Big Boar! Tractor was Useful During Hunting Season

[rockinbbar]

So long as they fall near a trail I've found that the Kubota's bucket is the easiest way to get my deer out of the woods. Doesn't work out every year but it has a couple of times. The first photo is from 2022 and second is from this archery season. You can see some of the changes to the tractor as well including my home built cab. View attachment 1850953View attachment 1850954

That bottom buck is a dandy!

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

I have a place in East Texas that's just 25 acres of woods and I've counted over 30 at a time off my trail cameras.

They do compete with the deer for resources.

I've been considering something like the Pig Brig to help thin them out. The Perfect Wild Hog Trap | Pig Brig® Trap Systems

But it needs to be tended, I need a clearing big enough to place it, and somewhere to get rid of the carcasses when you get around to shooting them.

Gotta work on my research I guess. That and convince the wife to let me buy the FEL post-hole digger I've been drooling over.

 

[Robert walker]

At my place, if it's fresh and under 100 pounds, we pull the hams and backstraps. I don't skin or gut them, I just cut off what we want. Then we use the meat for dog food that my wife cooks in the crock pots. She has three crockpots, and there are days when all three are making dog food.

What's left is hauled off to an area that we call the "Bone Yard" The same happens with the big ones, and the guy who hunts my place. What he shoots all goes to the Bone Yard since we're asleep while he's hunting, and they are already stiff by the time we wake up.

Coyotes clean them up. But that's also where we shoot coyotes. Since coyotes kill my chickens and goats, I'm more into shooting coyotes then hogs!!!! Somehow, there are always more coyotes out there that clean up the hogs in less then three days.

I’m in east Texas. I also pull hams and back straps. I try to trap them, there is a guy here that buys them. They process them and sell the meat. They do get trap smart and it can be a challenge. I sometimes if I shoot them I drag them into the woods, coyotes gotta eat.

 

[gsganzer]

I'm like the others. Small hogs, under 80 lbs, I'll just remove a backstrap or ham. Out of courtesy to the landowner, we always try to haul our dead pigs to the "train station". The train station is also where the rancher dumps dead livestock. If the pigs are small enough, I throw them in the bed of the truck. The larger ones I drag by threading a cable through their hock and throwing a loop over my truck hitch.

There will also be a big boar that claims the train station area. I'll go out with the thermal and look for him late at night in the immediately surrounding area. When I do get him, another boar will claim the spot within a few months.

 

[ArmyAviatr]

Just a basic setup, Diamondback DB10 in .308, Witt Machine muzzle device, Bering Super Hogster thermal.

I setup and sighted in one of those Pulsar's on my brother's rifle. Nice!

Don't you eat them? Looks like a lot of pork.

Boar meat is rancid tasting. You have to castrate them and wait a week or so before butchering them otherwise to meat is inedible. Sows can be butchered and eaten as is.

 

[gsganzer]

Boar meat is rancid tasting. You have to castrate them and wait a week or so before butchering them otherwise to meat is inedible. Sows can be butchered and eaten as is.

A buddy of mine shot a big boar and then tried cooking it on a big trailer mounted smoker. It stunk that smoker up so bad, they had to park it on the far side of their parking lot. I don't think anyone ate it.

The small sows, under 80 lbs, I've cooked with good success. I'll completely skin them and then split them in half down the backbone. Brine in a cooler for 12 hours, then work in a rub and lay the half on the grill. Smoke for 4 hours, then wrap in foil and turn the heat up for final cooking.

One thing for sure, skinning pigs dulls the heck out of knives.

 

[EddieWalker]

One thing for sure, skinning pigs dulls the heck out of knives.

I use a sheetrock knife. When the blade gets dull, I flip it over, or put in a new one. When I'm done, I take it apart and wash it clean. For me, it's faster and easier then sharpening a good skinning knife when I'm done with the hog.

 

[gsganzer]

I use a sheetrock knife. When the blade gets dull, I flip it over, or put in a new one. When I'm done, I take it apart and wash it clean. For me, it's faster and easier then sharpening a good skinning knife when I'm done with the hog.

I like that idea!

 

[gsganzer]

I've been considering something like the Pig Brig to help thin them out. The Perfect Wild Hog Trap | Pig Brig® Trap Systems

But it needs to be tended, I need a clearing big enough to place it, and somewhere to get rid of the carcasses when you get around to shooting them.

I do a fair amount of trapping and use a Boss Hawg rectangular trap with the flip over feature. The flip over feature is nice for getting the pigs out after you shoot them or for releasing trapped deer. But the trap is heavy and impossible to move around by yourself. The pigs also get smart to them quickly. I bait with soured corn and will wire the trap open for a few days, so they get used to going in, then I set it.

I really hate when I trap a deer. They go complete bonkers and usually injure themselves, before you can release them. I'm planning to make a couple open top round traps, similar to these "Swine Saloon" traps. The deer should be able to jump out. They should also be easier to move around.

 

[oosik]

I can see none of you guys here have had the pleasure of butchering a caribou. About 30% of all caribou are infested with the Bott Fly larva. Bott fly lays eggs in the nasal cavity of the caribou. From there the larva travel throughout the animal.

Slice into a rear leg muscle - these gooey, yellow larva will come out from between the muscle fiber. Before doing any type of field work - we would always check on the larva status. Any infected animals would be left for the wolves.

Interesting fact - the local native/Eskimo folk enjoyed eating these larva. Just like candy for them. I never got the courage to give it a try.