Hogs are back!!!

[ejtaylor822]

Eddie,
It must be true - everything is bigger in Texas!

Back home, in the mountains here of NC, had some buddies that hog hunted. If I remember right a big one for them was around 150 lbs. Most were about 100 lbs if I am remembering correctly. Now I am now hog weighing expert, but, that one sure looks bigger than 250, he's huge! Congratulations!

Saw a thread here a while back about having a TBN get together - I am nominating your place and having a pig-pickin'!

Couple of friends that I work with are from Texas, Austin and around San Antonio - one's wife is from Tyler. They have commented how the weather and terrain where they were from is similar to central NC here. I believe them (not that I didn't anyway and after seeing for myself a few years ago on a trip to Austin). Those pictures of the red clay soil and the pine trees could have been taken in my back yard.

Eddie

 

[RobJ]

Whitetails are different. They taste allot better than the other two species I've hunted. You can almost eat on without covering the flavor, but not quite. Mostly I make jerky or ground out of venison. I eat all of it, but only those two ways.

Hogs are good right on the grill. You don't have to flavor them, hide the taste or do anything at all. Wild hog isn't like domestic pork. The meet is a different color, texture and flavor. They really are two different species.

Agree on the processing, in the end I gound everything, told the processor (I don't do that) to put in the GOOD beef fat in the mix, it made a difference. The local Elkhart guy made us some jerky last time, very tasty but pretty expensive. Ground we put it in chili, tacos, lasagna, spigette (sp?), and burgers.

Technically I think the "wild hog" and domestic pigs are about the same or pretty darn close. The state calls them feral hogs...or domestic pigs run wild (see the pigs gone wild videos? ) You seeing the brown ones and light brown show this. I've seen white and pink spotted in the wild. In some places you see the feral goats and others. East Texas pigs are different than the south texas javalina.

What they say is the best Texas eating deer is the axis deer. Little blond spotted deer in the hill country. Since they are an exotic there is no closed season on them either. Never tried one though.

All this has me thinking about bow season coming soon. Had the Matthews MQ-1 out just yesterday practicing. But bow, gun, doesn't matter to me.

Rob

 

[dancer]

Dancer,

In high school, I had a friend who's dad leased some land in the Hayward Hills of California. They aren't much, but they do get mighty steep in places.

He brought in a cow to butcher. If I remember correctly, he put a 30-30 to it's skull to kill it. For whatever reason, the bullet glanced off the bone and the cow took off. It was very spooked and five or six guys with deer rifles spent two days shooting at it, hitting it and chasing it around those canyons until they finally killed it.

Kind of like the keystone cops. I'll also clarify that just because they had deer rifles and knew how to pull the trigger, not a one of them are what I'd call hunters or marksmen. It's a miracle that they didn't shoot one another.

Eddie

Eddie,
It's true -- just because you have a gun doesn't mean you know how to use it well. It's a shame that causes all kinds of grief!
But, WOW, I'm really struck by the number of coincidental contacts you and I share! I lived in Fremont/Niles, California, next to those Hayward hills and the entrance to Sunol Canyon -- felt the Hayward Fault shake and rode my MotoX bikes on the hills for practice. My neighbors were descendants of the early inhabitants of those hills who were Portuguese and Basque immigrants who didn't know much about guns (but you didn't want to mess with one with a stick!). Then I went to the thread of your wedding photos and was brought up to "been there, done that" by your photos of your honeymoon trip in Colorado and Utah, particularly the slickrock country. Then I went to your thread of your marriage proposal to Steph and the purchase of the ring -- I'm pretty sure that I know your San Francisco jeweler and used to purchase some tsavorite -- which was a favorite of my first wife -- there (wish I had that back now -- I could surely afford a bigger tractor!). And then I note that we both have beautiful brunette wives. And finally we apparently share the same barber! If there's a problem, it's that you're not moving fast enough to catch up to my years. Enjoy life!

 

[EddieWalker]

Renze,

The mere idea of raising hogs terrifies me. They are too smart for me and I don't want to have it proven on a regular basis.

As to what ate Stephs hog, it was definately coyotes. My parents are here in there RV. The walls are thin enough that they could here them all night long. According to my Mom, it was quite the party.


Dnag,

Thank you for your kind words. I'm her biggest fan, but it's nice to hear I'm not alone. She's smarter than I am, which challenges me to better myself. It's a true pleasure to just spend time with her.

Eddie,

Most hogs around here are about a hundred pounds. I'll also go out on a limb and say most people grossly exagerate how much a hog weighs when they shoot them. Right now, people who know better are telling me that this one weighs anywere from 300 to 400 pounds. I just smile and let them think what they want, but 250 is gonna be real close. He's a huge pig, and it's pretty rare for them to get this big around here.

The largest hog I've ever seen was here two years ago. It was a freak of nature and I honestly thought it was a cow at first. My reaction was to wonder who lost there cow and how do I tell them it's on my land.

Steph was with me and we both didn't recognize it for what it was for half a minute. Then it turned off into the brush and was gone. It's a memory that is burned into my brain!!!

Rob,

My first trip to Texas was to hunt on a game ranch for Axis deer. I shot a real nice one just outside of Johnson City. It is easily the best tasting deer meat I've ever had. I've ofter thought about shooting some management or axis does for more of those steaks.

Your right about wild hogs being domestic ones gone wild, but they change when that happens. There are all sorts of changes, too many to list, but the flavor and texture of the meat is one of those things. You just can't compare one to the other. Kind of like beef and lamb. Two totaly diferent flavors.

Dancer,

WOW, I know Fremont and Niles very well, but your mention of Sunol really caught my eye. Did you, by chance know George Schnieder? He used to own the ranch at the end of Sunol Canyon.

The jewler is Derco. They are huge and arguably the best place on the West Coast to get diamonds. There are others that are not open to the general public, but this is the only one I can get into.

When you said you ride MotoX. Is that in motorcycle dirt bikes? By anychance did you know Mark Olund? Hayward Honda???

Eddie

 

[dancer]

Eddie,

The name George Schneider doesn't ring a bell, but it's been almost 30 years. I recognize the name Mark Olund, probably from MX magazines, but I didn't know him personally. And Hayward Honda was a little farther away than I needed to go for bean oil and other supplies and parts. I raced open-class motocross as a low-budget amateur in the early/mid-70's, first on a CZ 400 and later a Maico 400 -- until my advancing age brought enough weight to make me totally non-competitive. Like many things, it was fun while it lasted! My primary practice and training area was around the gravel pits north and west of Niles (toward Union City), and there were several access roads into the hills that didn't cross private land.