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1. When killing a hog I have found that using a handgun, holding the pig by the ears, and shooting at the spot determined by drawing a line from the eye to the opposite ear, (in other words where the lines cross) is the surest way for a humane, instant kill. Hogs are best processed at 230 pounds. Instead of skinning the hair can either be shaved off or burned off.

2. You’re doing great. Last month I butchered a hog 1/2 of the size you just did. I like the smaller ones, much easier for me to handle, and there’s no fat so it’s healthier for you, almost as lean as venison. I was going to raise my own hogs but there are dozens of confinement farms with in a couple miles and if the farmers know you want a hog they’ll give you the runts for free when they empty the hog house…such a deal!
   I used to butcher all of my own big animals but now I have made friends with a local farmer who is a trained butcher with a little butcher shop on his farm. He butchers hogs, cattle and deer. The hogs and deer cost a case of beer and you have to help. It’s really nice to have a guy that knows what he’s doing on a professional level and has “real” butcher equipment. Even has a walk in cooler!

   1. Research rabbit starvation. It is not healthy to eat lean meat. The fat is essential to being able to digest the protein. This is why God called rabbit meat unclean.

      1. I had high triglycerides. Not eating grocery store pork got them back down to normal with out taking any voodoo drugs from the Doc. Now I can enjoy eating my own lean pork and still keep my triglycerides down.
         Sucks to get old….but it beats the alternative!

3. We butchered 2 a year for 12 years, she is spot on so far! Excellent article.
   People now days need to know this is how its done.

4. Beef Liver and onions fried in BUTTER FLAVORED POPCORN OiL is great. Even the children like it. Removes the odors of cooking the liver: “are we having popcorn for supper?”

5. Great article. Remember that after you get the guts out, and want to keep the heart and liver, you need to open up the heart by cutting into all 4 chambers and really clean out all of the clotted blood. I usually slice the heart up crosswise and wash each slice out in cold water before putting into the freezer bag. I keep a slice or two in the fridge for the next mornings breakfast with fried onions. On the liver is the gall bladder, and you need to be real careful when removing it. I have the newer hunters and butchers cut a lot of liver away so they insure they get it all off without busting it, and ruining the liver meat. If you have ever had one bust, you will understand why you don’t want to have it break. Once you get the hang of it, it is easy to get a sharp knife under the thin part, and ‘pull’ the gall off of the liver. Don’t leave it on the liver. I also gut the animal from the ‘bung’to the ‘tongue’, and split the pelvis with an axe or a saw. I gut the head down hanging animal in the first phase to the diaphram, and have the bowels hang outside while i ream the bung. Then cut the sternum with a saw, and cut up to the tip of the chin. Then i remove the chest organs, trachea and cut the tongue out along the teeth, and the toungue is removed with the trachea. This keeps the mouth end open, and allows me to insure that when i rinse out the chest cavity, everything can flow out of the mouth end freely. Then i keep the tongue to add to sausage, or for a great meal with garlic and onions.

   Great article, and a good idea to inform everyone about butchering an animal. You’d be surprized how many people can’t even butcher a rabbit or chicken.

   1. Murkan Mike, thanks for the lesson on the head. The next hogs we slaughter and butcher we will do the head like you said. I just didn’t have the energy or the knowledge that first time. But I did cut/pop the gallbladder off the kidneys.

      1. oops, I meant liver, not kidneys.

6. About 3 weeks ago, I butchered an older breeder boar. He was almost 600 pounds hanging weight at the butcher shop. All by my lonesome. I slaughter frequently for my family and friends. It’s interesting how many magically disappear on slaughter day!

   I used my .44 mag, 320gr , max charge (H110) right behind the ear. It worked perfectly! I also stuck and bled the critter at this point. I put the forks on the tractor instead of using a gambrel. Since I stuck and bled while he was on the ground, the draining process had to be finished once he was lifted. I did not scald and scrape either ( usually never do).

   Since I usually do this solo, I use a home made roller contraption that allows me to roll the victim side to side. It keeps the animal very steady right about waist height. I do not gut the critter until I have gotten the hide loose from the legs, chest and sides, down to the harder tallow fat on the back. I open the chest and neck, belly cavity, chop the aitch bone and tie everything off.

   When the animal is lifted again, I cut the tail loose and pull (hard) from the belly side. 95 percent of all the innards come right out with minimal effort. I then split the hide from tail to neck along the back; half a hide is much easier to maneuver that a whole one! All that needs to be done is to pull the hide off!

   Splitting was done with a saws all, and then the two halves were cleaned and trimmed for transport to the butcher. All unwanted parts went into a pile on the back 40 for the wild things.

   1. Rock MG, Good Grief; slaughtering a 600 pd hog by your self!!! That deserves a special award.

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