How to Field Dress a Hog

Wild hogs are challenging to hunt and more difficult to field dress than deer.

Wild pork is tasty and lean. Generally speaking, smaller pigs are the best bet for the table. Prompt field dressing and skinning is important if you want to eat a wild hog. After gutting and skinning, let the pig hang for a while. For the best-quality meat, let the carcass hang as long as possible. Hogs are tougher to skin than deer, and it's usually easier to skin the animal before it has hung a long time. For lean, healthy sausage, try mixing wild hog with venison. Hogs are good game animals--feisty and fun to hunt and also tasty on the table.

Things You'll Need

• Paper towels
• Water
• Knife

Instructions

1. Set out water and paper towels for cleanup after field dressing is done. If you're wearing a long-sleeved jacket or shirt, remove it to avoid making a mess.

2. Make a circular cut around the hog's anus with a knife. Cut deep into the pelvis until the anus is free. If the hog is a male, cut off the penis and testicles and sever the urethra close to the anus. If it's female, include the genitals when plugging the anus. This area should pull through the pelvic opening when the intestines are removed.

3. Make a small slit in the abdominal wall, being careful not to nick the intestines. Work slowly, pulling the intestinal wall up and cutting with the knife blade facing up. Slit the abdominal wall from the bottom of the rib cage to the pelvis.

4. Split the rib cage by cutting off to the side of the sternum if the hog is small. Continue the cut as far up the neck as possible. If the hog is large, the rib cage may be difficult to split. If that's the case, continue the cut over the rib cage by cutting just the skin. When you get past the rib cage, continue cutting deeply next to the windpipe, as high as possible up the neck.

5. Sever the windpipe of a large hog as high up as possible, then cut around the windpipe where it enters the upper chest. This is similar to cutting the anus--the windpipe should pull through when organs are removed. Repeat the above procedure for a small hog.

6. Cut the diaphragm so the internal organs can be removed. Reach up into the chest cavity and grab the windpipe and chest organs, then pull them out of the chest cavity. Cut any connective tissue that prevents the organs from coming out. The diaphragm may need to be cut again to allow the organs to be completely removed. Continue pulling until all chest organs and intestines are removed. Work slowly, and try not to puncture the intestines or bladder. The gut pile should include everything from the windpipe to the anus.

7. Turn the hog's chest down to let the blood drain. When finished, use water and paper towels to clean off the blood.

Tips & Warnings

• Use your index finger to guide the knife. Lay the finger along the spine of the blade, and cut slowly. It can be difficult to identify what is what when blood covers everything.

• Spray out the body cavity with water if the intestines or bladder are damaged and spill their contents inside the pig.

• Use caution when field dressing. Close-quarter cutting with knives can be dangerous.