News outlets across the nation are scrambling to interview a hunter from North Carolina who brought down an 8-foot long, 500-pound wild pig in Bertie County last month.
"Channel 9 [On Your Side] was actually the first to break it news-wise," said hunter Jett Webb, Channel 9 station WNCT-TV reported. "And from there, it just spun up out of control, to say the least...I've been contacted by CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC.
"I'm just kind of taken back by it just being a country boy from ENC trying to put a little meat in his freezer."
Webb, a veteran hunter from Conetoe, came across the massive boar near the Indian Woods. The boar was first seen on trail cameras several years ago. Local hunters have been trying to bring it down ever since.
"It was very surreal," Webb told Channel 9. "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."
Webb brought the beast down with his .308 caliber rifle.
"The Mohawk down the back, the tusks really lean, the muscular big front end. This is far from a domesticated docile pig that we're used to," Webb told Channel 9.
The boar roamed on land that was leased by the White Oak Ranch Hunting Club. Mike Mansell, the club's president, said although a boar of that size is rare, wild boars are increasing in population in the area.
"They're a species that is massive," Mansell told Channel 9. He estimates the population is doubling every year. "Once you have them, you're not going to get rid of them. They just continue to multiply."
Webb said he decided to harvest the boar's meat for food.
"We're not going to waste anything," Webb told Channel 9. "So that pig will provide food for me and my family for a good year."
