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MONTGOMERY,
Ala. – An 11-year-old Alabama boy used a pistol to kill a wild hog his
father says weighed a staggering 1,051 pounds and measured 9-feet-4
from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail.
The boy says
he was inspired to kill and butcher the pig himself after reading a
book about how to make sausage and "pork belly confit, " by noted
culinary author Michael Ruhlman.
"After I read Charcuterie" the boy said "I was so hungry for some
rillettes or head cheese, I would have killed that hog with my teeth."
The
boy’s father says he’s proud of his son for tracking and killing what
may prove to be the largest wild pig on record, but appears to be a bit
embarrassed by his son’s infatuation with the book, Charcuterie,
and charcuterie in general. "I hate that French [expletive], what they
ever do for us? Is that Ruhlman guy French, or what? I’m sure I don’t
know. All I do know is I don’t like it."
The boy hopes to be
able to overcome his father’s resistance to turning parts of the hog
into pate de campagne by offering the testicles to Tony Bourdain. "My Dad loves Bourdain. Says he reminds him of The Duke, but skinnier. I figure if we send him the nuts, maybe he’ll email dad or call him or something."
Both
father and son agreed with a reporter who offered that this story was
about more than a story about an 11 year-old boy shooting the world’s
biggest hog with a revolver. This is a story about how one book, by one
man obsessed with pork can alter the course of another person’s life.
"Before I read Charcuterie," the boy said "All I wanted to do was my
PS2. Now I definitely want to be a chef and make pate. Maybe I’ll even
to go to France where Ruhlman lives and study him."
You can read the real story of the boy and his hog here at Breitbart.
Update/Sidebar
The story of the boy who killed the pig has created a big buzz across the the greater web. I’m especially intrigued by some of the attention that it has attracted from people who don’t seem to like the idea that the pig was killed at all. If you look at this site monsterpig.com, which seems to have been put up by someone close to the 11 year old hunter, and click negative comments I promise it’ll give you pause.
Bob dG
I love this site, you people are so entertaining.
Better yet, o Scottacious One, let the hunters be the hunted and get chased for 3 hours getting plugged with weaponry that doesn’t QUITE kill them . . . yet . . .
and with no escape. Because this was, after all, a canned hunt. Now, that should stop the cycle of madness. Thin THAT herd!
12-foot slices of bacon, or 10-lb. chunks of guanciale – doesn’t matter. I’m down with that.
I remember hearing about this. This is a fucked up story. That was the ugliest pig ever. What the hell did they feed it?
Anyway, I don’t like guns, hunting, and I don’t live in the south. But I do have an 11-year-old son and would never give him a gun and tell him “Duh, c’mon Bubba, let’s go huntin’ and kill us a pig today!” What the fuck!? Hunting should be for the adults.
Nothing good ever happens when you give a gun to a child.
sorcha:
The kid is going to be a product of his upbringing and environment. The only way to stop the cycle of madness is to put sterility chemicals in their water supply.
And then we can go back to listening to ruhlman making plans to shoot a 14-ton pig so he can have 12-foot long slices of bacon.
sorcha – it was a black powder cap and ball gun. They don’t have the same kick as a pistol or semi-auto cartridge. Also not as much stopping power. One shot from, say, a Desert Eagle .50 cal would have dislocated both of that fat little punk’s shoulders.
I haven’t shot blackpowder hand guns, but I’ve shot blackpowder rifles, and they can pack a pretty mean recoil. (Mr. Sorcha and I used to do the Rendezvous historical re-enactment scene years ago in a sort of desultory way, when we had a lot of friends who were into it.) Harder to be accurate with, too, IIRC. Why the heck you’d actually go hunting with one is beyond me, but then, I’m of the “hunting should be a means of obtaining food” as opposed to the “hunting is a sport” mindset. As George Carlin once said, “You think hunting is a sport? Ask the deer.” If I want to shoot for sport I’d just as soon do some target shooting.
I wouldn’t go so far as to call the kid a punk just based on this. He’s a product of his upbringing and he’s not yet old enough to question it. As for him being fat, well. Not going to go there, as it’s kind of an “issue” of mine and this isn’t the time or place for that. *G*
AND they didn’t kill Fred!
I still want to know how an eleven-year-old managed to shoot a .50 caliber handgun without having his shoulder dislocated from the recoil.
What did French do for us? They funded the American Revolution and gave us delicious escargot.
That pig was a pet, the kid has no hunting skills, he killed an innocent animal. The pig was probably coming up to him to say hello or get a pet. What an asshole!
Yes, I’m decrying the loss of a domesticated animal (however large) at the inept hands of a pubescent hunter, in a canned hunt, no less. There was no honor in it, no skill or challenge – and now Fred is dead, and the boy and his father . . . discredited, shall we say.
