Helicopter Hunting For Feral Hogs

[jamaldog87]

from F&S .com http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/field-notes/2011/08/helicopter-hunting-feral-hogs-begins-tx-thursday?cmpid=enews083111
 
what do you think about the idea of aerial guning hogs? to me all that missing is a Dillon Aerospace Minigun or a general purpose machine gun.

[markc]

I haved mixed feelings about the practice. While I would welcome any increase in the number of hogs shot, I have reservations regarding the safety of the practice.  From video I've seen of helicopter hog shooting, there are more misses than hits, and not too many hogs are actually be taken that way that can not already be taken by trapping or with dogs if there was an effort pushed in those two directions.  My largest trap catch to date was 22 hogs in one catch. 
 
Another concern is the respect of private property boundaries.  When flying fast after a hog with shots going off into rocky ground, who is going to be keeping track of fence lines and private properties?  where are the missed shots going when a rock is struck?
 
Is there going to be a restriction in this practice during general whitetail or turkey seasons?  Nothing would be more frustrating than to have your deer or turkey hunt ruined by a wealthy guy who has hired a helicopter pilot flying around in circles low over the ground chasing hogs across the road from your privately owned land purchased with your hard earned money. 
 
On large properties, perhaps it can be done, sold as a hunt to wealthy businessmen, without disturbing neighbors.   When I go to my property in the hill country, I enjoy the peace and quiet.  The last thing I want or will tolerate is a low flying helicopter crossing my land, and no shots had better be fired that strike anything within the surveyed boundaries of my land without my permission.   The trophey hog fee they would be paying me should discourage any future flights with shots over my place. 
 
 

[jamaldog87]

something else to think about. I read swat magazine at work(their is a articles  this month is about  a LEO class of  aerial gunning/snipering)  and something i have read and hear about is that if you do shoot from a helicopter you need a noveske flash suppressor or silencer because there is a backblast inside the chopper. in fact the class Equipment List says flash suppressor or silencer required for helo operations.
 
i went to the website http://www.helicopterhuntingsafety.com/hog-hunting.html and it's not really hunting, it's playing call of duty with pigs. what got me was this " Our helicopters are flown by a highly experienced pilot and the gunner utilizes a .223 caliber, AR-15 semi-automatic rifle with 30 round magazines, from the passenger side (right or left depending on the aircraft type). This seating position, combined with the low-recoil, low-noise and low-weight of the rifle provide the perfect platform for a successful hunt. "    there is no way i would use a ar-15 in .223 for hog hunt(unless i am snipering).

[Silvertp]

Shooting out of a helicopter is "shooting".  No way is that hunting.  Call it hawg control or whatever but not hunting.

Silvertp

[RangerRiz]

The original purpose of this type of hunting was population controll. It is apparently affective. It relay can only  be done right on very large tracts of land. I would be worried if my neighbor with 12 acres wanted to do it. Some jerk with alto of money and no sense will rune it.
 The AR-15 is the perfect firearm to use, but if I were ever to do it I would use rapid expanding bullits. They would limit ricochet. From my readings they are trying to get as many down as possable. It is a job and some people do not have the stomach for it.
As for this being hunting or not, is up you your personal views. Just because you don't like it does not make it wrong. I would not agree with this kind of hunting where it is not needed or for a species that is is not needed for. I for one would love the opportunity to do it. That type of experience is hard to come by.
 
Ranger

[Silvertp]

Even a pig deserves to be taken as cleanly as possible.  I can only imagine given a moving pig and a moving helo, that there are more than a few hogs that get hit in non-vital locations.  Are these hunters landing to search for signs of a wounded animal? 

100% follow up on game animals, even game that don't react as if  they were hit seems the reasonable and responsible thing to me.

Of course everyone draws their own line...I used to shoot rats at a dump and really didn't care if they ran away with a 22 slug thru them or not.

Silvertp

[chutesnreloads]

That's just it with the line....These hogs are NOT game animals....think of them as very large rats.

[markc]

I saw some video of this being done, prior to passage of the law, and the gun being used was a shotgun.  I am not sure if they used buckshot or slugs, or what, but it wasn't an AR in that particular video.

[RangerRiz]

Chutes hit the nail on the head. Hunting is the persiut of animals for the perpose of killing them. There is a need to do this in this manner in Tx. Can you imagine thousands of acres covered in hogs. I am not going to say that I would not enjoy shooting that many hogs or that doing it from a helo would not e a thrill. However; I would not hunt in this manner for a trophy boar in a state where they are not over run. With the need to kill that many hogs there is not enough need for that much meat or the ability to process it all.
I have a cousin that was a farm manager and it was his responsibility to keep the wild hogs thinned out on the farm. He killed as many as 6-9 hogs a day. They gave hogs to every one they knew and to the migrant workers then they just had to pile them up on the back side of the farm for buzzard food. The hogs need to go and doing his job did not make him immoral. It just needed done.
I agree that it would be nice to follow up each animal but this type of culling is about economy. I believe that the impact to humans out weighs the slight belimish it might place on my hunting ethics. At $600 an hour I dont thank it will be ding it any soon.

[markc]

RangerRiz you reminded me of my own experience trapping hogs. A few years back I was running a large round trap near my home. I had a list of folks from church and work that wanted "any extra hogs."   Of course what they meant was they wanted any that had already been butchered and was nicely wrapped in butcher paper and frozen solid.   I would check the trap and call the number of folks off my list as I had hogs for.  I would bring them a nicely dead and field dressed hog packed in ice, but they would be responsible for the butchering.
 
It quickly became, a "thanks, but no thanks situation".  My last catch numbered 22 hogs of various sizes.  My wife and I caught over 60 hogs on that 138 acres in the first few months of the year. We ended up having to shoot and leave many hogs.  In a trap it is easy to make a quick kill shot to the head, unlike hanging out the side of a helicopter.
 
We no longer run traps, at least not right now. 

[RangerRiz]

Markc
 
 I agree trapping would be great and  I don't have the numbers to back up my assumption but I bet the helos are the most economical solution in this situation. Again I don't like to see good animals go to waste, but is it is as bad in Texas as is being touted then the ends justified the means. My father lives in south west Florida and he told me the other night that it is getting real bad around him. Around him they are trying to get rid of them any possable.