Coursey said he had no idea shooting the hog would trigger such fervor.

"I thought I was doing a man a favor," he said. Within days, he was giving interviews to the likes of Georgia Outdoor News, various newspapers, CNN, even BBC Radio in London. "When the BBC called, I thought it was a joke," said Coursey. "I thought it was my buddies from the fire department trying to rag me about this thing, but (the BBC producer) called me at 9:30 at night and they put me on the radio the next morning."

He also soon found himself in the woods with a crew from the Discovery Channel, recreating hunting scenes for a planned television special.

Coursey has even signed autographs for admirers, including a crowd that gathered when he dropped the hog's hide and head off (above) at noted taxidermist Eddie Wilson's shop in Aiken County, South Carolina.