Is it doctored?

HuskerMom wrote: I read about this the other day. Dh and I were looking at the picture and it just doesn't look right. And if you look at the picture of just the head and compare it to the pic of the whole body the head doesn't look that big. I don't doubt that the kid shot a hog that weighed over 1,000 pounds but the hog in the pic looks bigger than that. And Dh said when he was growing up they had several hogs that were over 1,000 pounds and they weren't that big. I don't know but it just made me wonder. Either way that's a big hog!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,276386,00.html

kit_kats_mom replied: I saw the picture you are talking about and it's unbelievable. However, many credible news places had the story...not that they've never been duped but....anyway, I thought maybe the kid was just really small.

moped replied: Lordy I don't know - that is one HUGE monster alright!

Kaitlin'smom replied: weird is all I have to say, it just dont look right......that thing would have scared the (bleep) out of me.

redchief replied: I don't know about doctored photos, but "The Spoof" has this related story.

CantWait replied: Well I found these ones......

Snopes1

Snopes2

moped replied:
OMG that is hilarious Ed!

Mommyof3 replied: If it's real or not (it looks fake to me) they are going to be eating a WHOLE LOTTA bacon!

HuskerMom replied:
Yeah I'd find Rosie and the hog comparable.

lovemykiddies replied: Poor animal--I feel really bad he was killed in such a manner!

In response to the original post, I'm really not sure.

redchief replied:
How would you have gone about killing a half-ton feral pig?

lovemykiddies replied: Well, admittedly I can't say for sure how I'd do it. I am a vegetarian myself, so I doubt I'd kill it in the first place. But I realize that's not what you're asking.

For one, I certainly wouldn't let a 13 year old child do it. Also, he was shot 8 times, so clearly he was in pain. It was no quick, humane kill.

So I don't know what I'd do differently. But I wouldn't do that.

redchief replied:
Ahh... sorry. I got what you were saying now. I'm not an animal rights activist, and I'm also no firearms hunter, so I'm not an expert in commenting on what they were doing on that game preserve. I think if it were me, I would have used a much larger gun out of fear for my life. Wild boar are noted for turning on and attacking people. They're pretty nasty really. It seems as if part of the hunt had to do with the sport of hunting such a large animal with small arms. I guess you could liken it to fishing light tackle for striped bass, a fish that can run well over three feet long and weigh more than 50 pounds. It's fun to do, but very difficult to complete.

indywndy_04 replied:
Was he hunting for it? I doubt the kid was running around looking for a 1,000 pound pig with a pistol. It seems to me as if he came upon and and probably had to do whatever it took to take that beast down. You really never know what you would do until you were put in a situation that you had to act on.

As for the photo...hmmmm, who knows...I think any thing that big has got to be questionable, do they even get that big? I dont know what the average weight for a pig like that is anyway...

HuskerMom replied:
I think I would've used a different gun. But I'd be pretty proud if I had and 11 year old son that did that. Of course my son wouldn't be alone when he did it just like that kid wasn't but I think that's quite an accomplishment for a kid.

lovemykiddies replied: You know, I see your points of view as well. And I'm not trying to argue or offend anybody.

Animal rights is just something I feel really strongly about, as well as children's rights. I would worry about the 13 year old as well...he's lucky to be okay in my opinion.

I think that if it had to be killed, an adult (team of adults perhaps) should have done it, and with a larger gun. Perhaps even a tranquilizer if possible--whatever would cause the animal the least amount of pain.

I know not many will agree, and I'm okay with that. I still feel like it was an unfortunate and sad situation.

HuskerMom replied:
I see your point of view and I'm not trying to offend anyone either. We are just hunting people so I don't see anything wrong with a kid doing that. He had adults with him that also had guns so I'm sure he was safe. Like I said I don't want to offend anyone and I'm not trying to argue. We just see things differently.

