Speaking of “home”… What’s going on in North Carolina?
As always, I’ve been keeping an eye on North Carolina hunting news, and a couple of things have popped up lately.
First, there’s the discussion going on the Black Bear Blog, and now on Moose Droppings, about the town of Smithfield enlisting police officers to cull the whitetail herd in town. Of course, the preference of everyone is to present this as an opportunity to hunters, but that preference has to be tempered with realism. Most folks are going to be much happier knowing that law enforcement officers, trained to safely use firearms in the urban/suburban environment are doing the job. But there is an option of allowing hunters who receive similar (often better) training and certification to do the job. The question is, are there any hunters there with the appropriate training and certification? Follow this one either at Moose’s blog, or on Tom Remington’s Black Bear Blog.
The other article is also from Moose’s site. Looks like NC is trying to get in on the “Hogzilla” game too! Read this piece from the Raleigh News and Observer about this 780lb feral hog that was taken recently in Nash County.
A note on that article. The hunter who shot the hog had heard that castration can lessen the gaminess of wild hogs, so he cut off the testicles before he started the field dressing. Unfortunately, the hog smelled so strong that he decided not to process it and, after weighing, buried the carcass. The article didn’t say what he did with the “oysters”.
For anyone interested, the castration trick only works while the hog is still alive. Once castrated, the “barr hog” will no longer seek sex, and will not produce the musky odor that is often associated with big boars. Since they’re no longer seeking sex, they also tend to stop fighting, so barr hogs usually have much better tusks… improving trophy value. Basically, all they’ll do then is eat and get fat and tasty. Catching and castrating wild hogs is a fairly popular aspect of hog hunting in Texas and Florida. I’m not sure if it’s even legal in CA, but I’ve never heard of anyone doing it here.
To recap, though… cutting off the family jewels AFTER harvest will have no impact whatsoever on the quality of the meat. So there’s your hog hunting tip for this week.
Oh boy, Phillip, I hate to be cantankerous, but I’m a little disturbed by the guy killing the pig, then just burying it because it was stanky. OK, that was a lie: I’m a lot disturbed. This is the kind of thing that makes hunters look like callous idiots. If you’re gonna take a life, the least you can do is make use of it. Grrrr!
I’ve never killed any boar, much les a smelly one, but I’ve eaten spoonies and coots – legendary for their fishy smell and flavor – because wanton waste is inexcusable. And oh yeah, isn’t it illegal too?
December 7th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
Cazadora, I can’t really argue in principle. That part of the story bugged me too.
But… reality steps in…
First of all, feral hogs are vermin. The fact is that they need to be eradicated, and if hunters won’t do it paid professionals will have to. Bottom line, they need to be killed before they can establish populations.
It’s a hard role for most ethical hunters to play, because it goes against what we have been taught, but there are some animals that simply need to be killed on sight. Feral hogs are one of them.
Wanton waste is only illegal in a handful of states, and usually only applies to game animals. In NC, feral hogs aren’t game animals, nor is there a wanton waste law on the books. CA doesn’t, technically, have a wanton waste law either, by the way… not that it justifies leaving an animal to rot.
Second of all, occasionally as a hunter you will find an animal that is simply inedible.
I killed a hog at Tejon ranch that smelled absolutely rank. I tried, honestly, but it was awful. It stank when it was raw, it stank when it was thawed, and it was absolutely unbearable when I cooked it. It stank up the whole house. I finally threw away probably 40 pounds of meat. It happens.
December 7th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Fair enough.
But I’m just thinking there has to be a spice mixture out there that would mask even the most disgusting smell. Think Indian food…
December 7th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
I’ve heard that soaking in salt water, lemon water, or buttermilk can help with rank boars. I do know that no spice on earth could fix the pork from that Tejon hog.
Where’s Hank when we need input?
December 7th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
As I wrote that, Hank was busy blogging about goose recipes.
But he does know many secrets for transforming the stinky to the divine – perhaps we can get him to blog on that.
December 7th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
[...] about police hunting on duty that Tom already had it going on the Black Bear Blog and Philip at the Hog Blog also has it going as well. So let me see if I can shed a little more light on this [...]
December 8th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
I’ve never hunted hogs but I’ve heard a number of people who do hunt say that large hogs are inedible? Is that true? I’d hate to kill a critter like that and have to just bury it. I killed an old doe one time and she was the gamiest thing I’ve ever tasted. I tried a number of things that didn’t work, I even tried to use the meat in chili and it was still noticeable so I did pitch it. One of these days I’ll get a crack at a hog cause they are taking over and it’s just a matter of time before they end up on some of the land I hunt.
December 8th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Moose,
I’ve heard that over and over, and can’t speak to any kind of “general truth” behind it. I’ve killed one hog over the years that was simply too rank to eat (not just on the outside, but the meat itself), and it was a little boar that field dressed about 75lbs. Not a big boy at all.
