild game dinner
would I eat another ? perhaps but I wouldn't chose it over wild pigsComment
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