Sticking a pig to butcher him for meat was common when I was a boy in the N.C. mountains. I've seen it done manys the time. Everyone helped with the butchering, even the kids.My Grandfather didn't stick however; he shot them in the head with a .22 rifle. It killed them instantly and we then hung them and bled them. I had several uncles who did stick. I always thought it inhumane but at five or six couldn't say much. We usually butchered four or five head for the families winter meat. What wasn't somked or sugar-cured was ground into sausage and canned in mason jars where it would keep very well.

troll