On a side note I really wasn't trying to start a debate about hunting or guns, I just thought the picture looked doctored.

lovemykiddies replied:
Yes you're right, you weren't starting a debate. I just read all of the comments and forgot about the original post, so I got off track myself.

amynicole21 replied:
It was a .50cal pistol he used - a fact that makes me doubt the story even more. What 11 year old could handle a 50cal?? I couldn't do it

HuskerMom replied:
I think if he had practiced with it it's possible. Dh has guns that I was not really good at shooting at first but with practice I'm decently good now.

Crystalina replied: I think it's real.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I don't think it's doctored... I mean - a picture taken from close to the ground, closer to the pig, to hide how far away the kid actually is... pretty easy stuff.... I took a picture once of my dad standing in my step-mom's hand. Not doctored.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: My bet is the kid is standing far enough in back of the pig to make it look so huge. Like taking a picture of your little brother in a jar. You put the jar on a table or some other surface and have him stand in back of it, far enough away that it looks like he's in the jar.

redchief replied: I really can't find the supposed doctoring the anti-pig sites try to point to.

Several things I learned:

It was an organized hunt with two trained and well armed guides and the boy's father in attendance.

The father and guides were armed with high powered rifles.

The pistol the boy used was indeed a .50 cal. mag., but this isn't a lightweight pistol; it's a highly developed hunting pistol that used a special .50 cal. round made specifically for the gun. The boy and his father were experienced hunters who practiced their hobby and honed their skills.

They had to remove vegetation and bring in a backhoe to move the beast out of the preserve.

The taxidermist took measurements on the animal. Taxidermy is a licensed trophy trade and lying on a kill record could cause the taxidermist to lose his/her license.

Too many people had to be involved in this for the story to have been doctored and no one involved come out publicly. The only detracting web sites play to supposed irregularities in the photos, copied from the website.

Feral pigs are commonly hunted throughout the United States because the animals are descended from domestic pigs that were introduced to the US by Europeans in the 1600s. These animals have no natural enemies and destroy the environment. There are no native pig species in North America.

I believe the story is true. Whether you're OK with hunting or not doesn't take away from the accomplishment of such a young man to take down such a large animal.

TANNER'S MOM replied: We questioned the gun too and looked it up and it was a 1500.00 pistol especially made to be strong and accurate. Most 50 caliburs are black powder mozzle loaders and this didn't look anything like that. We were like what the heck too. But we do believe the pigs size. We have wild hogs here and they are mean, they run in packs and your wouldn't want your kids outside with them. My cousin has killed a few at our cabin. If we didn't kill them they would eat every dog around and possible child or adult. They are very violent. I am sure he wasn't looking for an animal that big at all. I see your point with how long it took to kill it, but something size and with skin that tough is hard to take down.

gr33n3y3z replied:
yep they should have kept those nasty animals there LOL
more mess to clean up after someone.

Cece00 replied: I think its probably real, but I know that it REALLY is disgusting. Ick, a big dead pig, it looks pretty gross in that pic They are gonna be eating that breakfast sausage for a lloooonnnnggg time.

Twelve Volt Man replied: Here's an update to the story:






Pig was a monster, but he wasn't wild



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

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Far from feral, the 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.

Jamison Stone shot the huge hog during what he and his father described as a three-hour chase. They said it was more than 1,000 pounds and 9 feet long; if anything, it looked even bigger in a now-famous photo of the hunter and the hunted.

"We were told that it was a feral hog," Mike Stone told the Star, "and we hunted it on the pretense that it was a feral hog."

Telephone messages left Friday with Eddy Borden, the owner of Lost Creek Plantation, were not immediately returned.

The Blissitts said they didn't know the hog was Fred until they were contacted by a game warden for the Alabama Department of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries. The agency determined that no laws were violated in the hunt.

Phil Blissitt said he became irritated when he learned that some thought the photo of Fred was doctored.

"That was a big hog," he said.

Crystalina replied: I was getting ready to post the same thing. Here is a link. It pretty much say the exact thing that Twelve Volt Man posted.

lovemykiddies replied:

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Where's the button for puke!!!! Yuck yuck yuck! Real or not, it scares the #(*#&$(*& out of me! Reminds me of a scary movie I saw as a child - I think it was called Razorback or something like that. About a killer pig!!

DH and I don't eat pork....so yet again, ewwww.