A hunter shot a wild pig so large its carcass appeared fake or something out of the "Lord of the Rings" in the glory shot taken after the kill, according to a report by Yahoo. The black-furred creature weighed 500 pounds.
For several years, the giant hog existed only as video legend in the backwoods of east North Carolina. It'd been caught on a trail camera, but never seen live until 34 year-old Jeff Webb spotted it at the White Oak Ran Hunting Club on Feb. 28. He put it down with a single shot from a .308 caliber rifle at a distance of 50 feet.
"It was very surreal," Webb 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.'"
Though he's a veteran of the hunt, Webb was in awe of the beast's physicality.
"The Mohawk down the back, the tusks really lean, the muscular big front end," Webb said. "This is far from a domesticated docile pig that we're used to."
Wild boars normally weigh somewhere between 100 and 200 pounds in the southeastern part of the United States, where they are considered an invasive species, according to Yahoo. They negatively impact their surroundings by uprooting lands, eating crops, carrying diseases, destroying the habitats of amphibians and endangered plants, and eating so voraciously as to steal the food sources of other animals, according to PBS.
Webb had actually shot down a pig of similar size and posted it on his wall. For this one he has more natural intentions.
"We're not going to waste anything," Webb said. "That pig will provide food for me and my family for a good year."
For the story on the largest wild boar ever killed (800 pounds!), proceed to this NBC article.
