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Sausage for fall and winter

1K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  Drm50 
#1 ·
I have had trail camera pictures of 2 nice sows and a shoat showing up at a feeder that I run year round for hogs. 2 recent hunts on the site were unsuccessful. I went out Saturday afternoon and checked my camera. In 2 weeks I had 1,442 pics. I checked the 2 days prior to Saturday and saw the same pigs were showing up around 8:30 pm. I came ready to sit the ladder stand. On the 45 minute drive to the property, I passed 3 banks showing temperature on their digital signs ranging from 96 degrees to 106 degrees. Suffice it to say, it was warm. Once I climbed my stand and got situated, I noticed there was an intermittent light breeze in my face and to my left side, which should be perfect for this stand. Around 7 PM I had a young fork horn buck come in and feed prior to the feeder throwing at 7:16. He spotted me in the stand, or at least it seemed like he looked directly at me, but was not at all alarmed. He fed along a creek bed and worked his way to within 10 yards of me without ever alerting on my scent. He actually worked back to just over my right shoulder. He only blew and left as I reached down to switch from my Henry Big Boy .44 to my AR in 7.62x39 with thermal optic. Feeder threw and it began to get dark around 7:45. I generally make visual sweeps with the thermal every couple of minutes while hunting with it. I spotted a doe coming in along the creek about 50 yards out. I watched as she fed for about 20 minutes, watching for a few seconds and lowering the thermal for a couple of minutes before making another visual sweep. She was cautious, but never alerted to my presence. After about 20 minutes of her feeding, I heard a sound that I wasn't sure about. I picked up the thermal and looked. The sound happened again as I got my eye to the optic. It was a big sow grunting and moving towards the doe. The shoat was a couple of yards behind the sow. The doe ran off and the 2 pigs moved past the feeder and fed to the left in the edge of the brush. I looked again to the right and saw another heat signature working towards me along the creek bed. I watched back and forth between the 2 larger hogs to see which would present the best shot. I trained my focus on the hog to the right. Through the thermal, you can see trees and bushes quite clearly. I picked a tree and waited for her to clear the tree. She passed the tree and stopped at about 40 yards out. I clicked off the safety and settled the red dot of the reticle in the optic behind her left ear. I squeezed the trigger and she dropped where she stood. I took another shot as the other sow took off, but apparently missed. I swung back to the downed hog and she was already still.
Airsoft gun

I got her dressed out and rinsed out, as I take a 5 gallon bucket of water when I go out for a hunt. Once I got her to the processor and inside the cooler, I saw that she was a hog I had nicknamed "Patch". I hadn't been able to see the white patch in the first pic, as she had been "chilling" in the muddy water of a pothole in the creek before she came in.
Domestic pig Suidae Snout Livestock Boar

She was an easy 150 lbs on the hoof. I was sure to thank God for sausage and ground pork for the fall and winter. Backstraps will be cut in about 3/4" thick slices and tenderized for breading and skillet frying. I soak them in buttermilk for a couple of hours, then dredge in flour, dip in eggwash and batter in a mix of blended townhouse crackers and French's french fried onion rings. It will make your mouth water!
 
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#5 ·
Nice, you got it made down there. We make sausage out of venison & pork. Don't have hogs anymore it would be handy to have them running around wild up here. I guess they have some in SW counties of Ohio but none over here in the hills. What is the meat like compared to domestic hogs?
 
#8 ·
The meat looks and tastes more like beef than store bought pork. I have had pictures of this sow coming in feeding on corn in the evenings for over 2 months. She had about an inch of belly fat on her. We have taken hogs in the national forest where dinner fare is acorns, roots, shoots, bugs and whatever critters they can find and eat. The corn fed hogs have no strong taste. Since there is little fat on them, when processed, they either have to add beef or pork fat for ground meat. Even at that, I find I have to use cooking spray in a skillet to keep sausage from sticking.
Last night I made up between 78-80 meatballs from a mix of 2 pounds of venison and 1 pound of ground pork. The ground pork is softer, not as firm, as venison. I mix in some salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, then roll about the size of a golf ball or smaller. Brown the meatballs on all sides in a bit of bacon grease. Slice 1 lb of portabello mushrooms and a medium onion and brown in a mix of butter and bacon grease. Mix 6 cups of water, 3 packets of brown gravy mix and 2 packets of onion soup mix and bring to a boil. Put all of this in a crock pot and let cook all day on warm or low. Serve over long grain wild rice and experience nirvana of the palette.
 
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#9 ·
I haven't used a thermometer on the meat, but cook until there is no pink inside. We skillet fry the breaded/tenderized back straps in about 1/4" of oil and cook until there is a nice golden brown color to the breading. The ground meat is wonderful mixed with ground venison. It is more tender and helps cut any "gamey" taste of the venison. Mixed like this, it can be used for any recipes where you would use ground beef. There is generally very little fat on wild hogs.
 
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#11 ·
I went on hunt in Tenn and the hog I shot was terrible, not fit to eat. I got in on shooting some "boar" that escaped from a operation that raised them for pay to hunt businesses. Due to the Tenn hog I gave them to landowner where I shot them. I told them they were lousy eating. Went back again and was forced to be sociable and eat lunch. I knew it was going to be hog. It was chops and was no different than domestic. Found out they cross domestic / boar to get fast grow with tusks.
 
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