At the risk of sparking one hell of an argument...I have to say...that has not been my experience.
A young shoat or a young gilt...delicious if processed quickly and cleanly.
But an older bred sow or a older rapacious boar...pee-yew!
The boar most especially if it has been allowed to exert a lot of physical energy prior to the kill.
For sheer fun of the hunt, the boars are the best, but for both objectives, the fun of the hunt and the acquisition of meat, I go for the sow.
I've not ever had a "good" tasting boar.
And I freely admit that the processing may have a huge impact on that, but it is kinda hard to snatch one up, bleed them, scald them, gut them and quarter them in the field, particularly at 4 o'clock or so in the morning or 10 or 11 at night.
The taste of a rapacious boar is not like the "wild" game taste you may have heard of, of say...venison.
It carries it's own unique mix of olfactory assaults...crotch rot, toe jam, 5-day unwashed underarm...you name it...the rapacious boar is nasty.
Again, that's MY opinion, others may vary.
But the young shoat or gilt...if done right...Swift and Oscar Mayer ain't never produced a piece of bacon or a ham that can compete.
Thank you for a detailed analysis/opinion. I am learning a lot. Never been “pig hunting” (lol).
I’ve killed and processed many deer, however. I have had a couple “pretty gamey” deer. But they have come from the same area in Indiana. Then I have had a few deer that were VERY good eating. The best eating deer I have had come from farming areas as opposed to the deer I have taken from heavily wooded and hilly areas. The farm deer (all White Tail) in the northern part of Indiana generally have a lighter brown coat. I have killed 2 doe with fat roles in them. In the southern part of the state, the deer seem generally taller, skinnier and grey. Fat, young, light brown does are delicious! Old, skinny, grey, trophy bucks make for great mounts and bragging rights, but often taste like dog food.