ALAPAHA, Georgia (AP) -- Around these parts, they are calling it Hogzilla: a 12-foot-long wild hog recently killed on a plantation and now quickly becoming a part of local legend.

The plantation's owner claims the hog weighed 1,000 pounds and had 9-inch tusks. But few people have actually seen the hog -- the only proof being a photo that shows the dead beast hanging from a rope.

Whether the hog ever actually existed or is some sort of Faulknerian myth, it has definitely been the topic of conversation in small towns across southern Georgia.

"People just back up and ask 'Is it real?' They can't believe that there's a hog that big in the woods," said Drew White, who has a copy of the photo on display at an auto parts store in Tifton, about 17 miles away.

Chris Griffin said he killed the beast last month at the River Oak Plantation, where he is a hunting guide, and has been showing off the picture around this small farming community ever since. The hog is nearly twice as long as the 6-foot-tall Griffin, who is seen standing next to it in the photo.

"They say 'Man, you look like a dwarf compared to that thing,"' he said Wednesday.

The picture is all Griffin has to back up his claims. He and Ken Holyoak, owner of the plantation, buried the beast on the property and did not want to hassle with slaughtering it since the meat of large feral hogs is typically not very good.

Holyoak said he decided that the hog's head also wasn't worth keeping because it was too large to mount on a wall. He said the head has the diameter of a tire on a compact car.

"We had to lift him with a backhoe," he said.

No one maintains official records on hog kills in Georgia. But Department of Natural Resources biologist Kent Kammermeyer, who helped write a booklet on feral-hog problems in the state, said he has never heard of one as large as Hogzilla.

Holyoak said the plantation's previous record was a 695-pound hog shot several years ago. Enough wild hogs roam Holyoak's plantation that he has made it a side business to allow people to hunt them, but he said "Hogzilla" was too big to let someone else shoot.

"We killed it because we didn't want to take a chance of him getting away. Somebody else would have shot it," he said.

Feral hogs, popularly known as wild hogs, are domestic hogs that escaped from farms and began living off the land. They lay waste to corn and peanut fields and deprive more than 100 species -- including squirrels and deer -- of food.

"It's a big problem and it's getting worse," Kammermeyer said. "If you have a lot of hogs, you're going to have problems. Hogs are very aggressive. They run deer off and they can be dangerous if wounded or cornered."

Holyoak said he had to climb into a deer stand a few years back to escape a raging hog that circled around for six hours, foaming at the mouth and snapping at branches.

"They say bears get mad when you mess with their babies," Holyoak said. "Hogs don't need a reason to get mad and come after you."

"Holyoak said he decided that the hog's head also wasn't worth keeping because it was too large to mount on a wall."

That doesn't sound like any hunter I know!

I'd really like to get a look at a larger version of this photo. An original would be even better. Methinks there is some Tomfoolery going on.

If they really wanted to prove it's existence, they could dig up the grave. I'm with Bill, I never heard of anyone who didn't keep a head that was "too big." He could at least have kept the tusks.

I'm dubious.

Ahh, the way myths grow!

Ain't saying it isn't possible - just say I'm a natural born skeptic! ;)

I heard this story on the radio and it was said that they took pictures of the hog alive and again after it was shot ! Then they said that they left the meat and only took the head ! I would have kept the whole critter and ate it to boot ! What did they shoot it for in the first place if they weren't going to eat it ? A critter like that would have been good to keep trespassers away ! And at 2.00 to $3.00/lb for pork that was a lot of money wasted !JAGG

Bet he didn't find it till the next day, and at that point, not too good to eat.... LOL.... :eek:

No The story said that they shot and killed it and then took the pictures of it dead to prove it was really that big and not a hoax ! They just don't like pig i guess ! Or this is a HOAX ! I think it was shot in NC ! JAGG

I've seen a large picture of it, and i'm still skeptical. Man, if i'da shot something like that, i'd have had the local paper and all "the boys" that i could find over to witness it. A hog that big would be all sorts of news, regardless of whether they keep records.

I think the meat might have been a little tough, but i think the hoax value rates pretty high

Tough my butt ! Got Teeth will Chew ! BBQ BBQ ! What did they say the shot this critter with anyway ? JAGG

Hmmmm... I'm guessing he took the shot with either a .338 Win Mag or possibly... Adobe Photoshop? Come 'on. Who you trying to kid with that bogus photo?

original story claimed he used those dixie terminator slugs he was advertising.... I did some reasearch on the hog and found a pic of the ''grave'' that they burried him in and in the background you can see hog fence, its the one where you see the hogzilla grave marker. the write up about is says that they loaded it up and drove the dead hog 25 miles to get a certified weight of the piggy, yet they didnt let any officials see it that were mentioned. It also says that a price of $3,000 rejected for the head alone, instead they burried it. WHO JUST GOES OUT AND BURRIES $3,000 FOR THE FUN OF IT? Yeah I'll bet that it was an old farm boar that they decided to do a publicity stunt with. See people have been callin this guy out and he hasn't spoke up to save face???

Note: I edited this post to remove a statement that has no basis in fact or substance. I appreciate everyone is entitled to their opinion, but accusations need to have some supporting evidence other than simply being cynical.

Dan

Whoa! Let's wait a minute right here! Dixie Slugs had nothing to do with this hog and has never said anything about this hog being shot with any Dixie Terminator! So, get your story straight! We have never ship these people any of our slugs!.....James

Coyote, I don't know how you got the idea that James Gates said that Hogzilla was shot with his slugs. All he claimed in this thread was that Dixie Slugs would be useful on a hog like it.
http://www.shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=13919

Wheather Hogzilla was real or not is another matter.

You own James an apology unless you can substantiate your claim.

