Hunting feral hogs from the air by state permitted helicopter companies has been legal in Texas. But HB 716 now allows anyone with a hunting license to load into a helicopter, and zoom out to the hunt. No training is required.
Someone had better come up with some tng for both nunters and pilot because I fear there will be more accidents. In the last two years there have been two accidents in Frio county alone. One both hunter and pilot were killed and the other the chopper hit a power line and both pilot and shooter were severly burned.It is easy to get caught up in fast pace of the shoot and make mistakes. No pig is worth a crash. Choppers do an excellent job of reducing the population but I fear we might be creating a super race of wild hogs.
Has anyone tried an ultralight? Low, slow and MUCH cheaper to operate than a helicopter. And yes, there are two-seaters.
Tom
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"Learn to ride hard, shoot straight, dance well and so live that you can - if necessary - look any man in the eye and tell him to go to hell!" US Cavalry Manual 1923
Posts: 93 | Location: NE Ohio | Registered: 08 August 2009
duckman is spot on--I spent a career in the green uniform flying 'choppers, and low and slow is a recipe for disaster. No time to react, and no airspeed to trade for altitude.
An old pilot, not a bold pilot, aka "the pig murdering fool"
Expense is one issue, the other is that the hunt is limited to one property, can't just fly off across the country side poppin' pigs. Hogs qill just migrate on to the properties that either don't allow the copters or are too small.
Hogs qill just migrate on to the properties that either don't allow the copters or are too small.
You hit the nail on the head!! I have been hunting behind chopper shoots with dogs for the last six or seven years and have not had any problem catching hogs.I believe that the hogs will leave or hide if they can when they hear a chopper if they have been shot at before.Just as a side note, I had a rancher ask me to fly over a 100 acre high fence pasture and count the bucks in there. After the flight was over we had counted 2 bucks and he just laughed and told us there were 15 bucks in the pasture.When you are up there it looks like you can see everything but you can't.When the animals get used to the chopper the less you see.
