To Gut or Not to Gut?…that is the question.

If you plan to have a Luau you are going to want to gut your hog. If you do not want the whole hog, and just want it quartered, you don’t have to gut it. There is a clean way, I call it the “blanket way” to skin and quarter your hog. My career has covered years of taxidermy, commercial fishing and professional hunting and trapping. I have made all kinds of cuts, with all kinds of knives, on all kinds of critters. I have found a good way to quarter and backstrap your hog and I call it the Blanket Cut. Just lay them on their side and use a gut hook to cut the skin 3 times. The first cut is straight down the back. The second cut is from the top of the first cut along the front of the shoulder. The third cut is from the bottom of the first cut down the back of the ham to the hock, skinning from top to bottom taking it off like a blanket. Next lay that old stinky hide over and use the inside skin like a table cloth. Take the backstrap first because it is on top. Then you take your quarters and hams from top to bottom. Flip it over and repeat. A big trophy boar covered in mud and skinned right, without gutting can be plenty tasty.

Fresh, clean Wild Hog backstraps, quarters and hams

If it wasn’t for the Last Second nothing would ever get done!!

I can’t count how many times we were ready to call it but we kept hunting and in the last seconds we bagged the game. There are many variables that contribute to a successful hunt. One of the most important ones is “the last second”. For example, the last hog hunt with a young hunter and his grandpa. We knew rain was due to come in and we could see the lightning in the dark sky but couldn’t hear the thunder. Our young hunter was so excited to get his first hog. The storm drew closer, the thunder was starting roll, and it was starting to rain. When lightning and thunder are getting close you know its time to get out of a metal blind and get to the ground for safety. We had texted and decided to call it and a second later after the text, the hogs showed up. The shot was made. A successful hunt in the last seconds. If it weren’t for the last second nothing would ever get done.

Successful young hunter

Hog Hunting Essentials Part 2

After your game is down, another essential item to have is a knife. Here at Hog Wild Hunting Company, we think two good options to have are a quality, hunting knife with a gut hook and a backup razor blade knife. I have been in the taxidermy, hunting, and commerical fishing business for a long time. I have seen lots of knives. Sometimes the nice, big, custom hunting knives are hard to sharpen, whereas the disposable razor blade knives you never have to sharpen. But whichever knife you decide to bring, make sure it’s sharp before the hunt. If you are going with a heavy, traditional knife, make sure you bring sharpening equipment like steel ceramic sticks, wet stones or a Lansky sharpener. That way you will be able to sharpen your blade along the hunt.

Essential knives for hog hunts

Hog Hunting Essentials Part 1

There are several things that are good to have when hog hunting. One of them is proper footwear. Boots or Hiking shoes are important to have when hunting or trailing game anytime in cactus country. Here at Hog Wild Hunting Company, we have everything you would expect to find in West Texas. If you get cactus in your foot, you are broke down. Sneakers and cactus DO NOT MIX.

Another good thing to have are flashlights. They come in all shapes and sizes. You can put them on your hat, on your gun or hold them in your hand. These days the LED lights are some of the strongest and there are many different, good brands. If you are getting in late or the hunt goes long due to conditions or tracking, it is handy to have 2 or 3 flashlights.

Examples of hog hunting footwear

Two examples of hog hunting flashlights

Do I Need A Hunting License to Hunt Hogs?

The great thing about hunting hogs in the state of Texas is you don’t need a license. A non-resident license for deer is over $300.. but in order to help the farmers and ranchers in our state, the Department of Fish and Game encourages people to come to Texas and hunt hogs. Its a great big game hunt that is inexpensive and that’s one reason why. Let’s Go Hunting.

Hog Hunts in Texas…no license needed.

Placement is Everything

I used to be a brown bear guide in Alaska. Hunting hogs is more like brown bear hunting than it is deer hunting. The better shot for a deer is behind the shoulder and the better shot for a bear is in the shoulder. A bear has a lot of fat on them and a hog has a thick hide and a lot of fat too. When using a smaller caliber bullet like a .22 or.25 on a hog, it goes in and the fat and hide seal the bullet hole real quick. There is no blood trail which makes tracking them like looking for a needle in a haystack. So you need a bigger caliber like .30 and up to get the job done. Sometimes hogs can go 100 yards after being shot and with a bigger calibur allowing for a blood trail, you will actually be able to trail them. When you shoot in the shoulder forward on a hog this ensures that the meat will be a better quality. A gut shot on a trophy boar will mess the meat up making it hard to eat. Placement is Everything.

When I was a guide in Cold, Bay Alaska near Mt. Frosty, I heard a tale of the biggest brown bear every shot. The record might have been broke since then but story has it a Native American woman was picking blueberries in the bushes with her granddaughter on Kodiak Island. I have always heard the biggest brown bears live there and their skulls are ginormous. This woman spotted a bear on the trail and she hid waiting for it to leave. When it passed right by her it stopped. Calmly, the woman reached for her .22 long rifle and shot the bear at point blank range in the ear killing the bear with her .22. Placement is Everything.

Bear Hunting in Cold Bay , AK.