RIP
Aw, shucks!
Swampy, would you please e-mail me at bukigreco@aol.com? I have a question for you, and Typepad is still showing people’s screen names in red (and not letting anyone click on them to send e-s directly).
And . . . a moment of silence for Fred . . .
OK, now praise the Lord and pass the pork (!)
Git-damn Swampyankee
If you ain’t got a way with words I don’t know sheet.
You need a job like that Frank Rich. You know, the one who writes for the NY Times and comments of stuff that occurs at the neXus of culture and politics? Yeah, that one….
What’s really creepy about this story is the sum of it’s parts. We have a .50 cal revolver in the hands of a middle schooler (how accurate is that?), a canned hunt where a domestic pig named Fred is run down for three hours, a father who uses this experience as a fundamentalist-dominion-christian-rite-of-passage, and a kid who honestly beleives that this media circus will be his springboard to a Hollywood career. For Fred and Jamison, c’est dommage!
Here’s an excerpt from Good, Good Pig, a really good, good book about a vegetarian naturalist (and writer, she wrote a book about tigers in the Sunderbans a few years back) and her Jewish husband who raised another huge pig…
http://www.authorwire.com/s/s_excerpt.html
Rest in peace, Fred. Pulled pork, anyone? (Next weekend is the Big Apple BBQ Block Party. Can’t wait.)
Now that we know the meat won’t be so gamey, anyone got a Weber big enough to cook that thing?
Talk about large animals . . . http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0330/csmimg/p18a.jpg“>large animals
That wasn’t a wild pig. It was a farm pig. His name was Fred.
Fare thee well, Fred.
(Pass the bacon.)
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/06/01/0601monsterpig.html
Oh, I believe you, CG. You don’t know how many times I’ve slapped myself mentally for posting here without previewing . . . last week’s gem was “olofactory”, I think. Oy. Cringe-inducing, for a good speller . . . .lousy typist . . .
Carolina:
We’re only polysyllabic AFTER the morning cappuccino (which we’ve learned not to drink while reading the blog, in case Bourdain or one of our funnier brethren is posting).
Three work keyboards later . . . and counting . . .
You forgot the spellchecker skill that follows the last cup of the night. I swear I enunciate better than I spell.
That thing was huge! I am just glad Ruhlman’s readers are not a bunch of loons on a witch hunt for a little boy whose father likely learned to hunt from his father who learned hunting from his father and so on! Again, quality and maturity attracts quality and maturity! Well done my classy cohorts! Well done. Leave the personal attacks for folks who can’t express themselves with polysylabic words! I am pleased to be a part of discussions that display the graciousness seen here.
Yes, I am feeling overly positive today…better go read Bourdain to return to my usual sour self
Itsa pun AND a palindrome!
“Go hang a salami–I’m a lasagna hog”
This is going to get funny pretty soon. The state of Alabama is invesigating right now, as they wonder how a hug pig like this could be so *unlucky* as to mysteriously end up in a 150 acre pen at a shooting-plantation in Alabama. Looks like some laws and regulations were broken. Hard cash that this pig was not 1,000 pounds too; 700 pounds is closer to the truth.
Nothing wrong with hunting pig, by the way — an environmental requirement in some states like Texas, California and Hawaii. Let’s just do it right, and a canned hunt of a slop-trough fed pig isn’t right.
In French, wild pig is “sanglier”.
PBurns
There’s a dissection of the story from a hunter here:
http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2007/05/hogzilla-ii-terrific-hunting-story-or.html
It all gets sadder than just the fact that it was a canned hunt with a weapon that packed more machismo than real effectiveness.
I’m no fan of the people ripping into the kid, but calling this “hunting” is pretty disingenuous.
Eat:
Yep, I got that that was a big ol’ revolver, not an automatic – I was just saying imagine if people WERE running around the woods with a big ol’ Glock or whatever, trying to blast the crap out of Bambi, Thumper, etc. (I don’t doubt someone has done just that – somewhere – and that idea is just as repugnant as little Larry trying to off Monster Pig with a revolver for three hours, instead of dropping Piggy quicker with a shot from a high-powered hunting rifle.)
And, yeah – hunting on a game ranch is pretty repulsive, no matter how big the freaking game is.
Interesting how, among all the negative posts on monsterpig.com attacking the boy, there were a few absolutely vicious ones basically screaming in outrage how “as a Christian,” this boy could rationalize hunting down this pig. It’s amazing how people go totally off the rails, safely behind the anonymity of the the Internet, and not only screech a lot of vitriol, but manage to do so, either irrelevantly or off-topic. I’m not pro-hunting (recreationally) myself and I certainly don’t support “canned” hunts, but I don’t think an 11 year-old boy deserves this kind of verbal knouting.