On the other hand, I took a boar that was easily 350lbs on the hoof, and it was some of the best meat I’ve eaten.
The wild hogs we hunt here in CA don’t get to be 700 pounds, so I can’t speak to anything that big. I’m sure some must get stinky, but haven’t experienced it.
As I mentioned above though, keep in mind that when you’re hunting feral hogs it’s not just about hunting for meat… it’s hunting to reduce a population. The things don’t belong in the ecosystem, and need to be eradicated. If you get lucky and get some good meat in the process, that’s cool. But it’s a bonus. The real benefit in killing these hogs is to the environment (and to the farmers who will soon be losing more crops to hogs than deer).
December 9th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
Phillip, I’m new to your blog – and really enjoyed reading your Dec 7th Blog about Feral Hog hunting in NC. I live in High Point and, being an avid hunter (Deer, Turkey etc..)and wanting to add feral hogs to my varmint hunting activities – I was wondering where I could go to find out more info on hunting feral hogs on either public or private property? Is there anywhere I can go that can put me in touch with farmers/ranchers in the state that need help reducing the number of nusiance critters – like Coyote, Feral Hogs etc..?Having grown up on a large Dairy Farm in Wisconsin, being retired Military, and an avid lifelong hunter, I have always prided myself on being very respectful of someone’s property, I do not violate game laws and would donate some sweat and hard work to helping improve some aspect of the property in exchange for being able to hunt there! (Repair fences, cut brush, etc..) I usually hunt alone or with one other good friend whose also a retired veteran. Any assistance you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I’d love to recount any interesting hog hunting experiences/lessons learned here on your blog site. I’m putting your site in my “AOL Favorites” section – please e-mail me at your convenience! Thanks again!
December 26th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Hey Steve;
I’m in Raleigh NC I can tell you if your looking for public land to hunt feral hogs check out Caswell Game Lands. They have hired a trapper to remove them because they are causing problems. Be advised that if you want to hunt them you better hurry because in NC on Game Lands you can only carry a rifle during the open big game season which is about to close on Jan 1 when the deer season ends. Good Luck on finding private land because access is tough but as the population continues to explode access may get easier.
-Moose-
December 26th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Steve, sorry for the delayed response. I’ve been running so much over the holidays, it’s hard to keep up with the blog.
Many thanks to Moose for stepping in with some great NC hospitality. You can check with your local Wildlife Resources Commission office to find out if there are any problem areas near you. The NCWRC website is also a great source of info, although there’s not always a lot of detail. The number of publicly accessible feral hog hunts will probably increase over the next several years.
There is good public land up in the mountains also, although I think the best hunting opportunities there are to be found with paid hunting operations using hounds.
South Carolina can also offer some great hunts, and the non-resident license really isn’t that expensive there. Private land hunts are reasonably priced. Public hunting is available as well, but I have to admit I don’t know enough about the public lands down there to offer a suggestion of where to start.
I enourage you to continue your research, both on the Internet and also with a few phone calls. Another pretty good source of info would be the newspapers, particularly the News and Observer (Raleigh), since they seem to offer pretty good coverage of hunting and outdoors issues.
Good luck, and share your success with us when you find it.
December 30th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
[...] coverage of this here, at Hog Blog and Black Bear [...]
January 9th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Guys,
I’ve got 25 acres of oak ridges and bottom land that borders Caswell game lands. I’ve hunted it for 5 years now and not once have I seen a hog, or hog sign. I don’t think Caswell game lands has much if any hog population.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
In the eighties I had a pal who had access to a large, beautiful ranch in Mendocino county. I hunted hogs and turkeys there for eight years. The ranch had been in the family for many years and the residents were avid hunters. One year we hunted using little bitty fox terriors. They would corner the hog, we’d catch up as fast as we could considering the ruggedness of the country. One young boar was caught by hand and promptly castrated, ear marked and let go. We were told it was a common practice for the reasons you discussed. On one of my last trips we were able to harvest one of the ear tagged “barrows”. It’s a damned long way from southern Colorado to Mendocino county to hunt hogs but for those of us who went it was a fabulous trip every year. Since then I’ve been hunting hogs in the Texas panhandle. Lots closer to home, the hogs are just as much fun. I do miss the redwoods and the ferns…found your blog a couple of nights ago and can’t put the laptop down…keep up the great work.
December 4th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Thanks for dropping in, Mike. Good to have you aboard, and I appreciate the kind words.
CO to CA is a long trip for a pig, especially when you can just drop down across the TX line for more pigs than you can shake a stick at. But hunting in Mendocino county is pretty awesome, and you won’t get anything like that anywhere else in this country.
Enjoy your visit, and hope to hear more from you!
December 4th, 2008 at 7:45 pm