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CONETOE, NC – A legendary beast has been shot and killed near the Indian Woods in North Carolina.
Hunter Jett Webb had heard about the giant hog, which began showing on trail cameras a few years ago. He even caught a glimpse of it in the woods last month. After spending weeks on its trail, Webb finally bagged the beast on February 28.
"It was very surreal,” he later told WNCT-TV. “It was a shock. It was very humbling to say the least, when you walk up on a beast that big and you say, 'Oh my gosh. I had no idea that there could be something that big running around the woods of Eastern North Carolina.’"
Webb shot the hog from a tree stand with a .308-caliber AR-15 rifle. As reported by Yahoo! News, he dropped it with a single shot from about 50 yards away.
Wild boars generally weigh less than 200 pounds, so the one that Webb killed was definitely an anomaly. He says he’s sure it’s the one that has been caught by trail cameras over the years.
“The Mohawk down the back, the tusks really lean, the muscular big front end," he pointed out to WNCT-TV. "This is far from a domesticated docile pig that we're used to."
Mike Mansell, the president of the hunting club where the hog was shot, told WNCT-TV that the invasive boar population in North Carolina is growing larger. But he still thinks this one is unique.
“It takes your breath away for a second to realize how big this hog is,” Mansell said. “It took up the entire bed of the pickup truck."
Even though the hog is officially being called a 500-pounder, it was most likely much bigger. Webb weighed it on a scale designed for weighing tobacco bales and it registered 500 pounds even though the beast’s head and shoulders were still on the ground.
The hog’s true weight will never be known, because Webb harvested the meat and now has a freezer full of sausage, pork chops and tenderloin.
It should be noted that although Webb’s hog was a giant, it wasn’t close to being the largest ever bagged in the United States. In 2005, a boar in Georgia that was known as Hogzilla in local lore, was killed at a hunting club. It’s estimated that the beast weighed 800 pounds. Grant Olsen joined the KSL.com team in 2012. He covers outdoor adventures, travel, product reviews and other interesting things. You can contact him at grantorrin@gmail.com.
