Is it worth it?

[dracphelan]

I'm in Texas and live in the Dallas area, so the areas wher I can hunt are limited. I have found an outfit near Tyler where I can hunt feral hogs. If I kill one, they will process it. My total out of pocket would be about $250. My question is, is it worth it versus just buying the meat?

[endurance]

I think so, but that's because I also enjoy the hunt.  Frankly, my time in the field is worth 10x what my time at work is worth.  There's nothing like stalking a prey animal, discovering instincts that you never knew were still inside you coming to the surface (like noticing you stopped for no conscious reason, only to look down and see that your next step would have been on a bunch of noisy branches), and getting a great workout that doesn't feel like a workout.  Heck, I had a day last deer season I was out for 12 hours, hiked 10 miles cross country and across game trails and I'd count that as one of the best day's I've been alive in the last five years.  Didn't take a single shot (had one chance, but at the time, I was too far from the truck to bother with the shot since I was alone), but had an amazing experience.  The next day was anti-climatic.  Walked up the hill to a spot I scouted the day before, heard something bashing through the brush, got a clean shot, and boom, it was all over but the gutting and work to get it back down to the truck.

I don't know about hogs, but when it comes to deer, field dressed they're about 2/3rd their walking weight, butchered they're about half that again.  In other words, a 150 deer will dress to about 100 pounds and you'll get roughly 50 pounds of meat.  I guess if the price of the hunt is fixed and you can wait to take a shot on a larger animal, it'll be economically rewarding, but if you're obligated to shoot the first animal you see, you could have some mighty expensive bacon.

[dracphelan]

If they let me observe/assist in the butchering, I think it will be worth it. The largest game I have ever killed is a rabbit, so I need the knowledge/experience.
If I gain the confidence in the butchering of a hog, I will feel confident in hunting them on some public land much closer to where I live. It is archery only, so I would want the greater confidence.

AS to the experience of stalking, this is not that kind of operation. From what I have read, they place you up in a stand observing a feeder.

[endurance]

I've never done any of that tree-stand/hide-style hunting that's popular down in the south.  Not sure if I'd like it or not.

In any case, I hear you on the butchering and gutting.  I had to gut my first deer solo this year and if it weren't for being in cell range and having a friend to talk me through it, I'm not sure what kind of mistakes I would have made.  Now I could do it with my eyes closed. 

I paid for butchering this time around, but after lengthy negotiations with the GF, who did a semester in a slaughterhouse when she was in college (vet student at the time), she's willing to butcher it for me provided it's bled, skinned, and the head removed.  Hopefully we'll keep that working relationship going for years to come.  ;-) 

I think you're wise to "apprentice" with the guys on the butchering.  It's a skill well worth having in the future, whether times get tough or ...

[Stein]

I would say yes as it is about as natural as a pig is going to get plus you get the fun of the hunt and send your money to a local outfit instead of that shop that does 28,000 pigs a day.