Cali hog down

Montana

Veteran member
Nov 3, 2011
1,103
399
Bitterroot Valley, MT.
My aunt smoked this bruiser this morning. First harvest. She's hooked. I have to give her credit though this was about her 15 th day in the field before she got a crack at one. Worth the weight I guess.
image.jpg
 

Montana

Veteran member
Nov 3, 2011
1,103
399
Bitterroot Valley, MT.
Kind of tough to make out but his tusk (if thats the right word) is 4 inches on the one side and snapped off on the other. And I guess, the eye, the one we can see, is completely scarred over, basically gone. He came in at 270 at the meat locker, field dressed.
 

Colorado Cowboy

Super Moderator
Jun 8, 2011
8,348
4,741
83
Dolores, Colorado
Shot a few hogs at a friends place in Texas, only 2 were boars. (usually shoot meat hogs...smaller and usually sows). Every one of the boars had broken tusks and lots of scars on their snouts. My friend told me almost all the boars down there have broken tusks, maybe because of the rocky soil and the rooting in the dirt they do. Love to shoot hogs and they are really good eating!
 

BKC

Very Active Member
Feb 15, 2012
835
163
The high plains of Colorado
I always buy pork to put in my sausage for my deer and elk. Does wild hogs have that much of a different taste that it would make for tastier sausage or less tastier sausage?
 

Colorado Cowboy

Super Moderator
Jun 8, 2011
8,348
4,741
83
Dolores, Colorado
The only hogs I've shot were in Texas and none over 225#. I butchered all except the first one myself. One thing for sure they have a lot less fat than a domestic, pen raised pig. The belly meat (which is where bacon comes from) was way too thin for bacon, so it went into sausage. I smoked the hams myself and made pork chops and spare ribs. The rest went into breakfast sausage. The meat was really great, not strong at all. That being said, I also ate some of my buddies hog that was shot in California near Paso Robles. It was a big boar, around 350#. Some of it was pretty strong. I've also heard if you want a meat pig, shoot one 200# or less and preferably a sow. Also as in all big game, how you take care of the animal after it is shot makes a difference. They are really not that easy to skin because of the fat. We cut the heads off and really let them bleed, gutted them and skinned them pretty quick. Cleaned up the meat and got them iced down. Frozen as soon as I could before leaving for home (I took a freezer and generator with me for transporting the meat back to Colorado).

Hoping to get back down there again the first week of April for hogs and Turkey.
 

JMSZ

Active Member
Sep 5, 2012
376
0
Is there an actual season for pigs in California or can you hunt them all year?

I was looking through the DFG website and I couldn't find anything that specifically stated what it was.

I'd like to get up north and/or over by the coast and hunt some pigs there.

Also, anybody here hunted on any of the winery property? A guy up by Clear Lake told us that the pigs do serious damage to the vineyards, so you'd think they'd be glad to have somebody come do some pest control for them.
 

Muleys 24/7

Veteran member
Jan 12, 2012
1,406
12
The Golden State
Is there an actual season for pigs in California or can you hunt them all year?

I was looking through the DFG website and I couldn't find anything that specifically stated what it was.

I'd like to get up north and/or over by the coast and hunt some pigs there.

Also, anybody here hunted on any of the winery property? A guy up by Clear Lake told us that the pigs do serious damage to the vineyards, so you'd think they'd be glad to have somebody come do some pest control for them.
Yes, you can hunt pigs year round, and buy as many tags as you want