I'm not against hunting, but I don't see why anyone would kill such a "rare" animal & be proud of it. The keyword is "RARE"
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PIG SOOOOOOOOOOOIEEEEEEEEEE I attend the University of Arkansas and, as I'm sure many of you know, our mascot is a Razorback. From what I understand, razorbacks are extinct everywhere except the Australian Outback. I think the live mascot that we use is a Russian boar. That thing is HUGE. They carry it around in this big ass cage that is made into a trailer on the back of a truck. Not nearly the size of this animal, but after seeing our mascot up close, I have no doubt that a hog could get this big.
I don't think your line of thinking is all that right. Some animals are just freaks. When we drafted Yao, did you ask yourself "what the hell did he eat to get that big?"
First of all, as someone else said, they aren't rare animals for one thing. I know, I know, you're thinking that one this big is rare..... There are a lot of hogs that are massive. It is kind of like big deer. Do you know why all of the deer in Texas are small for the most part? People kill all of the big ones (unless you're on a game managed ranch). It is the joy and success of getting a world record/monster. Who cares if that pig lives on? Not many people do.
No, because I already knew. His Moms chinese soup and big macs. a hogs stomachs probably not like a sharks but if it was it'd be cool to open it up and see whats in it.
Razorbacks aren't actually a separate species. Razorback is just a nickname for wild boars. So you go to Arkansas huh? When is UA going to start playing Arkansas State in sports? LOL! I go to A-State and that is all you hear about around here is how Arkansas is the only state with at least 2 DI football schools that don't play each other or how Broyles is scared to play an in-state school. Personally, I would like the schools to play each other but I realize A-State would get smashed every outing.
I'm guessing - if this was indeed on a managed, high-fenced, "game farm" - that there were ample feeders around with wildlife feed (pellets, high in protein & minerals & such) or less likely corn (less nutritional value, simple carbs). I'm sure he gorged on that. Being the south, I'm guessing there were also a ton of acorns, pecans, etc.... For the record: raising wildlife like livestock sucks, and trophy hunting sucks, imo.
The animal is not rare, the size of the animal may be but it is definitely not rare. As somebody already stated, wild boars are an introduced and invasive species. Hogs tear up habitat and food supplies for native wildlife. They eat anything in their path and anything they can catch. They tear up vegetation, structures, and destroy ground-dwelling and nesting animals such as turkeys and killdeers. Wild boars are nothing more than feral domesticated pigs as well. If you released a domesticated pig in the wild in a few months it would grow the hair and tusks seen on wild boars. Tusks are cut in domesticated pigs for safety reasons and nobody is quite sure why they grow hair when released wildly. Domesticated pigs commonly reach weight of over 1,000 pounds so if you want to see one of these huge animals go to a pig farm. People also don't realize that state agencies usually promote the unlimited hunting. Here in Arkansas there is usually always some type of hunting season open except for 2-3 months out of the year (May-June. So what does the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission do? Feral pigs can be hunted in unlimited numbers during any hunting season and if they are found on private land then they can be hunted anytime. Here the AGFC describes feral pigs and the problems they cause: http://www.agfc.com/hunting/feral_hogs.aspx
Actually, you see the small ones. The big ones get that way from not being seen. Most large deer die naturally, not from being shot by hunters. Texas hunters account for very little of the total popualtion of deer or hogs killed. I've heard between 3 & 4% per year. There are more deer in Texas than most people realize. In most places, there are WAY too many deer. Same with hogs.
Your numbers are about 4 times too low. Here in Arkansas the deer herd population is about 1,000,000 animals. On average, about 110,000 deer are harvested through hunting. That's an 11% take from the population. Texas has a herd of about 4,000,000 animals and an average of 480,000 deer harvested through hunting each season. Texas is about the same as Arkansas with about 12% of the annual deer population being harvested from hunting. http://wildlife.tamu.edu/publications/A068.PDF
Yes, I knew that about the razorback. A-State is DI? I didn't realize they'd even moved up to a four year university.
