11 year old boy shoots a monster Pig

[Intuit]

................  Since humans eliminated the natural predators of deer in our quest to sanitize the acquisition of meat(ie: rather than be hunters we wanted to live pastorally, tending herds in managed fields), it is now our duty to take the predators place, handling the population of the species who’s balance we upset.  That is why you have to get a permit to go hunting, so the government can determine ...................

Not only was it the destruction of habitat and killing animals that hunted livestock, but the mass-killings that regularly occured after an animal violently defended itself or/and young against a human.  A bear attack occurs and all of a sudden hunting parties take-out some 200 square miles worth of bear population.  That was just an example but the same happened for mountain lions, etcetera when they used to roam the states.

[Nighteye]

................  Since humans eliminated the natural predators of deer in our quest to sanitize the acquisition of meat(ie: rather than be hunters we wanted to live pastorally, tending herds in managed fields), it is now our duty to take the predators place, handling the population of the species who’s balance we upset.  That is why you have to get a permit to go hunting, so the government can determine ...................

Not only was it the destruction of habitat and killing animals that hunted livestock, but the mass-killings that regularly occured after an animal violently defended itself or/and young against a human.  A bear attack occurs and all of a sudden hunting parties take-out some 200 square miles worth of bear population.  That was just an example but the same happened for mountain lions, etcetera when they used to roam the states.

Too many people place too little value on animal life. Imagine if the same happened to humans - 1 human commits a murder, the entire city he lives in gets killed.

[hugh]

................  Since humans eliminated the natural predators of deer in our quest to sanitize the acquisition of meat(ie: rather than be hunters we wanted to live pastorally, tending herds in managed fields), it is now our duty to take the predators place, handling the population of the species who’s balance we upset.  That is why you have to get a permit to go hunting, so the government can determine ...................

Not only was it the destruction of habitat and killing animals that hunted livestock, but the mass-killings that regularly occured after an animal violently defended itself or/and young against a human.  A bear attack occurs and all of a sudden hunting parties take-out some 200 square miles worth of bear population.  That was just an example but the same happened for mountain lions, etcetera when they used to roam the states.

Too many people place too little value on animal life. Imagine if the same happened to humans - 1 human commits a murder, the entire city he lives in gets killed.

9/11 --> afghan war comes to mind....

[Intuit]

I tell you I have trouble believing anything this current Administration has said or is saying but supposedly Afghanistan was about attacking the group that plotted and implemented the attacks.  (the bombings before 9/11) Unfortunately because we're an invading force taking over a sovereign nation you can't pick a fight with that group without picking a fight with unrelated groups either.  With the animal attack situations, it was slightly different.  Now what Junior was talking about, taking over not just Afghanistan, but Iraq, Iran, Cuba, N. Korea, Syria, and Lybia wasn't any different.

Adding to NightEye's comment:  There are plenty of examples of that happening througout history.  Mobs have arsoned entire towns, villages and killed unparamounted levels of men, women and children over alligations of rapes; for example.  If it has been and is being done to an animal, you can bet humans have done and are doing it to themselves.

[Timster]

I'm repeating pretty much what Reflex said in his posts, but each state has it's own Department of Natural Resources that keeps track of the population levels of wildlife in the state, and sets the number of licenses and bag limits for each animal.  They take into account their natural food supply and the predator population so that the population is managed, not purged or killed off in numbers that would upset the other bablances they've created.  Once feral hogs get above 300 pounds, the number of predators (other than man) that can kill such a large animal is greatly decreased.  They are decendant of domestic hogs, and will live near populated areas, outside the territory you normally find cougars and wolves, if they exist in that state at all.

[Fontaine]

Update:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/02/monster.pig.ap/index.html



FRUITHURST, Alabama (AP) -- The huge hog that became known as "Monster Pig" after being hunted and killed by an 11-year-old boy had another name: Fred.

The not-so-wild pig had been raised on an Alabama farm and was sold to the Lost Creek Plantation just four days before it was shot there in a 150-acre fenced area, the animal's former owner said.

Phil Blissitt told The Anniston Star in a story Friday that he bought the 6-week-old pig in December 2004 as a Christmas gift for his wife, Rhonda, and that they sold it after deciding to get rid of all the pigs at their farm.

"I just wanted the truth to be told. That wasn't a wild pig," Rhonda Blissitt said.

------------------------------

So much for the hero story.

