Uncle Nicky

I do my own, used to own a deer processing business before it got to be too much to handle. Only tips I offer are try to rinse or burn off as much hair as possible before you start cutting. Cut the meat boneless, it freezes & tastes a lot better that way. And trim off ALL fat & gristle...less yield, but the meat will last longer & taste 100% better.

I'm a PA resident. Most of us hated AR when it was first implemented, but to be honest, there are a lot more bigger bucks roaming the woods these days. I must be getting older, but I'm not all that excited about killing big bucks these days. I hate dragging a big deer out of the woods, and usually the meat is pretty rank.

Most exciting? I'd say the first time I had a REAL close encounter with a buck. I'd just started archery hunting, no mentor, just trying to figure it out myself. I heard running behind me...I turned around in my treestand & saw a big 6 pointer standing behind me, maybe 10 feet away, stopped & on high alert. I froze, but my knees & hands wouldn't stop shaking. I knew enough to not make eye contact, so I turned around slowly, somehow managed to nock an arrow, & got ready for him to move closer & give me a shot. After what seemed an eternity, he came around my tree, this time directly underneath me. He never did turn broadside, just wandered off munching brush with his tail facing me. I tried the doe bleat, didn't faze him. I would say it took a good 20 minutes for me to gain my composure & figure out what had just happened. I've had numerous encounters like this since (and occasionally score), but this had to be the most exciting.

I'm a PA resident, live in Philly suburbs. I deer hunt practically in my backyard, the area is polluted with them...but getting permisssion is another story. The season around here starts mid-September until the end of January. I agree, a lot of turkey in the Poconos these days. I don't deer hunt in the Poconos, way too crowded on public land. I bought land in western NY a few years ago, just because I wanted a place to hunt on Sundays & for rifle hunting. It's turning out to be a good move, with the whole nat gas thing....

Bird with hens. Nothing beats a live decoy.

That's something I never have gotten a good clear answer on. There seems to be a preference of wild sows over wild boars when it comes to taste. Also, I have heard that wild pig is not as good as grain fattened domestic hogs. Is there anybody here in this forum that has had first hand experience in eating wild pigs that could offer some opinions on taste differences? Is there a significant difference in the quality of taste between the sows and the boars? Is there a significant difference in taste between wild pigs and domestic pigs? And, one last question, is there much difference in taste between Russian boars and the other smaller varieties of feral hogs? They don't even look like the same kind of animal .... lol. Doc I've killed real wild hogs in Texas, Florida, & Georgia. They do taste a lot like a farm yard pig, the only difference being the loins & hams are much smaller & the meat's a little redder. Like any animal, it all depends on their diet. A wild hog foraging on grass & wild onions in a swamp isn't going to taste as good as a hog that's been raiding cornfields.

Gobbler in GA, Gobbler in NY, Jake in PA