Days GON By February 2017

Each month we turn back the clock to see what was being reported in the pages of GON, both 20 and 10 years ago. Here’s a look back at what appeared in GON.

20 Years Ago: February 1997

State Makes No Move To Close December Break: Twenty deer seasons ago, Northern Zone deer hunters had a December break where deer hunting would be closed. However, hunters showed up at January hunting regulations meetings to voice their opinions about removing the December break, which would allow more days to deer hunt. WRD’s Game Management Section was hesitant  to remove the break because that period allowed small-game hunters more of an opportunity to hunt.

The article stated that WRD was also reluctant to add to an already long deer season because of additional pressure on the buck segment of the deer herd in the Northern Zone where bucks were already being heavily hunted.

“Any additional deer hunting in December would have to be balanced by a reduction in deer hunting somewhere else,” said the 1997 Game Management Chief, Todd Holbrook.

Fast forward 20 years and there is no December break and a deer season that goes to the second Sunday in January statewide.

10 Years Ago: February 2007

1,100-lb. Feral Hog Shot In Fayette County: When a 9-foot-long, 1,100-lb. hog was killed in Fayette County 10 years ago, it became a story that spread like wildfire—literally going around the world on the internet and in the media. CNN, Fox-5 News, the local papers, radio stations from Seattle and Los Angeles to Jacksonville, and the Discovery Channel inquired, and even the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) called from London to get the details on a huge hog being touted as a new world heavyweight record.

Bill Coursey was a hit in GON and media outlets all over the world 10 years ago when he killed this 1,100-lb. hog in Fayette County.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have a great hunting story,” said Bill Coursey of Fayetteville, who shot the hog in a neighbor’s yard. “I was just trying to do a favor for a neighbor.”

On Thursday afternoon, Jan. 4, 2007, Bill’s wife and son were driving home in rural Fayette County when they saw the huge black hog standing in a neighbor’s yard. The hog had come out of a field, crossed the road and was munching on water oak acorns. Bill’s wife and son pulled into the neighbor’s driveway for a closer look.

“The man who owns the property told them, ‘If y’all want to shoot this thing, shoot it,’” said Bill.

Bill’s son went home to get Bill, who returned with his Ruger 7mm/08 deer rifle.

“When we came around the corner, it just about blew me away when I saw the hog,” said Bill, a life-long hunter. “It was huge. When we drove up, the hog just looked at me. It was just like the deer around here that have become accustomed to living around people, if you walk out in the yard they will just look at you.”

From 30 or 40 yards away, Bill shot the hog behind the ear with a ballistic-tipped round, and the mammoth hog crashed on the spot.

“After I shot it, it was like a circus around here,” said Bill. “I had the hog hung in a tree, and everybody was coming up with a camera. CNN called, and the New York Times. People I didn’t even know were coming up to take pictures of it.

“Several people told me they had seen the hog, and three others nearly the same size, in the area. Apparently it was running a 3- or 4-mile radius in south Fayette County near Brooks, and it had been seen for years. I had one guy come up and thank me for shooting it. He said he had built a new house and all four hogs had come in and rooted up all his sod.”

The bucket on a backhoe was required to load the hog into a truck. The only scales Bill could find that would handle the weight were truck scales at a Fayette County waste-management transfer station. The truck was weighed with the hog in the bed, then the hog was removed and the truck was weighed again. Bill obtained a video statement from the scale operator and a printout of the weight: 1,100 pounds.

After untold numbers of photos were taken of the hog, and several days passed, Bill cut the head off the hog and preserved it in an old freezer. The rest of the carcass was buried in a nearby field.

“I am not really a hog hunter,” said Bill. “This is the only one I have ever killed. The interest in the hog has amazed me. I even got a call this morning from the BBC in London, that’s when it got unreal. Just getting it into GON was going to be a big deal—I was hoping just to get it in GON.”