[Reflex]

Um, who called him a hero?  According to the hunter and his father, they were told it was feral.  I still don't see a problem.

[Fontaine]

Well they put this farm raised pig in a 150-acre fenced area with ofcourse 1 reason: shoot it and then make a nice website and claiming you shot the biggest hog ever.

Also could explain why they made sausage from it as fast as possible?

[Nighteye]

Um, who called him a hero?  According to the hunter and his father, they were told it was feral.  I still don't see a problem.

From the article:

Stone said state wildlife officials told him that it is not unusual for hunting preserves to buy farm-raised hogs and that the hogs are considered feral once they are released.

It seems they're awfully quick to proclaim a hog being feral...

[Timster]

It seems they’re awfully quick to proclaim a hog being feral…

Unless it was pet every day and could be hand fed, I'd hardly call it tame, either.  I grew up on a farm and over the years we've had goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, rabbits, hogs, and cattle, and unless you spend the same time with an animal like you would with a dog or cat, they're not going to let you walk up to them easily and put a leash or harness on them.  You're going to spend some time chasing them around, trying to corner and catch them.

As for the fact it was a "canned" hunt, stalking an animal in a 150 acre wood is not the same as shooting it in a cage or in a small pen.  I think the rules of fair chase apply in that situation.  Hogs are hard animals to kill.  A pack of dogs would have trouble taking down a hog of that size.

[Intuit]

stalking an animal in a 150 acre wood is not the same as shooting it in a cage or in a small pen.  I think the rules of fair chase apply in that situation.  Hogs are hard animals to kill.

Okay... you versus an 80 pound child... speed, strength, "intelligence", you have all the advantages against that child that the hog has on you, save for one thing... child has a gun.   Who is likely to win ?

EDIT: (didn't mean to say the hog is "smarter"... ;-P)

[GTX]

As a hunter myself, I can't stand the canned hunts. One of my hunting properties is a few hundred acres, but I still consider hunting *native wild game* with a bow to be like shooting fish in a barrel at times. I prefer to hunt in much larger areas where the hiking & hunting are much more challenging and motorized vehicles aren't permitted. When you have to hike, camp and drag or carry game for miles in mountainous terrain, you also get away from what we call "shotgun toting yahoos", as well as lazy out-of-shape casual hunters.

I get a kick out of some of these southern canned hunts where overweight beer drinking hillbillies drive their trucks & quads to their huge man-made hunting blinds, then shoot game heading to feed piles, feed lots, game feeders, watering holes and salt licks.

I guess the canned hunts are more of a southern thing.

[Timster]

stalking an animal in a 150 acre wood is not the same as shooting it in a cage or in a small pen.  I think the rules of fair chase apply in that situation.  Hogs are hard animals to kill.

Okay... you versus an 80 pound child... speed, strength, "intelligence", you have all the advantages against that child that the hog has on you, save for one thing... child has a gun.   Who is likely to win ?

EDIT: (didn't mean to say the hog is "smarter"... ;-P)

Animals have survival instincts that fill in for what they lack in intelligence.  Unless this animal was hand-fed and comes running when called, the kid still had to track it and hit it in an area that will incapacitate it.

As for canned hunts, I'm not a fan of places where they use timed feeders or dope animals to make them easier to hunt.  I have no problem with ranches with contained herds of wild animals.  Every hunter's skill varies, and some would rather pay the money for a guided hunt and have their hands held.  I'd rather see a clean kill on a farm than see an inexperienced hunter wounding and losing an animal anywhere else.

[Intuit]

I'll respect the hunt when the game starts shooting back, or when there is some chance, that the hunter will become the hunted.

I also respect the hunt, when the game is used as food and material.  I understand that man has killed-off many natural predators of certain species and they therefore "must" be culled.

Agreed on the survival instincts as they do exhibit most of the same behaviors that we do, such as cross-communication and collaboration, necessary for either escaping or capturing predator or prey.  They also operate by learning shared experiences... bolting when they see/smell a wolf or human, but standing-by when they see a bear.

[Reflex]

Intuit and I are on the same page.  I do not feel hunting for sport is a good thing, although I accept that some animals must be culled.  Rule of thumb to me though is that if you kill it, you eat it.

[Intuit]

http://www.cartoonstock.com/
http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/mro0004l.jpg
http://www.cartoonstock.com/

[GTX]

I read that the kid shot at Ole' Fred 16 times, hit him half a dozen times, then stalked him for three hours before he finished him off.