If that boy would have used a hunting rifle and brought down this animal with one shot, he most likely would not have gotten so much hatred thrown his way. The fact that he used a handgun and repeatedly shot this pig causing it to die in agony, this is what got people so worked up. I am not against hunting for recreation, but there are limits.
Good point, Mr. K. NO ONE should be hunting with hand guns, let alone an 11 year-old. Nothing like, say, an AUTOMATIC hand gun in the woods – a Glock for Bambi. Jeeez.
This has all left me with a very SOWer taste in my mouth, oh well, on to PIGger and better things, kisses and HOGS to you all…
I’m not against hunting, but am against undue pain and suffering.
Reading the article, I am amazed that the boy continued to track and fire at the hog putting 8 shots over 3 hours.
What I don’t understand is why he didn’t use a high powered rifle to finish the job immediately. The adults had rifles to “protect” the boy in case the hog came back and charged.
This was on a game ranch. Maybe the tracking and “challenge” of taking something this big with a handgun is part of the fun. I’ll stick with plinking.
BTW… the gun was a big 50 cal revolver not an auto-loader.
Now the news wires are reporting that the story might be fake (or the boar itself):
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/some-skeptical-of-giant-hog-story/20070525195709990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
Dearest Jen, Skawt and Claudia,
I’ve done a bit of fact checking:
http://polkacide.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taint_%28slang%29
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=taint
1. taint:
The area between the nutsack and asshole that prevent a man from shitting on his nuts. See “durf”.
If it wasn’t for the taint, my nuts would reek of poo!
BTW: Please excuse my ignorance — as you know, I am a pastry chef — but are you SURE it’s a boy hog and not a girl hog?
-Chef Suzy
PS: Actually, according to that thar dictionary, there t’aint no difference:
2. taint:
The part of a woman that allows her to be picked up like a six pack
Caveman: ugh, ugh, me no liek picking her up this way, UG pick her up by
All of this is just part of the bigger government conspiracy to distract the public from the REAL news:
“Jerry Falwell Autopsy Shows “Viagra overdose” as Cause of Death”
It might look like a jackalope…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackalope
http://www.sudftw.com/jackcon.htm
…but it’s actually a “kissin’ cousin” kin to the official state mascot of Arizona; the Javalina…
BTW: Didja see the kid on CNN?:
http://video.aol.com/video/boy-talks-about-shooting-hog/1916323
“We’ve got sausage, a lot of sausage,” said Stone, who has been hunting since he was 5 years old…
If you watch the video, they say
“…it’s at the taxidermist right now…”.
http://www.jackalopejunction.com/Taxidermy_Fox,.html
And, when questioned about the remarkable cooincidence with this event and the filming of the movie “Hogzilla” (apparently going on nearby — cause the kid/dad know all about it…), the kid says:
“..it’s always been my dream to be an actor…
tess:
Boar taint? Tony will eat that.
“The taint? That’s the best part after the cheeks.” – Anthony Bourdain.
Whats all this then about “chocolate truffles?”
AHHHH!!! So lovely to be back. I’ve been away…
So what is all this about “…saving the nuts for Tony”?
“ruhlman:
How much do you think it’ll cost us to get Tony to eat the butthole out of that thing?”
Posted by: Skawt | May 26, 2007 at 02:37 PM
OH! My GOODNESS! What turned the tide around here?
You know I’m in %^)…
“Boar taint? Tony will eat that.
“The taint? That’s the best part after the cheeks.” – Anthony Bourdain.”
Posted by: Skawt | May 29, 2007 at 12:44 PM
Dear SKAWT,
In fact, I will mortgage my house to watch THAT…and I live near San Francisco, where the eating of these particular variety meats is commonplace!
It seems like it was such a short time ago when one would have risked being practically run off this site for even suggesting that the exalted Bourdain was a taint eating butthole licker…
“…I love that he thinks RUHLMAN is french but that BOURDAIN is not?!?!? That pig looks lik Jabba the Hut.”
Posted by: Mr_J | May 26, 2007 at 01:27 PM
Mr_J -
Ya know, I thought it was just me, but my JEWDAR goes crazy every time I see him.
Bourdain, I mean…
Pfffft! An that “Zimmern” whats-his-face couldn’t even sniff a durian…
Anonymity seems to arouse the courage to speak out for some people. Of course, anonymity on the internet isn’t as anonymous as some people seem to think. Happy trails!
