It could very well be whether the boar was sexually active or not. I haven't killed any real big pigs but I have a nephew who is a big boar magnet. Both of his 2 big ones tasted fine though one stunk a little. Also, people have the mistaken idea that hogs in the wild routinely get massive, but that's not true. A 250# hog is very rare in the wild, on the order of a Pope and Young buck while deer hunting. Most of what we shoot is between 50 and 150lbs. There are game ranches where trapped wild boar are released and are impressively large (it's illegal in Texas to release a pig once it's been trapped, but boar can be released into a completely fenced game ranch). They paid dearly for those big boar and consequently the hunters pay more too. In the wild, however, a real big boar (300lbs +) is extremely rare. I know a man who has killed several between 300 and 400lbs and at least a couple higher in the wild. He is a hog hunting legend down here. This is what a hog over 400lbs looks like.
http://www.texasboars.com/photopost/albums/userpics/wildboar.jpgI never asked Kevin if he ate that one so I don't know if it was rank or not. I'd sure like a crack at a big one like that someday, but I'd hate to meet it unarmed in the dark. I would never try a stone point out of a self bow at a hog like that, the vitals are completely protected by close to 2" of gristle. Also, the recovery would be downright dangerous. There used to be guys down here that hunt with dogs that would catch and castrate boar so they could be caught again later and eaten. That is now against the law, once they're caught they must be killed out right, taken to an approved holding facility, or taken directly to a hog buyer where they are killed and processed.
Sorry for the hijack Mr. C.
George
