HUGE wild boar shot in Alabama

[nate larson]

Did you guys see this? I can hardly believe this thing is real.

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070526/NEWS08/705260447/-1/NEWS

[Scott K]

WOW-- What is a 11 yr old kid doing shooting a 50 cal pistol, ouch! That could do some damage to the wrists!

[harvey lee]

That is one big pig.

[MOBY RICHARD*]

Good Pig like that...you don't eat all at once!!!

[Jameson]

Not real, the boy's Dad is trying to cash in on the Hogzilla craze. Dad's got a pig HSOforum showing some pathetic pictures. It has a bunch of links that probably make him money.

The kid might of shot it. No way it was a free ranging animal. Pen raised pig, likely shot in a fence.

[maros91]

I would probably agree with Jameson. Imagine seeing that thing in the wild. My shorts would be filled so quick I wouldn't know what happened.

[MOBY RICHARD*]

monsterpig.c0m is the site. It has a link to Lost Creek Plantation, the shooting preserve where it was shot, which opened this year.

In their Hog Hunt section, it states that the Hogs are hunted in a low fenced area, with 2 miles of fence. Tree stands and shooting houses provided.

If fenced in a square it would be 1/2 mile X 1/2 mile, or 160 Acres. So likely a stocked pig, also I see the teeth, but no curled up tusks. Could not find if it was male or female.

Their charge is $1.25 pound for feral/wild meat hogs, $2 pound for European Boar over 200#. 1050 pounds, thats one expensive Hog!

Still, one big bag of pork!

[McGurk]

I could see the stats making sense, but there is no way that three of the pictures are legit. The only one that seems that it could be true is the one of it hanging from the loader in the woods with noone else in the shot. At the state fair they have one of the states largest hogs, and it typically tops 1,000 lbs. The size of that fair pig is not even close to the size of the "monster pig" in the photos. Imagine a stocky beef steer; they will go well over 1,200 lbs. Now imagine that steer next to the hog in the picture. Either that hog is pushing 3,000 lbs (or whatever), or it is edited for show. We all know it can be done, and relatively well with pretty basic software. What really suprises me is that Foxnews and yahoo have both posted this story with the (in my opinion) least legitimate picture.

I have officially thrown the talk flag.

[Mark Christianson]

One thing to note on the pic with the kid sitting behind it holding the gun, is that he is NOT leaning on the pig.

It appears he is probably sitting 5 feet(or however far) behind the pig for the pic.

My 100 lb doe I shot last year would look to be 500 lbs if I sat in the background too. Might have to try it.

[maros91]

I have caught Mcgurk's talk flag and have thrown it farther yet

[Hotspotter]

Bechtold and Matt Johnson do it with fish every time, why not with a hog?

The thing was a 1000lb pig, for that I give the kid credit; but I think Mark is dead on. You don't have to photoshop it when you keep the kid back 10ft, and center his crossed-arms just above the pigs back (as if he were leaning on it).

Moose and bear guys are notorious for this.....sit on the back end of the animal with the front end of it in the photo, and you've got yourself a very believable photo.

Joel

[Moose-Hunter]

I'll be the next to run another talk flag up the pole....

The photo is obviously staged as others have mentioned. In the article it reads....

"The hog's head is being mounted by Jerry Cunningham of Jerry's Taxidermy. Mr. Cunningham said the animal measured 54 inches around the head, 74 inches around the shoulders, and 11 inches from the eyes to the end of its snout."

Either they use a different ruler down south, or by comparison something is fishy...

[MOBY RICHARD*]

No...no...no...guys. He's not standing back, he's holding the hog way out with his arms...just like we all do when we're posing a fish!

Yeah, something is more natural in the picture of it being hoisted up, although that pig is a darker brown.

If the 54" measurment around the head is correct, it would give an average diameter of a little over 17". The picture of the hog laying sideways, with the kid behind, appears much bigger than that, and appears much larger than the shot with the kid and the guides behind it, with the pig facing toward the camera, so the head is about 10 feet foward of the people!

Still a monster...even if it was old hand-fed Arnold. See what happens over time, if your show gets cancelled, and you get a wad of money, and sit on a bar stool all day and night???

Or was that Mr. Ziffel... or is THIS really, Mr. Ziffel...or Mrs. Ziffel!!!???

[kaz2611]

This is a disgrace and heres why. Hunting any animals that are contained by a fence reguardless of the acerage is not very sporting. You can compare it to going to the DNR fish pond at the state fair and casting bucktails until you catch one of the muskies in there.

[Cooter]

Quote:

---

Bechtold and Matt Johnson do it with fish every time, why not with a hog?

---

LMAO!!! I think those two have a patent on that hold with fish. Too funny JN. We need to start up a new turkey pose - look at the 50lb strutter I shot!

[danwilliams]

http://mikehanback.blogs.com/bigbuckzone/2007/06/breaking_news_m.html

"Breaking News: Monster Pig was "Fred" By Mike Hanback

This morning I saw this now-infamous photo in Sports Illustrated (told you big-pig mania was rampant in the mainstream media) with a caption touting the 1,051-pound hog as some kind of mythical beast and surely a record.

Ten minutes later I read in the outdoor newshound's blog that the out-sized porker was real all right. But wild and feral, no. Turns out "Fred" was raised in a pen, fattened up on slop buckets and sold to the AL preserve 4 days before young Jamison Stone's multiple-shot handgun "hunt" (I use that term very, very loosely).

Oh yeah, one more thing. From what I hear Fred was a woman's gift from her husband, and the roly-poly swine liked to play with their grandchildren.

Anybody care to join me in ripping on "canned hunts" again?

This story was fishy from the get-go, but I really tried to give Jamison and his dad the benefit of the doubt. Sigh. What were they thinking? I bet they are not so high on the hog anymore (along with the taxidermist who was going to stuff that thing whole hog but who is now probably running for the hills).

Oh well, at least they got 500 pounds of sumptuous, greasy, artery-clogging sausage out of Fred. Love that stuff!

Seriously, I do hope this brings the whole stinking story to an end asap so we can minimize the damage done. PETA and HSUS are gonna have a field day with this one I'm afraid, especially considering all the mainstream publicity that Jamison's mega-porker's been getting.

Fred, RIP. "

[tealitup]

Have you looked at the HSOforum dedicated to the "hunter". The father puts on a real show - in fact, they are selling posters of this kid and the hog.

It is too bad all the negative emails they have received from wackos - telling them to go to h_ll and they are killers - satan will punish them. Very sad.

[rosetown]

i say good job kid

[MOBY RICHARD*]

Fred...Ziffel! I knew it was him!!!

[Nate McVey]

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=8cfe847c-bf90-4955-a669-c30f5347e729&p=Source_Countdown&t=c1149&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18989526/?GT1=10056&fg=

She is trying so hard to make this serious

[SnoManX]

This reminds me of the Troy Gentry Bear hunt in Northern Mn. I've partied with Troy before and he's a great guy but what's the point of shooting a fenced in animal. It's kinda like bowling with bumpers in the gutter!

[tealitup]

.50 cal handgun and no camo. Two guides and a HSOforum.

[Scott K]

So, are you saying, he is a rich city kid?

[USPENAMC]

i dont know if anyone posted or saw this already but someone came forward and claimed that pig was farm raised and sold to the plantation since no one would buy it for slaughtering because it was too big ... its in the star trib

[Harmonica Bear]

The pigs name was Fred.