Posted on 12/23/2006 3:55:07 PM PST by Sybeck1
Fayette County officer kills 600-pound boar
Fayette County resident John Cocke walked out onto his deck, clapped his hands, and hollered.
He first thought a neighbor's hog was on the loose, but he quickly saw the animal ripping into his chicken coop had long tusks, beady eyes and hair that stood up on his back like an angry dog.
"He acted aggressive, like if you come out here, I'm going to tear you up."
Cocke called for help.
Fayette County Animal Control officer Thomas Petrowski felled the wild porker with three blasts from a 12-gauge shotgun. Cocke's nephew carved the beast into slabs of bacon and mounds of pork chops.
Fayette County folks have been talking about the ferocious hog that weighed 600-plus pounds and spanned 7 feet, snout to curly tail.
Feral hogs are once-domesticated animals that have returned to the wild. Sometimes hogs escape the pen, or people turn them out to forage, or they're stocked for hunting purposes.
Wild hogs have become increasingly common -- and a growing nuisance -- throughout the South, though the exact number in Tennessee is unclear, said Ben Layton, big-game biologist for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in Crossville.
Nationally, feral hogs are increasingly on the radar of state wildlife officials, who note their rapid rate of reproduction and their threat to game and wildlife.
"Feral hogs are very destructive creatures that can destroy native plants and natural resources," said Layton. "Our agency has taken a stand of trying to stop the uncontrolled introduction of these animals into the wild."
Cocke said he hadn't seen any wild hogs on his property before the one that was killed several weeks ago.
"He'd been up the road at a neighbor's house before he came down here. He'd broke in their horse barn or pasture and broke a gate down, and their horses got out. We live 1.5 or 2 miles (east of) Somerville and those horses were so scared they went to Somerville."
Animal Control officer Bill Crook ran the hog back into the woods, but the animal returned.
Then Petrowski arrived.
The hog had literally ripped a pole holding a trash feeder from the ground, he said.
Petrowski said hunters don't comprehend the danger of coming up on a wild hog in the dark.
"They are nothing to play with," he said. "Hunters should be aware in the woods."
-- Shirley Downing: 529-2387
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‘FOREIGN’ ANIMALS MOVING IN
A manatee swims up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico. An Arkansas black bear crosses the Mississippi River and hikes across Northwest Tennessee. Dead armadillos line the roadside and alligators bask in McKellar Lake.
Details
Increasingly, Mid-Southerners see animals once foreign to the area. Reasons vary, but largely involve changes in clime and habitat, free-ranging animals and the return of domesticated animals to the wild.
"You can clump armadillos, alligators and fire ants together," said Gary Cook, regional manager for the Jackson office of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
"Some of those are temperature dependent. The warmer it is, the farther north they will expand their territories. Because we have had relatively warm temperatures for the past 10 years, those animals tend to expand their territories north.
"That's the reason you are seeing alligators in the Mississippi River and armadillos expanding northward."
Coyotes are "a totally different story. We've had coyotes for a long time, from about the mid-1970s."
The arrival of coyotes is due to natural range expansion, he said. "That has nothing to do with temperatures. All species expand their range when they can do so."
University of Memphis biology professor Mike Kennedy said coyotes are drawn to the Mid-South because "our habitat is good. We have abundant rabbit and rodent resources that are the primary food items for coyotes."
Copyright 2006, commercialappeal.com - Memphis, TN. All Rights Reserved.
My lifetime accomplishment in this area is six hogs taken with a knife, and two shot.
I have only been bitten once...
Hey it happened in NY-Donald Trump was attacked this week by a 600 lb pig!
I heard about that - hounds and a knife - when the hounds occupy the front end, you grab the hind leg,, hold on, lift and stab. They can't twist backwards.
But that takes one strong feller.
I wonder how an M1 Garand would work?
hahahaha- thanks for the laugh- good one http://sacredscoop.com
My guess is that you have not surprised him completely, and he may be charging at you. So I am surmising that you sidestep him and go in from there.
ZULU has it right. I go with a guide, who has 3 or 4 dogs.
The dogs stop the hog, you turn him over by picking up a hind leg. The guide holds up the hind leg, and you reach under the head & grab the ear on the opposite side. Pull hard on the ear & the head will turn away from you.
Stab him in the heart.
One of the dogs is a "specialist" -- he only bites the pig in the testicles. The dog has figured out that this end doesn't bite back.
I know, it sounds like cheating compared with what you were envisioning, but it is still plenty exciting, and people get bitten all the time this way.
BTW, I have seen a lot of hogs shot. Never a 600 pounder, but plenty of 300 lb ones. A .357 will kill with the right head shot. So will a .44, either a special or a magnum. My guide carries a .243 rifle and does not feel "undergunned". A .30-30 is always good, and I have had nothing but one-shot kills with a .308. The aim point is the midpoint between the eye and the ear opening. My friend got a one-shot kill with a .54 cal muzzleloader and a round lead ball. Not exactly a powerhouse round.
I hope they didn't waste it?
There should be a nationwide open season on these feral pigs. They are good for nothing and destroy a lot
ping
OK...Your crazy! That said it must be a big knife, totally dwarfed by your stones.
Could you outline the technique?
misleading headline. Feral hogs have been in North America ever since the earliest European settlers brought them here.
The way I heard it, once you got 'em, you can't get rid of 'em. Sorta like librul college perfessors w/ elbow patches on their suits, but still.
Why did you settle on the 45 70? I've got an itch for a new rifle. I'm partial to lever actions. I've got a ruger in 44 magnum and I've been thinking about a Marlin in 44, 444, 450, or 45 70.
I live in North Alabama and we don't see many hogs, elk, bear, etc. I realize these are pretty heavy for most of my hunting, mostly whitetail. Where I hunt is heavy brush. Anything over 75 yards is very long range. but I'd be interesting in your thoughts.
This should be on the front page of the NYT!
>>I wonder how an M1 Garand would work?
I'm thinking really well, with a soft nose bullet. A jacketed military round wouldn't be nearly as good.
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