Sry for the thread hijack, In all seriousness, Pun, I'm not originally from Arkansas. I moved to the state when I started undergrad at UCA in Conway. Now I'm attending law school in Fayetteville. I understand the argument that everyone else does it (the DI schools playing each other), but I think Arkansas/A State is a unique case. If anything, don't be mad at Frank Broyles, be upset with the state legislature. In a lot of other states (i think South Carolina is an example), the state legislature has made it law that the schools must play each other. This is why you even see Clemson and South Carolina playing the in state D-IAA schools all the time. I very seriously doubt you'd see those same teams on the schedule all the time if it wasn't mandated by law. Look at it from Broyles' perspective, why the hell would you play A-State? I'm positive A-State would demand a home and home, requiring the U of A to give up a big home game, losing millions of dollars in revenue, to go play in a small ****-box of a stadium every other year. Furthermore, as I'm sure you know, it's a no-win situation for the Hogs. If they ever lose, it's big news everywhere, but a win doesn't even register as a blip on the radar. Going back to the argument regarding all other in-state schools playing each other, generally they are all a lot more even in stature than Arkansas/Arkansas State. Not to diss on your school, but there is a really big argument that you guys shouldn't even be in DI-A, but rather a DI-AA football school. I know things have turned around in recent years, but the team has never been competitive year in, year out, and IIRC, the football team was losing so much money at one point, A-State officials were having to illegally fund the program (I could be wrong about this -- i don't mean taking illegal funds, but rather operating in huge amounts of debt that violated state law). I don't think you can find another state where the two DI-A schools, not in the same conference, have such a wide discrepency the quality of their football programs. I have a hunch that in a few years, fans of my alma mater, the University of Central Arkansas, will be hurling the same charges at A-State: that they're scared to play them.
It has actually tried to be passed several times through legislature but has failed. Many people would be surprised at the type of pull Broyles has there too. He has played a role in getting those types of laws turned down and several years ago tried to take Razorback sports from the Little Rock area by moving all Razorback home games to Fayetteville although a few each year are played in Little Rock. A compromise was reached though and now only one game per year is required in Little Rock. Broyles has some major pull down there in the capitol too. I can understand that but as I said above the Razorbacks are required to play one game in Little Rock per year. Why can that one game not be against Arkansas State University? Little Rock is about 2 hours from both schools, no revenue would be lost because the stadium and site would remain the same, and IIRC Little Rock home games are guaranteed sell outs for the Hogs. I always laugh when people say it's a no win situation for the Hogs if they ever play A-State because if they win it is no big deal but if they lose it will be all over the place. Have you seen UA's schedule this year? Troy, North Texas, and Florida International are scheduled games and guess what conference they are in? The Sun Belt, just like Arkansas State. Oh, they also have D-II Tennessee-Chattanooga. You know what, they have probably played every Sun Belt team except A-State over the past several years. There really is no excuse there. Hey, I don't care if you dis A-State, I am not a big fan of the school or its athletics either but I still think they should play. A-State is not too bad in D-I, hell out of the 100+ schools in D-I sports there are probably a lot more than just A-State that could move down a notch. Yeah there are other discrepancies as well. One I will point out is Florida International - Miami. They play each other every year or have begun doing so and please dont tell me you don't see a bigger one there. UCA and and A-State played each other just a few years ago in football.
Pun, the Hogs are not "required" to play any games in Little Rock. They do so as a recruiting tool for the Central Arkansas area. I'll bet you money when their contract with WMS is up, they won't renew it. They're about to move the LSU game to Fayetteville and give LR another crap game. The Hogs would lose money because they currently keep all/vast majority of the sales from tickets. You don't think Arkansas State would demand an equal share of ticket sales? You guys played UCA a few years ago but refused to reschedule them when they almost beat you guys as a DII school at your place. Now that they are DI-AA, there's no way they'll play them in a home and home. Regarding you say it's a no win for the Hogs to play those other Sun Belt schools. It is a win situation for the Hogs in this sense: all of those are home games and they get to keep all of the money except what they pay those schools to come to LR/Fayetteville. Again, I think you're delusional if you think A-State would agree to anything other than a home and home or an equal share of the gate at Little Rock. I'm not adverse to someone saying that the two schools should play each other because it is "the right thing to do," but there's no benefit at all to U of Arkansas. None.
