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Originally Posted by Botnst
In this state that is illegal for wild game. But it's a good idea.
Feral hogs are another story. I know people who catch them, feed them for a month or so on a high pro diet, worm them, then slaughter. The pork tastes good to me. But really, the pork from feral swine tastes fine to me, too. Except for a big boar. Feed that meat to your dogs.
Deer are iffy. I suspect it depends more on processing them on diet. The weather around here is so warm that unless you have a cooler you can't let them hang to let the cells go through autolysis. You end up with tough meet if you don't let that happen.
Also, eating an old buck maybe soul-satisfying but in terms of population biology and the table, hunters would do better shooting a young doe.
I have noticed a regional difference with venison, too. The deer in Texas are usually gamier than in Louisiana. The Mississippi deer are the best southern venison I have eaten. I imagine Alabama and Georgia produce good deer but I haven't had the pleasure. I ate venison when I worked in Michigan and it was excellent.
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This topic interests me, so I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I've not eaten wild pork,
AFAIK anyway, and only once had venison. I do like ham and bacon however, and what I've read about hog farms is hard to take. I feel that if I can't find a better way to eat pork, I'm in league with such people.
I've read that the old boars have a distinctive stink while alive and that the meat retains that essence. I would guess that any sort of commercial remediation/harvesting operation would simply kill the old boars and leave them for scavengers. Might not be good for commercial dog food even.
It is a bit odd that doe are mostly off limits, at least in areas where deer are actually a nuisance to a large degree. In other places, I'm guessing that hunters want the population to replenish. But you would think in CT for example, rules on that would change according to changing circumstances.