Rank hog boar taint

[Thetrooper]

So I don't want to get long winded here as it has been beaten to death on this forum. But I also would like to put this "myth" to rest. Strangely enough I've seen very few but a couple posts describing what I'm about to say but they were quickly brushed over as people went back and forth in the issue. I hear a lot of people complain that old rank boar hog are inedible. I also hear a lot of people say they've eaten shoats to full size mature boar and they all taste great. Turns out both sides are right!!

I once trapped coyote on a cattle/pig farm and I remember the farmer saying males must be castrated or the meat would be inedible. At the time I wasn't too interested and wasn't doing a lot of hog hunting. Fast forward a few years went down to TX with a buddy to hunt some hogs and decided to research the myth.

It turns out that intact male pigs who reach sexual maturity can accumulate potent levels of androstenone and skatole. These are two powerful hormone profiles that accumulate in the fat and give boars a foul urine/feces/barnyard taste and smell known as "Boar Taint". But there is catch.

Only 20% of intact male pigs on average harbor these foul hormones and on top of that according to pork research studies 75% of people can detect the odor/taste and 25% of people are immune to it. So some people it won't even be noticed.

Anyway me and my buddy shot 4 big old boars down in TX and I thought for sure they would have the boar taint but they all tasted great. Thought I must of been in the lucky 25% that was immune.

Fast forward again after multiple GA hogs all delicious...and I ended up arrowing a nasty old mountain hog in the NF this year. Wasn't worried about the taste packed his meat took care of it properly cleaned cooled and processed. We butchered the meat and oh boy big difference. As soon as we cooked this meat it completely stunk up the house and had a nauseating taste. This old hog was afflicted with the taint bad and now we have to throw him out. Terrible waste but lesson learned. I will say now if I shoot a big old boar I'm only going to be taking his head home.

So if you got a big old boar and he taste like heck he's got the boar taint...if you can't taste it you're either immune to it or got lucky and shot an old boar who wasn't afflicted by these hormones...So both sides are right except the people who say taking care of the meat was the problem cuz buddy there's nothing you can do to get that stank out

Strangely enough sows can also contain the skatole hormone but the likelihood of that in pork farms is rare only 1-2% and not being paired with the androstenone hormone which only males pigs produce sounds much less of an issue.

 

[sghoghunter]

In my opinion if you smell a nasty rank musky boar hog and still clean him just to see if he’s edible it’s gonna have to taste good cause ya smeller sure ain’t no good. I’ve killed some hundred pound boars that stank to high heaven then some 250 pounders and no smell at all. It’s like rolling the dice ya never know what it’ll be like. I treat em all the same way by dragging them to the gut hole and rolling them over the hill.

 

[Doug B.]

So I don't want to get long winded here as it has been beaten to death on this forum. But I also would like to put this "myth" to rest. Strangely enough I've seen very few but a couple posts describing what I'm about to say but they were quickly brushed over as people went back and forth in the issue. I hear a lot of people complain that old rank boar hog are inedible. I also hear a lot of people say they've eaten shoats to full size mature boar and they all taste great. Turns out both sides are right!!

I once trapped coyote on a cattle/pig farm and I remember the farmer saying males must be castrated or the meat would be inedible. At the time I wasn't too interested and wasn't doing a lot of hog hunting. Fast forward a few years went down to TX with a buddy to hunt some hogs and decided to research the myth.

It turns out that intact male pigs who reach sexual maturity can accumulate potent levels of androstenone and skatole. These are two powerful hormone profiles that accumulate in the fat and give boars a foul urine/feces/barnyard taste and smell known as "Boar Taint". But there is catch.

Only 20% of intact male pigs on average harbor these foul hormones and on top of that according to pork research studies 75% of people can detect the odor/taste and 25% of people are immune to it. So some people it won't even be noticed.

Anyway me and my buddy shot 4 big old boars down in TX and I thought for sure they would have the boar taint but they all tasted great. Thought I must of been in the lucky 25% that was immune.

Fast forward again after multiple GA hogs all delicious...and I ended up arrowing a nasty old mountain hog in the NF this year. Wasn't worried about the taste packed his meat took care of it properly cleaned cooled and processed. We butchered the meat and oh boy big difference. As soon as we cooked this meat it completely stunk up the house and had a nauseating taste. This old hog was afflicted with the taint bad and now we have to throw him out. Terrible waste but lesson learned. I will say now if I shoot a big old boar I'm only going to be taking his head home.

