Hey I was just wondering if anyone has eaten Javelina, and more especially if anyone has been able to make them taste great... or even good?

Yes the are.  I was pleasantly surprised how good they are.  We cooked it like a roast or brisket and it was great.

Awesome: Crock pot works great too. Enjoy

Some vinegar goes a long way.

Never smelled anything as bad as a javelina. Skinned a few. Don't shoot them anymore. Good luck.

Yes, they taste good. Smell......depends on where they are shot. I have shot a few, no smell but plenty of flees and ticks.

Like any wild game the flavor is all in how cleanly its killed and how well its taken care of after the kill.  The way I do it is to use gloves and two knives.  Use one set to skin it and one set to cut it up.  That way the smell doesn't get on the meat.  The scent gland is in the skin so once its off there is no more smell.
MAP

Cactus rat is good. Don't listen to those that won't eat it. Cool em down quick get the hide off - spend no time looking for musk gland just skin em as you would anything else. Grilled it is hard to beat5.

I've shot quite a few, but like Straitera, I don't shoot them anymore.  As far as eating them I did only once.  They are a rodent and not a hog as I have heard some people say.  They are loaded with fleas and ticks so if you shoot one let it lay and cool some before handling it and maybe some of the fleas and ticks will come off.

Good luck.

I've shot quite a few, but like Straitera, I don't shoot them anymore.  As far as eating them I did only once.  They are a rodent and not a hog as I have heard some people say.  They are loaded with fleas and ticks so if you shoot one let it lay and cool some before handling it and maybe some of the fleas and ticks will come off.

Good luck.

QuoteOriginally posted by Moon:
  Rodents are good.  and not a hog as

Good luck.

I like squirrels They are a rodent, must not taste like havi.   :confused:

Hey Moon, look it up,Javelina aren't a rodent or a hog, they are a Javelina. I don't know about the Javies in Texas, I've only hunted them in southwest Arizona and out of 24 years and taken a few, I have never found a flea or tick on one. It could be the season, it's in January when it's cold. They don't tastes like chicken, but cooked in a cock pot and made into burritos.  

Thanks guys!

I shot a few and ate them. They are not the best piece of meat that I've ever had but very edible and probably taste even better when starving. Had some in a crock pot this year and that was the best. Dino

Using a crock pot is good, even grilling them. But I really like deep pitting them, now that is eating.  

Gonna find out tomorrow. Just put my first in the pot. Hope the BBQ turns out.

Very edible crock tequila beer and whatever else. Mine was better than beef

They are very good.  I made most of mine into breakfast sausage, and the backstraps I cooked on the grill with some BBQ sauce on them and they were excellent.  

Nathan

You know what? Them little suckers are tough!  Chewing on a prickly pear or toughing it out after getting hit with an arrow......or on the plate! But, darn, they taste great!  I've heard a lot about sure fire methods to tenderize them....well, doesn't always work.   Sometimes, they're delectable, and sometimes just really good AND chewy!  And the TX ones I saw were filled with fleas while the AZ ones were not.....?

I did read that they are not rodents and not pork, either.  I still love to hunt them, and I'm not gonna leave it laying on the ground...it'll go in the pot!

They are no more closely related to a rat than we are.. Javelina belong to the suborder Suina with pigs and hippopotamuses being their closest relatives.

As to cooking them, I've had them barbequed, grilled, in tamales, in sausage, fried, stewed and fricasseed....it's all good if the cook is any good.. overcooked it is like anything else over cooked
The meat is pink and like most mammals the young ones are tender and the best tasting.  
When skinning them I usually case them like I would a coon or mink.