Quartering a Big Hog in the field?

[Problem Child]

I stopped by my local WMA headquarters this morning after my hunt.There were a couple of guys that had killed three hogs.Two of them were in he 250 lb range.
I would love to get a hog this year but I'm not sure I could get it out of the woods.We have ATV's and you can use them to retieve game but we never take them.If we kill a deer we use the cart and I'm pretty sure a 250 lb hog would demolish my cart.

So here's the question....
How would I go about quartering a hog in the woods,or would field-dressing knock off enough weight where I could use the cart??

 

[necchi]

Field dressing knocks off about 20% of a domestic hog.
250 - 20% = 200

 

[lorren68]

I stopped by my local WMA headquarters this morning after my hunt.There were a couple of guys that had killed three hogs.Two of them were in he 250 lb range.
I would love to get a hog this year but I'm not sure I could get it out of the woods.We have ATV's and you can use them to retieve game but we never take them.If we kill a deer we use the cart and I'm pretty sure a 250 lb hog would demolish my cart.

So here's the question....
How would I go about quartering a hog in the woods,or would field-dressing knock off enough weight where I could use the cart??

I saw aa post on field quartering hogs on the Georgia outdoor news forum. The man doing it quartered the hog using its own skin to keep it from getting dirty, then he packed the quarters and backstraps into a clean bag in his backpack. You could probably use this method on a larger hog.

 

[gmarc]

I would start using the ATVs if you have the option.......get the whole hog out if you can. The head, etc. goes into the sausage!

 

[gmww]

You could always drag the pig out on a plastic sled by hand or with the ATV.

 

[Supercracker]

I don't even fully dress them.

Just skin and take the Hams and forlegs (deboned too if there's light left) and pull a flap of skin down the back to get the backstraps. IME, you don't get enough meat to make gutting worthwhile.

you can do that one side at a time easy.

Unless, of course, you're required to bring them out whole.

 

[buttonbuck]

that is how I will do a road killed deer since the guts are often ruptured, but how do you get the tenderloins....and the ribs someone says pig and the first thing I think is ribs, I saw some ATV mounted leverage based game lifter on the ted nugent show. He hoisted a400-500 lb hog if memory serves. I am sure it is big bucks but maybe some carrage bolts or better yet a welder a chop saw and scrap angle Iron and you are in business.

 

[BrownBear]

Call it FWIW, but we did this on horseback and it should serve well if you end up dragging them with an ATV:

Open their mouth and put a stout stick in it, roughly 12" long and 2" in diamter. Use rope or stout twine to tie their mouth back tightly shut. Then tie your tow line to both ends of the stick, and they slide through almost any terrain.....well....like a greased pig! :grin:

 

[Little Wattsy]

I stopped by my local WMA headquarters this morning after my hunt.There were a couple of guys that had killed three hogs.Two of them were in he 250 lb range.
I would love to get a hog this year but I'm not sure I could get it out of the woods.We have ATV's and you can use them to retieve game but we never take them.If we kill a deer we use the cart and I'm pretty sure a 250 lb hog would demolish my cart.

So here's the question....
How would I go about quartering a hog in the woods,or would field-dressing knock off enough weight where I could use the cart??

Gut the pig out and then just infront of the definition of the hind leg make a cut "around the pigs waist" as if it were standing on its hind legs. Use your knife to "feel" the spine and you can feel your blade wanting to go between the vertibret... Bend the piggy backwards and the spin will snap.. contine to sever the spine and NOW you have two halves that will be say 60 / 40 in weight... small enough to deal with.

 

[fusil de chase]

no experience with hogs but I generally move a few deer (11 this year) bear, moose, or elk from bush to freezer.

First there is no pat answer. Like real estate the value of any method is a matter of location, location, location.

Gut and drag: Just make sure the front feet and nose are all tied in a bunch and a 200 pound animal will slide along surprisingly well. Not for weak hearts or up hill but doable to get to a place where an ATV can take over.

Gut and cart: They invented wheels for a reason. We use an old baby jogging stroller (light cheap construction) I keep figuring it will break but it keeps getting weight out of the woods. last year 1/4s from 2 large bears came out of a coolie and 3kms over a plowed field and this year it worked a caribou over river rocks. It has also taken a canoe and 3 hunters worth of gear along with 15 10 pound honkers for 5 kms. Point being any cart that can carry a deer will likely hold up moving another 200 pound animal.

De boning in the field. If you got a GOOD fillet knife, a couple pillow cases and a pack board you can reduce the carry weight of an animal to about 30 % of it's hoof weight in short order with out too much waste. Trouble is meat don't cut so nice when it is not chilled so you end up with alot of trim.

The cut in half method mentioned above sounds pretty smart. A good pack board ( Mystery Ranch is the best) will allow just about anyone to feel comfortable under 60 plus pounds. Just move slow and listen to your body. My spine is about worn out but with a Mystery ranch pack I can carry 100 pound loads and not suffer for days and weeks after.

Chain saw Winch: God's gift to hunters. Get anything out of anywhere.

Block and tackle: Not much for moving meat out of the bush but can get a 500 pound animal off the ground (and cooling) so that you can leave it to go get help/equipment or so you can more easily debone, quarter or gut it.

Long Rope: Picked up a 900 foot length of 3/8s trap line a few years ago for 80 bucks. Not many places are 900 feet from a road. Of course there are snags and hassles associated with it but it has it's merits. (until you let someone else unspool it and get a tangle)


If you are really worried about the carts integrity just leave the hind legs dragging.

Good luck on your hunt.

 

[Bob J]

I don't even fully dress them.

Just skin and take the Hams and forlegs (deboned too if there's light left) and pull a flap of skin down the back to get the backstraps. IME, you don't get enough meat to make gutting worthwhile.

you can do that one side at a time easy.

Unless, of course, you're required to bring them out whole.

My Dad showed me that "primitive" method when I got my first hog with a bow years ago. It's definitely faster!

 

[Joel/Calgary]

that is how I will do a road killed deer since the guts are often ruptured, but how do you get the tenderloins....

I haven't tried this yet, but I've seen instructions & videos on the web about "gutless" game processing, and for the tenderloins, they make an incision between a couple of the short ribs or behind them, reach in, and mostly pull them free. I think the incision is supposed to be neat an end of the tenderloin, and it may vary a bit with the species.

Regards,
Joel