So if you got a big old boar and he taste like heck he's got the boar taint...if you can't taste it you're either immune to it or got lucky and shot an old boar who wasn't afflicted by these hormones...So both sides are right except the people who say taking care of the meat was the problem cuz buddy there's nothing you can do to get that stank out

Strangely enough sows can also contain the skatole hormone but the likelihood of that in pork farms is rare only 1-2% and not being paired with the androstenone hormone which only males pigs produce sounds much less of an issue.

I have never researched this and I'm probably not ever going to. But I will take your word for it that these percentages are true honestly because I have no reason to believe otherwise. I do have one question though.

I have killed some of what I consider large boars in the wild. To me 200 lbs and bigger would be a large boar. All that I have killed tasted great! I don't think I'm immune to this taste because I have seen domestic hogs that I just couldn't eat because of the taste and smell.

So my question is this, would you be able to smell this rankness as you were skinning a large boar hog?

The reason I ask this is because hog meat is really good. And one out of five seems like a low percentage to throw every boar away just because it "might" taste bad. If there is no difference in smell at skinning then it does make more sense to not waste your time with it. The big ones I have killed smelled fine so I haven't smelled one that wasn't fit to eat.

 

[Railroader]

So I don't want to get long winded here as it has been beaten to death on this forum. But I also would like to put this "myth" to rest. Strangely enough I've seen very few but a couple posts describing what I'm about to say but they were quickly brushed over as people went back and forth in the issue. I hear a lot of people complain that old rank boar hog are inedible. I also hear a lot of people say they've eaten shoats to full size mature boar and they all taste great. Turns out both sides are right!!

I once trapped coyote on a cattle/pig farm and I remember the farmer saying males must be castrated or the meat would be inedible. At the time I wasn't too interested and wasn't doing a lot of hog hunting. Fast forward a few years went down to TX with a buddy to hunt some hogs and decided to research the myth.

It turns out that intact male pigs who reach sexual maturity can accumulate potent levels of androstenone and skatole. These are two powerful hormone profiles that accumulate in the fat and give boars a foul urine/feces/barnyard taste and smell known as "Boar Taint". But there is catch.

Only 20% of intact male pigs on average harbor these foul hormones and on top of that according to pork research studies 75% of people can detect the odor/taste and 25% of people are immune to it. So some people it won't even be noticed.

Anyway me and my buddy shot 4 big old boars down in TX and I thought for sure they would have the boar taint but they all tasted great. Thought I must of been in the lucky 25% that was immune.

Fast forward again after multiple GA hogs all delicious...and I ended up arrowing a nasty old mountain hog in the NF this year. Wasn't worried about the taste packed his meat took care of it properly cleaned cooled and processed. We butchered the meat and oh boy big difference. As soon as we cooked this meat it completely stunk up the house and had a nauseating taste. This old hog was afflicted with the taint bad and now we have to throw him out. Terrible waste but lesson learned. I will say now if I shoot a big old boar I'm only going to be taking his head home.

So if you got a big old boar and he taste like heck he's got the boar taint...if you can't taste it you're either immune to it or got lucky and shot an old boar who wasn't afflicted by these hormones...So both sides are right except the people who say taking care of the meat was the problem cuz buddy there's nothing you can do to get that stank out

Strangely enough sows can also contain the skatole hormone but the likelihood of that in pork farms is rare only 1-2% and not being paired with the androstenone hormone which only males pigs produce sounds much less of an issue.

This explains in good detail what I have always known, but never knew why it was so..

Some pigs are are "rank" but most are fine. I can smell a rank one where he lays, and that's where he stays...

That 1/5 "rank ratio" seems about right, in my experience.

 

[Mars]

When I saw the title I thought you were going to tell us something about the smell of that area between a boar's....well nevermind. Good info!

 

[menhadenman]

When I saw the title I thought you were going to tell us something about the smell of that area between a boar's....well nevermind. Good info!

Aka the grundle

 

[jbogg]

All the pigs I have shot have come from the mountains. I haven’t noticed one with a bad smell, and all were good eating with the exception of one. It was a large boar that was as tough as shoe leather. The first thing I cooked was Backstrap, and it was inedible.

