Either way the animal is going to die. The details of the kill are often where the devil lives and plays his games with our minds.

Grandaddy perched over the pig chute with a butcher knife. Daddy and his brothers drove the hogs through the opening and Grandaddy cut their throats. Sometimes he popped them with a .22. If you want pork it has to be done. It is part of farm life. I think it would be OK to slaughter your own meat if you want to do it. It is like owning the responsibility I think. Some folks can’t do it and that is OK too.

Go for it with a clear mind. You know what it is. It’ll be fun, it’s just not ‘real’ fair chase hunting. todd

Philosophy 201: I feel that Duncan has expressed a very interesting concept. “Owning the responsibility” of the kill. When there are no perceived fences around the animal, is the concept of the previously mentioned “ownership” lessened? When we hunt an animal, in our typical way, the death outcome isn’t a certainty. When you pursue an animal within a pen it’s death can be a certainty. When you enter the pen the animal will die, when you enter the woods the animal may or may not die.
Ownership can be a #&$#@!
My 2cents: Take the chemical free pork with your bow or a knife and enjoy the responsibilty of the ownership. At the very least you are equal to a farmer slaughtering for his family.

I once butchered my own steer with a Ruger .44 Mag. I realised it was butchering & I had no qualms, I wanted the meat. I think you should butcher your hog with no qualms.
Enjoy the meat. 😉
Frank

I killed my first chicken when i was 5yrs old. I killed my first cottontail when i was 9yrs old. At 53 yrs now, i’ve been killing my families own food for along time now. Second nature i guess. Growing up on a farm is a life experience all it’s own. I always figured if the critter can run away forever, it has to hunted. If it can’t get away forever, it’s not hunting. Go kill your (clean meat) hog by whatever method you deem humane and enjoy. Your family will appreciate your resourcefulness.

regardless, you want fresh, non manufactured meat for your family. The pig will die no matter what, so use this as a learning tool. Try to make it as real as possible, make a one shot kill, maybe try another type of broadhead that you have been looking at, do a penetration test…whatever. At least you know that unlike in the wild, even if something goes a little wrong, you are still assured to recover your meat. It is good to have a conscience as far as fair chase, but like I said, learn from it and dont worry about it. Im sure it will taste great.

You need to separate the concept of killing an animal and the concept of hunting. There are many ways and reasons for killing an animal, hunting is just one of them and the one you identify with. If you want to be involved in the kill you can take a knife/hammer/pistol or whatever and slaughter it in the conventional manner, or you could use your bow. Just don’t think you need to hold yourself to the concept of fair chase because this isn’t a chase/hunt’ even though both result in a dead animal and meat on the table.

I guess one way to look at it is, do you go to Burger King and enjoy a Whopper or McDonalds and enjoy a Big Mac, or your favorite steak house and enjoy a tender steak? Someone had to have killed the food you have enjoyed. Simply because you don’t see or are not involved in the kill of animals does not mean they were still not in fact killed for our nurishment. I believe it is the way God intended it to be. Don’t try to read into it to much. Do what you have to do and enjoy the harvest of what ever animal you decide to eat. There are several folks around me who raise hogs, cattle, chickens, etc. without all the added chemicals and growth hormones. Those are the ones I fill my freezers with. Don’t feel guilty for the natural order of life. This is of course my own humble opinion. One that I believe to be true.

Dan

Wildschwein wrote: Thanks for the input folks. Decided I would give it a try and am booked for October 19th. Even convinced my Dad to give it a go with me, which is nice since we never get to spend much time together.

Good for you!!! I’m sure you & your Dad will have a good time. Enjoy!
Frank

First of all, have you ever tasted European wild boar? My experience is limited to a single big boar but we couldn’t even keep it in the freezer it stunk so bad. In any event, if I were doing this based on the way Duncan is thinking it through, I would use a rifle to remind myself “this is not a hunt but just buying live meat,” and to avoid dishonoring bowhunting in the minds of others. Just my opinion. dp

Frank H V wrote: [quote=Wildschwein]Thanks for the input folks. Decided I would give it a try and am booked for October 19th. Even convinced my Dad to give it a go with me, which is nice since we never get to spend much time together.

Again, good for you. There is nothing like making good memories with your parents. I think you will enjoy your experience. Keep us posted on how it all goes.

Dan

Sticking with my VOW to never be PC ( politically correct ), here go’s. 😕

My good friend had raised 3 hogs to butcher, he stretched it out over a few month, as to not be buried with pork, I had helped him with the first 2, and the 3rd ones number was coming up.

My birth day was coming up, and I asked if I could shoot it with my bow, Ron shook his head and asked: if I was crazy :shock:( some of you know that answer already ).

Well, to make a long story short, the morning of, we set up a camera on a tripod to record the deed, ( strictly for science ) I had a sharp 160 snuffer on a wood shaft, the hog was pushing 300lbs, and we wanted to see what would happen.

My friend put a little grain in a pile to have the hog get into a perfect broadside shot, ( this is not hunting, in any way, shape, or form, we are just using a bow and arrow instead of a 22cal.) both are effective, one just does the bleeding in one motion.

As a hunter, I kill for a living, we must kill to procure our meat, some just like to roam the hills with there Bow, never, or really killing anything with there Bow, that’s OK, that’s what they want to do, ( I call that Bow Hiking ), and we all do a lot of it, as the kill is only a few seconds, out thousands of hours in the field.

If I had to sit in a tree all season, I would slit my wrist, ( it bores me to death ) I love to roam and glass, then put the stock on the animal, getting close enough to send a killing shot through it’s vitals, ( that’s what I love ). It also give me the greatest return out of my hunt. I think I’m rambling.

The amazing thing about this little hog experiment, was how fast it went into full cardie-o-arrest, 2-3 seconds before it was down.

Wildschwein, it’s up to you, what you want to do, you can shop for your meat, you can raise your meat, or you can hunt for you meat.

There might even be some resemblance to hunting, you sound like you are calling it what it is.

By the way, look for a 200lb sow for the most meat with good flavor, a under 100lb for the best taste, big boars can be rough to eat.