Some redneck canned hunting preserves have fair chase laws which requires that the animal has a reasonable chance for escape.

All the game I hunt is born in the wild, doesn't have much human interaction and have fairly good instincts. They're not fenced in on postage stamp sized hunting areas so they can escape into the deep woods, thick brush, hills or run to areas where hunting is off limits. Native game that's not fenced in can also relocate, or become nocturnal when they're under hunting pressure in order to survive. I've had deer that were spooked by the slightest scent, sound or movement.

I went to a canned hunting preserve when I was younger. The deer were born in captivity, and so accustomed to motorized vehicles, man made deer blinds, human scent & human interaction that it's like hunting at a petting zoo. They don't know if you're going to shoot them or feed them.

[Timster]

The only reason I'm not opposed to game farms is that some people like to hunt, but cannot take the time off of work to hunt during normal seasons, or do not have property of their own to hunt on, or do not want the hassle of hunting on state land packed with a couple other hundred yahoos stomping around, chasing away the deer and turkeys.

As for the ethics of deer hunting, I've heard some purist "Ranger Rick" types that point fingers at the guys who bait deer with apples and carrots during deer season, but it's ok for them to plant apple trees or carrots near their woods and hunt over that plot.  if everyone was forced to using more primitive weapons and methods, you'd see more animals wounded, maimed, or lost than taken cleanly and recovered.

[Intuit]

............... or do not want the hassle of hunting on state land packed with a couple other hundred Cheneys stomping around, .................

Sorry... that joke was just too easy...
(click on Cheney if you don't get it)

[Intuit]

................. I'm not a fan of places where they use timed feeders or dope animals to make them easier to hunt. ..............

I've herd they typically dope the animals in these sessions and if true, this one apparently didn't get enough....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnbYidg5frI
(gotta see this -- too funny)

[GTX]

As for the ethics of deer hunting, I've heard some purist "Ranger Rick" types that point fingers at the guys who bait deer with apples and carrots during deer season, but it's ok for them to plant apple trees or carrots near their woods and hunt over that plot.

I have apple orchards on my hunting properties. I never hunt the orchards, and I rarely see many deer there during daylight hours during hunting season. I have nothing against people planting apple trees, or other food sources on their land. You could literally cover your property with food plots, salt licks etc, but you're still hunting native wild deer with a fear of humans that aren't fenced in. The woods are full of game, and the ponds, lakes, streams & rivers are full of fish, but you still need skills, and discipline to consistently get the tropy fish & game people seek even with the right technique and/or bait.


Most of the big bucks I've seen have been miles back in the thick, in the hills or near the swamps during first light or on the edge of night. Rednecks like to hunt bait piles, food plots, orchards or just about anywhere close to their truck or quad while they're smoking cigarettes, eating junk food, walking over trails with their smelly boots covered with chemicals, human scent & doe urine while rattling their antlers and making grunt calls. LOL

I still don't believe in raising animals in captivity only to kill them for sport. With hunting guides, fences preventing escape & guaranteed kills it's not like they stand a chance. Some of the best hunting experiences I've had were when I decided not to take a deer. Many other hunters are the same way.

[Timster]

I still don’t believe in raising animals in captivity only to kill them for sport. With hunting guides, fences preventing escape & guaranteed kills it’s not like they stand a chance. Some of the best hunting experiences I’ve had were when I decided not to take a deer. Many other hunters are the same way.

I wouldn't classify all game farms and hunting ranches into the category of canned hunts with timed feeders and tame animals.  Some of these ranches span several hundred acres, and your prey still has a good chance of escape and you might several deer or whatever you're hunting for, it's not guaranteed that the biggest trophy buck is going to walk past your blind.

I have to agree that the hunt isn't always about a body count, a trophy, or who shot the biggest animal.  It's about setting a goal or a challenge, and meeting that challenge.  If you've found a spot where you consistently do good or reach your bag limit, it's time to raise the bar and find a different spot of hunt in a different way.  People hunt for different reasons, and have different styles of hunting on differnet types of land.  I'm not a big fan of social hunting where one or more people sweep a plot of land to push an animal towards another hunter.  However the exception is when the hunter is very young and inexperienced, and you want to give them an opportunity to see something if the game isn't moving.  When I was first starting out, I probably would've never learned to be patient and catch a deer off guard in it's own element if I didn't think there were any out there.