 

[livinoutdoors]

Domestic hogs get a smell during their breeding cycle. Sows start to smell kinda like maple syrup, and boars get a musky hard for me to describe scent. Not super rank foul just you know its there. I killed a big wild boar had the same scent. The meat tasted fine. I think the rank smell might be from "rutty" hogs but maybe food related when talkin feral pigs. Fyi most other countries dont cut their feeder pig stock.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Every wild hog I've ever killed has stunk to high heaven, just from the hog pee, feces, and sour mud caked on their hide. Only critter I hit hard with a water hose before skinning.

 

[Doug B.]

---

Every wild hog I've ever killed has stunk to high heaven, just from the hog pee, feces, and sour mud caked on their hide. Only critter I hit hard with a water hose before skinning.

That's right and I have smelled that too. And I expect that smell from any hog. But I haven't smelled a rank, I won't eat that, kind of smell! I'm just wondering if a bad rank smell goes along with a hog that is inedible.

 

[NCHillbilly]

---

That's right and I have smelled that too. And I expect that smell from any hog. But I haven't smelled a rank, I won't eat that, kind of smell! I'm just wondering if a bad rank smell goes along with a hog that is inedible.

I think so. I've seen a couple big boars that were above and beyond the normal stinking hog smell. I haven't killed near as many hogs as most folks on there, though, so I don't know for sure. I have yet to kill one that was inedible.

 

[Doug B.]

I think so. I've seen a couple big boars that were above and beyond the normal stinking hog smell. I haven't killed near as many hogs as most folks on there, though, so I don't know for sure. I have yet to kill one that was inedible.

I haven't either!!!

 

[bany]

So I don't want to get long winded here as it has been beaten to death on this forum. But I also would like to put this "myth" to rest. Strangely enough I've seen very few but a couple posts describing what I'm about to say but they were quickly brushed over as people went back and forth in the issue. I hear a lot of people complain that old rank boar hog are inedible. I also hear a lot of people say they've eaten shoats to full size mature boar and they all taste great. Turns out both sides are right!!

I once trapped coyote on a cattle/pig farm and I remember the farmer saying males must be castrated or the meat would be inedible. At the time I wasn't too interested and wasn't doing a lot of hog hunting. Fast forward a few years went down to TX with a buddy to hunt some hogs and decided to research the myth.

It turns out that intact male pigs who reach sexual maturity can accumulate potent levels of androstenone and skatole. These are two powerful hormone profiles that accumulate in the fat and give boars a foul urine/feces/barnyard taste and smell known as "Boar Taint". But there is catch.

Only 20% of intact male pigs on average harbor these foul hormones and on top of that according to pork research studies 75% of people can detect the odor/taste and 25% of people are immune to it. So some people it won't even be noticed.

Anyway me and my buddy shot 4 big old boars down in TX and I thought for sure they would have the boar taint but they all tasted great. Thought I must of been in the lucky 25% that was immune.

Fast forward again after multiple GA hogs all delicious...and I ended up arrowing a nasty old mountain hog in the NF this year. Wasn't worried about the taste packed his meat took care of it properly cleaned cooled and processed. We butchered the meat and oh boy big difference. As soon as we cooked this meat it completely stunk up the house and had a nauseating taste. This old hog was afflicted with the taint bad and now we have to throw him out. Terrible waste but lesson learned. I will say now if I shoot a big old boar I'm only going to be taking his head home.

So if you got a big old boar and he taste like heck he's got the boar taint...if you can't taste it you're either immune to it or got lucky and shot an old boar who wasn't afflicted by these hormones...So both sides are right except the people who say taking care of the meat was the problem cuz buddy there's nothing you can do to get that stank out

Strangely enough sows can also contain the skatole hormone but the likelihood of that in pork farms is rare only 1-2% and not being paired with the androstenone hormone which only males pigs produce sounds much less of an issue.

Pretty good synopsis!
The only hogs I’ve left for the buzzards were Big Old boars. Mostly because they have a good chance of being tough and a serious handful to skin. A couple stunk to high heaven but i doubt they were bad. I’d guess a couple percent might have taint and you might could smell it while processing.
Meat hunters I know are all over the charts. Some folks only shoot bigger boars (150#?) and make sausage period. And some are exactly opposite, sows only. I don’t worry much about sex or size. I look for a fuller figure and healthy looking animal. I’ll take a boar over a sow in various carrying or nursing stages.
I have some luxury in being able to hunt pigs where the are plentiful.
I also believe an old Mountain Hog is probably never the best eating.

