Reclaiming Hoaxzilla

June 7, 2007 - Last month, an 11-year-old Alabama boy made headlines across the globe when he felled a giant hog on a hunting reserve. Photos swept the Internet, and Jamison Stone’s trophy was dubbed Monster Pig and Hogzilla II (the original Hogzilla, killed in Georgia in 1994, weighed about 1,000 pounds). But animal-rights activists, hunting purists and even a few Photoshop aficionados began voicing doubts about the story, suggesting the photograph was a hoax or that the big pig was less wild, huge and terrifying than its nicknames implied. In fact, the hog was very real and very big, but it wasn’t feral, as the hunter originally believed. NEWSWEEK’s Kendyl Salcito caught up with Jamison and his father, now in their 14th minute of fame.