Bye
Jack

Please note that I have edited the offending post.

Dan

Friends All......Thank You......James

"Holyoak said he decided that the hog's head also wasn't worth keeping because it was too large to mount on a wall."

That doesn't sound like any hunter I know!

I'd really like to get a look at a larger version of this photo. An original would be even better. Methinks there is some Tomfoolery going on.

Dear Bill -
He coulda hung it on the wall next to the 923 pound, 76 point white tail, the 147 foot gator, or maybve between the legs of the T rex that's right next to the mastadon!

Tomfoolery is the exactly right word!

Bluesman

LOL! Did these guys actually think folks would believe this?

Speaking of 147 ft. gators, here's a real story that is pretty impressive nonetheless.

http://southeast.fws.gov/news/2004/r04-073.html

Hog Wash, that pic is a fake.

Hogs do get that big in S. Georgia. I've seen two like that in my life if hunting down here. One I shot in Echoles county Ga back in the early 1970's. We drug that one to camp with a tractor. It was a boar hog of more than 500 lb (estimated). We skint one ham out and tried to roast some of the meat on the campfire. The smell was so bad that the next day we got a man with a backho to bury it. The other big one was called "old Snort" and he was finaly killed by Frank Gibson of Thomasville, Ga. That hog was living in the Ochlocknee river swamp S. of Thomasville Ga. Again it was not weighed as it was to big to handle. Again we took a ham out ( it was all three men could drag). Again the meat was too strong to eat and was disposed off. Old Snort was not buried as we could not get any equipment to him. Frank took some pictures and showed them around for a few years. Frank went back to the kill sight the next year and found the skull, he pulled a tusk out and used it for a powder measure for his homemade muzzleloader untill his hunting days ended. If they really wanted to prove it's existence, they could dig up the grave. I'm with Bill, I never heard of anyone who didn't keep a head that was "too big." He could at least have kept the tusks.

I'm dubious.

That's a lot of Pork!!

National Geographic Channel Finds Hogzilla



ALAPAHA, Ga. (AP) - The legend of Hogzilla, the prodigious porker that was supposedly shot on a nearby plantation, will be featured in a spring episode on the National Geographic Channel.

Since rumors of the hog's existence began spreading in June, newspapers around the world have carried stories on the half-ton beast that supposedly had 9-inch tusks and measured 12 feet long.

Two weeks ago, a group of forensic scientists and a National Geographic Channel television crew traveled to Alapaha and unearthed the animal's remains.

Although officials are keeping silent on their findings, property owner Ken Holyoak said they did confirm the remains were found, studied and then reburied at the original site. Holyoak owns the River Oak Plantation and Ken's Fish Hatchery, where Hogzilla was killed.


``They said when we get the reports, we're going to be really happy,'' Holyoak said. ``I'm just glad they came down here to do this. ... It's time to get the truth out there.''


The National Geographic Channel, which has acquired the rights to the award-winning Explorer documentary series, will begin airing Explorer programs in January, said Chris Albert, communications director for the National Geographic Channel. Hogzilla will be among the first episodes, he said. Albert declined Monday to provide any details on what the Hogzilla show will reveal.


Hogzilla has created quite a stir in the hearts of people in Alapaha, a town of 186 people 125 miles south of Macon.


Although some residents doubt his existence, the wild hog has brought the city almost instant fame and even became the mascot of their annual fall festival. Holyoak pulled a float during the festival that featured a life-sized replica of Hogzilla.


``We've had a hogzilla of a time with this,'' said Darlene Turner, who operates her family's business, Jernigan's Farm Supply. ``It has put us on the map.''


Holyoak said Monday that the National Geographic crew wore respirators while they worked with Hogzilla's remains.


``It looked like a dead hog,'' he said. ``It had been in there five months, so it didn't smell good either.


``They spent a solid week digging him up, measuring and sampling,'' Holyoak said. ``They don't want to do a documentary unless it's 100 percent accurate.''


Last spring, one of Holyoak's employees told him he kept seeing a large hog roaming around their property. In June, Chris Griffin shot the animal and then called his boss.


``I went right over there and couldn't believe it,'' Holyoak said. ``His head was about as big as a car tire.''


Reports of Griffin's big trophy has made him a local celebrity. People ask for his autograph.


Because the large animal wouldn't fit in a freezer intact and the meat was not suitable for eating, Holyoak said he and his crew decided to bury the animal. They cut Hogzilla's head off and put it in an undisclosed place because they were afraid someone would steal it. The rest of the carcass was buried in a grave marked by a white cross.


Although Holyoak took a few pictures and had several witnesses sign affidavits about what they saw, many people have doubted the story.


``I finally started telling people that I didn't care if they believed it or not,'' Holyoak said. ``I knew what I saw and how big it was.''


Now, maybe the National Geographic show will satisfy some of the doubters, he said.


``Up to now, they've just got my word,'' he said. ``But everybody who knows me, knows I don't tell anything wrong. I've already said my say, and a lot of people didn't believe it. Now we'll let them have their say.''


Information from: The Macon Telegraph, http://www.macontelegraph.com

Two things come to mind:

1. There was a news story from CNN on my Netscape homepage today explaining that a divisionof National Geographic just completed videoing a special about Hogzilla that will air after the first of the year. That should provide much more (verifiable) information about this incident.

2. My father is a retired professor of Meat Science at the University of Missouri...a butcher with a PhD. According to him there are very few people who would enjoy the meat from an uncastrated boar, wild OR domestic. The pork we get in the supermarket is from castrated males or females. Uncastrated males have a taste and odor that is not appealing at the dinner table. I think we can agree that the picture we have available shows an uncastrated male hog. Yuck!