 

[Doug B.]

Pretty good synopsis!
The only hogs I’ve left for the buzzards were Big Old boars. Mostly because they have a good chance of being tough and a serious handful to skin. A couple stunk to high heaven but i doubt they were bad. I’d guess a couple percent might have taint and you might could smell it while processing.
Meat hunters I know are all over the charts. Some folks only shoot bigger boars (150#?) and make sausage period. And some are exactly opposite, sows only. I don’t worry much about sex or size. I look for a fuller figure and healthy looking animal. I’ll take a boar over a sow in various carrying or nursing stages.
I have some luxury in being able to hunt pigs where the are plentiful.
I also believe an old Mountain Hog is probably never the best eating.

All I have ever killed were mountain hogs. They were all great eating. Some were large boars. I'm guessing the percentage that thetrooper posted would fit most anywhere.

 

[GeorgiaGlockMan]

In my opinion if you smell a nasty rank musky boar hog and still clean him just to see if he’s edible it’s gonna have to taste good cause ya smeller sure ain’t no good. I’ve killed some hundred pound boars that stank to high heaven then some 250 pounders and no smell at all. It’s like rolling the dice ya never know what it’ll be like. I treat em all the same way by dragging them to the gut hole and rolling them over the hill.

This.

I, maybe, will even drag a stinking boar out of the kill zone.

You can tell the ones that have it without even touching them.

 

[sghoghunter]

I have never researched this and I'm probably not ever going to. But I will take your word for it that these percentages are true honestly because I have no reason to believe otherwise. I do have one question though.

I have killed some of what I consider large boars in the wild. To me 200 lbs and bigger would be a large boar. All that I have killed tasted great! I don't think I'm immune to this taste because I have seen domestic hogs that I just couldn't eat because of the taste and smell.

So my question is this, would you be able to smell this rankness as you were skinning a large boar hog?

The reason I ask this is because hog meat is really good. And one out of five seems like a low percentage to throw every boar away just because it "might" taste bad. If there is no difference in smell at skinning then it does make more sense to not waste your time with it. The big ones I have killed smelled fine so I haven't smelled one that wasn't fit to eat.

You can very well smell his stanking butt. Can’t remember the guys name but he goes by the name hog zombies on YouTube and FB. If I remember right he said the stank come from the metatarsal gland on a hog when it gets riled up and foams from the mouth. Have you ever shot a stinking buck in full rut and smell him before you ever walk up on him,a boar hog is the same way. We’ve killed some that didn’t smell at all then some I don’t even want to touch to pull off

 

[Railroader]

You can very well smell his stanking butt. Can’t remember the guys name but he goes by the name hog zombies on YouTube and FB. If I remember right he said the stank come from the metatarsal gland on a hog when it gets riled up and foams from the mouth. Have you ever shot a stinking buck in full rut and smell him before you ever walk up on him,a boar hog is the same way. We’ve killed some that didn’t smell at all then some I don’t even want to touch to pull off

Funny you should mention that, because I was sitting here trying to come up with a good rank hog descriptor...

I was gonna say that you take normal hog stank, and then add a buck tarsal gland that's been rotting in bag on the truck dash in the sun for a day or two...

And this is just for @Doug B., cause I know he'll relate..

If your normal hog smells like your dog when he needs a bath, a rank hog smells like a coyote...

 

[Big7]

I haven't either!!!

Me either.

 

[sghoghunter]

Funny you should mention that, because I was sitting here trying to come up with a good rank hog descriptor...

I was gonna say that you take normal hog stank, and then add a buck tarsal gland that's been rotting in bag on the truck dash in the sun for a day or two...

And this is just for @Doug B., cause I know he'll relate..

If your normal hog smells like your dog when he needs a bath, a rank hog smells like a coyote...

Three yrs ago me and my brother shot a big sow that had small pigs. We managed to catch a lil boar pig and he took him home and his wife has been pen raising him since. You can walk out to the pen and at times he will start foaming wt his mouth and he will go to stinky quick

 

[bany]

All I have ever killed were mountain hogs. They were all great eating. Some were large boars. I'm guessing the percentage that thetrooper posted would fit most anywhere.

Oh I’d say most mountain hogs are great. I was trying to emphasize Old.