The hunt was what some refer to as a "canned hunt." They are legal, at least in many states and foreign countries. The kid was legal. The gun was legal. Problem? The hog was, apparently, a former "pet" that was sold or donated to the reserve for a hunt--any hunt. Still legal...
Now, almost a year later this family is receiving death threats, etc. About 800 morons so far have decided to jump on the band wagon calling for the heads, and hams I suppose, to roll. All legal...don't forget that small detail. A lady in New York City had taken it upon herself to basically let the world know that the hunt was criminal because the hog didn't die for 3 hours after being shot. Her name is Rhonda Roland Shearer. Uh-oh. She goes by three names. Already that's a bad sign of aggressive behavior (i.e. bitch). When a guy gets dubbed with three names, it means he's a serial killer. Methinks lesser of the former. I digressed... I'm not sure if she is behind this latest "cause" to circulate these petitions or not. The last article that I have seen posted by her concerning this event was in May '08.
The father, Mike, has stood behind his son the entire year of negative publicity and now death threats. Erroneous articles have been written as well as misstatements concerning the hunt. Screw the damned pig. How do you think this kid is feeling? A little guilty maybe? Oh, I don't know - are we maybe a little hard on the kid? Ya know? And all because R.S.S. in N.Y.C. (et al) decided it would be a good "cause" to let the world know how compassionate she is - again. Now, do you think this lady has the least bit of experience shooting a gun or going on a hunt? Probably as much experience as this 11 year old has for calling her a bitch even though those three names are a real problem.
The whole idea that this pig or feral hog or boar - choose your own label - was a family pet is a stretch at best. The hog was raised on a farm with other feral hogs. It has an attitude but wasn't considered a real threat. I'm sure the kid didn't know the history here. Nor should he have had a need to. The real issue is this slow bleeding of a cutlet. Questions have been asked as to why one of the men armed with a hunting rifle could or would not make the fatal one shot kill to drop the animal. These people who were not part of the hunt want the dad and maybe others prosecuted for cruelty. I knew a girl that hunted boar on horseback in the Delta (Ms.). I went with her one weekend on a hunt. Now this particular hunt was not a "canned" hunt. I had only run into one wild hog before that weekend. That one weighed about 250 pounds. They are not something to be toyed with. They'll rip you or your dogs apart, but damned they're good to eat! I did ask her for the tallest and heaviest horse she owned. She shot a hog. The hog was shot in the middle of the forehead and dazed. I took the second shot. It hit about the left ear. Finally, after the third shot, one to the rib cage, the hog hit the ground dead. We were using rifles. My point is that it took 3 rifle shots at close range to take down a pissed off pig weighing about 300 pounds. How many shots would you think that it would take to drop a half ton porker? You are using a .50 caliber (very large) handgun too. Perhaps they could have taken a kill shot, but if the hog had turned to run then that would not have been possible...
All else aside, the hunters said they followed or chased the animal for about 3 hours before finding it dead. It bled out. This was no pet. A pet pig is Arnold on "Green Acres." This was a huge feral hog that could have chewed your ass to pieces given the right chance and the right - or wrong - mood. I choose not to hunt anymore. The only real reason was that I simply didn't enjoy preparing or eating the game that I took home. I enjoyed the hunt more than the kill, and I just didn't want to waste good meat. My choice not to hunt has nothing more to do with compassion and "caring" than 11-year old Jamison Stone's choice has to do with being a heartless and cruel killer. It just ain't so!
Perhaps the day was meant to be a day a kid wanted to spend time with his father doing something they both enjoy--a father hunting with his son. See, that's one of the ways a father and a son spend time together in the South. I would know a little something about that. I believe it's called "quality time." It's a damned shame that people who know no more about hunting or feral hogs or a father and son trying to have a good time together have to try and inject their sense of "what is moral" onto two people they don't know or a damned pig they couldn't care less about. Oh hell though, it's all for a cause. Damned right! Theirs...whatever it is. So now, you want to really threaten someone? Threaten me...but leave the kid alone.-That's just the way I see it-Don.
