Pigsicle

[Spysar]

So I've been raising hogs for years. Just for family and friends. I start with healthy piglets that I buy, and feed them the finest grain around (Wirtes feed, lanesborough ma). I grow them out aiming for the 280 to 320 live weight. I try and time it out so they are butchered in Oct (before good hunting starts), but this year that didn't happen. This year I had 6 and I just got done butchering them all. Me and my friends did it at my house, where the pigs were raised here and butchered here.

 

[Spysar]

So I get the pleasure of having 6 pigs worth of heads , hides and guts. Ughh

Since I butchered so late this year, I decided to make a pigsicle and place in behind my house. It's actually in the paddock the pigs were raised in. It's a cart for my atv that I let freeze so the predators can't make off with it all at once.

 

[Spysar]

Then I placed a trail cam and a motion detector that sounds an alarm in my house. 

 

[Spysar]

This thing is not that far from my backdoor. I know this is gonna bring in all sorts of stuff. It has even brought bald eagles in, but it's too late for that this year. I expect to get pics of coyotes, fisher, fox, maybe bobcat. I'll start posting the pics of what shows up.

And yes, I'll be shooting coyotes. Only coyotes.

[Wolc123]

12 minutes ago, Spysar said:

This thing is not that far from my backdoor. I know this is gonna bring in all sorts of stuff. It has even brought bald eagles in, but it's too late for that this year. I expect to get pics of coyotes, fisher, fox, maybe bobcat. I'll start posting the pics of what shows up.

And yes, I'll be shooting coyotes. Only coyotes.

If they are anything like they are around here in WNY, you’ll get one good easy crack at the coyotes.  They seem to wise up real fast, and it carry’s over for generations.  
 

I killed a big male coyote, from my bedroom window over my butcher waste pile,  at night about 15 years.  He took the first shot for my Ruger 10/22 behind the shoulder.   I squeezed off a few more at the female, that came in with him, as she bolted off.  I assume that none of those connected because I only found the one carcass out there the next morning.  
 

  Since then, any time that I start to crack open that window at night, they run off before I can get off a shot.  I do get lots of good daylight crow action on the butcher pile though.  It’s fun trying to play the wind and the elevation, to drop a .22 Yellowjacket on them, from just over 100 yards.  

[crappyice]

Smoked BBQ pigs head from the Greenhouse Tavern (Cleveland-sadly gone now!) with fresh popovers would be up there with one of my last meals! The definition of succulent!

[Spysar]

Wolc, yes I agree they are smart. It all depends how hungry they are, and how many pairs I'll attract. We got tons of them though, and I'll get a few chances. The alarm is the key. If I get 1, I'll take it.

[Wolc123]

6 minutes ago, Spysar said:

Wolc, yes I agree they are smart. It all depends how hungry they are, and how many pairs I'll attract. We got tons of them though, and I'll get a few chances. The alarm is the key. If I get 1, I'll take it.

Yes, the alarm should help.  Mine is usually my wife waking me up out of a sound sleep when she hears the yipping outside.  

[Spysar]

Oddly enough, I just looked at the pigsicle that I just put out an hour ago, and a deer was walking by it....closer to the woodline so I don't know if the cam got that....

[dbHunterNY]

friends do pigs around here but have them butchered by Stratton's Custom Meats. You have a bandsaw and do all the smoked products yourself?? lot of work if you're not really setup for it.

[dbHunterNY]

Just now, Spysar said:

Oddly enough, I just looked at the pigsicle that I just put out an hour ago, and a deer was walking by it....closer to the woodline so I don't know if the cam got that....

i wouldn't be surprised if one walked over and started nibbling on an ear. deer are curious and something pick at anything. probably just checking it out from a distance.

[Robhuntandfish]

we put a cam on a gut pile this year and for over a week not one coyote pic. Which was surprising as we have had pics of several on the property this year and the gut pile was right in this spot in pic below.  We had two grey foxes there a lot though and they took care of it.  Which is good by me, I've lost a doe there one year to yotes.  

 

looking forward to pics of critters!

[Spysar]

Before strattons, there was Bob Hoffman who is currently my neighbor in CP. Strattons bought all Bobs stuff, and Bob trained Stratton. They are good, but so dang expensive. So I found a second hand bandsaw, and second hand wells saw. Then I got trained by friends (relative of Bob Hoffman). I showed up to help them so that I could learn the ways. Now I always do it. I have to admit it's no fun shooting them, but it's nessasary. Stratton charges $100 just for a kill fee, and .99 cents a pound for cutting. Sausage and smoking is over $3 a pound. To do what I want, that would add $300-$400 just for butchering!

[Moho81]

43 minutes ago, Spysar said:

Before strattons, there was Bob Hoffman who is currently my neighbor in CP. Strattons bought all Bobs stuff, and Bob trained Stratton. They are good, but so dang expensive. So I found a second hand bandsaw, and second hand wells saw. Then I got trained by friends (relative of Bob Hoffman). I showed up to help them so that I could learn the ways. Now I always do it. I have to admit it's no fun shooting them, but it's nessasary. Stratton charges $100 just for a kill fee, and .99 cents a pound for cutting. Sausage and smoking is over $3 a pound. To do what I want, that would add $300-$400 just for butchering!

I think the shooting part would get me after taking care of them for so long. 

[dbHunterNY]

1 hour ago, Spysar said:

Before strattons, there was Bob Hoffman who is currently my neighbor in CP. Strattons bought all Bobs stuff, and Bob trained Stratton. They are good, but so dang expensive. So I found a second hand bandsaw, and second hand wells saw. Then I got trained by friends (relative of Bob Hoffman). I showed up to help them so that I could learn the ways. Now I always do it. I have to admit it's no fun shooting them, but it's nessasary. Stratton charges $100 just for a kill fee, and .99 cents a pound for cutting. Sausage and smoking is over $3 a pound. To do what I want, that would add $300-$400 just for butchering!

he just doesn't have the man power to handle smoking and products. i think he's still sending all that out to Henry's market in Bennington.