OK, Michael , let me get this straight -
for the guanciale, for a 2 pound pork jowl, it’s 1/2 cup kosher salt, 1/3 cup sugar, 2 cloves garlic, 15 black peppercorns, and 1 large bunch of thyme. . . and for Monster Pig, I need . . . wait . . . how much freaking garlic did you say? a couple of HEADS?!!! Man, let go hack down an armlpoad of thyme while I’m at it . . .
Wow. I just read the negative comments on monsterpig. There are some serious class issues on display in those posts.
In reading some of those negative comments, I find myself just wanting to scream, “Where do you think those pork chops you had for dinner come from? The fucking pork chop tree?”
Ah well… As impressive as the size of that beast is, I also think it’s equally impressive (and pretty damn scary) that an 11-year-old is packing a fifty-caliber handgun.
sent the pic to a friend who’s a hunter and a great chef and instructor and he makes a point a lot of folks don’ think about–how to preserve all that hot meat.
Chef Dan writes:
“Biggest one I saw in the wild was over 300# but there are many examples of pigs in 500-600# range on game ranches. I think this picture could be real. Would like to track the story and see pictures of it being butchered. Just the body mass would lead me to believe that some of the meat would spoil before they cooled it down. I don’t want any sausage from that one.”
But the bacon, imagine the size of the bacon…
What a lovely fantasy trip down charcuterie lane, Mr. Del Grosso.
Somehow it puts me in mind of a friend who, after realizing his young daughter had just watched him kill a deer, asked if she understood. Her pragmatic reply: “Yes, it used to be a deer and now it’s meat.”
Porkocide?
From what I’ve read, this hog was on a game farm. Eight shots with a revolver (game hunting with a revolver?) over a three hour rundown suggests that the record was far more important than the quality of the bacon. Too bad. I really hate to see good pork go to waste.
Wait. Hold on — I thought that boar meat can’t be eaten because the boar taint would make it smell funkier than a pair of dirty undershorts. Is there a way to get rid of it that I haven’t heard of?
I read the comments on the monsterpig website. For people who disapprove of killing, they sure know how to skewer an 11 year old boy.
Just in time for Memorial Day cookouts! Low and slow might mean nobody eats until the 4th of July, though.
Between the butcher, the taxidermist, and the museum that’s sure to follow, this ought to be quite a boost to the local economy. That, and the local gators are uttering a collective sigh of relief.
Maybe it’s just ME…but that thing sure looks nasty!!!
Cela ????
I am in Paris right now and everybody who has seen picture sighs. What is interesting is hearing the different things said for what it would first be used for, first food which comes to mind.
Me:
Sausauge flavored with hot paprika, moutard seeds and fennel seeds.
and to snack on some spec or gwachali (sp)
If only the story about the kid reading Ruhlman were true. But it’s a testament to what a strange people we are in the South that I DID believe it until I saw the link to the real story.
Or a testament to how incredibly gullible I am . . . .
So much lovely bacon. Mm.
Blonde – c’est triste, non, si le pere ne les aime pas!!
I’m at a loss as to how to describe the picture:
Porcinicide?
Boaricide?
Grandeeporkadeathicide??
Harleymortosis??
Porkadeathaphobia (that’s the fear of a pig dying…its not in the DSM yet but it will be soon, rumor has it)
Anybody???
Sweet fancy moses, that thing is ginormous. Only in Alabama… only in Alabama. (well, maybe Pennsylvania….)
LOL
Rice, black beans, fried bananas, carmelized onions, coconut smoothie, some fresh mango, STAT!!!!
And now, the official translation into french, so Ruhlman can understand it in his native language:
Rice, black beans, fried bananas, carmelized onions, coconut smoothie, some fresh mango, STAT!!
The Bourdain translation:
All the stuff you won’t need since you’ll only be eating the face and the hooves after they’ve been sauced with a foie gras cream sauce!
or
Moi, j’insiste d’avoir the visage et rien d’autre!! D’accord, mais aussi les pieds (je les adore aussi!) mais rien d’autre. Diiiiiiiiiit donc, est-ce qu’il ya un peut de sauce du fois??? Juste un peut?? Pour moi?? Oui?? Non??? Allo??? Beuhler?? Beuhler??? Beuhler????
je pense que le père n’a jamais mangé un baquette avec le camembert. peut-être il devrait essayer le poutine?
I love that he thinks RUHLMAN is french but that BOURDAIN is not?!?!? That pig looks lik Jabba the Hut.
We’re gonna need a bigger vehicle here – either that or turn that hog into a Harley
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/lf/052507porschegrill
ruhlman:
How much do you think it’ll cost us to get Tony to eat the butthole out of that thing?
Ha! That’s hilarious… I especially love that Ruhlman is French.
imagine the prosciutto!
How much pappardelle will that thing sauce?
Ho-ly sh!@ that is one big pig.