...the last line is pertinent!


USA : USA: Bill to encourage hunting hogs from helicopters advances in Texas House
on 2009/5/16 8:29:18 (4 reads)

AUSTIN – A bill to encourage more hunting of feral hogs from helicopters drew several Democrats' scorn but advanced in the House late Thursday.

Rep. Sid Miller, R-Stephenville, said his bill would allow landowners to lease their property to hunters using helicopters to thin the estimated 2 million feral hogs causing havoc in virtually every county.

Currently, landowners can only rent helicopters and do their own shooting, but Miller's "pork-chopper" bill would let them sell the rights.

"The problem continues to grow and ... it is out of hand," he said.

The House tentatively approved the bill on a voice vote, and it could come up for a final vote as early as today.

Miller's original bill would have changed sport-hunting sections of current law. But he rewrote it at the last minute to make transfers of helicopter hog-hunting rights acceptable in a subchapter devoted to hunting and fishing licenses for scientific research.

The new language says the hogs have to be "depredating" – meaning plundering or pillaging, presumably crops. But Rep. Kristi Thibaut, D-Houston, complained that Miller had changed nothing. She tried unsuccessfully to limit the hunting-rights transfers to small rural counties.

Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, offered an amendment to prohibit price-gouging by landowners selling their rights.

Saying he understood the need to control the hog population, Lucio said: "What I don't agree with is selling for a profit ... hunts from a helicopter. That in my mind is not the traditional hunting that I grew up with."

Georgetown Republican Rep. Dan Gattis, shot back: "We're not looking for population control, we're looking for population eradication."

Lucio replied, "Call it what it is, it's sport hunting from a helicopter."

The House brushed away his proposal, 97-32.

http://www.dallasnews.com/shar...dition2.4c9eccc.html

quote:

Call it what it is, it's sport hunting from a helicopter."

No its control shooting from a helicopter.

Sounds like fun too

it realy is great fun you should try it if you get a chance.

Hog shooting from a helicopter on private land ? knock yourselves out guys have fun

Little hint to that house if you want eradication don't make it a business it has the opposite effect people keep the hogs because you just started making money out of them. If you want eradication just get a non profit outfiy to shoot them all. When numbers get down low use trackinh collars, hogs with tracking collars will make it easy to find the hogs when you have just about shot them all poison the survivors. That might not sit well with some since govt has made it a fun business.

Hogs are a huge problem. I have personally seen groups of over 100 come to an individual feeder. They are wrecking the properties.

If thats the case a simple trap would have the lot in a few nights

We are watching this locally we do have a feral pig problem here in texas but the people at the parks & wildlife do not seem ready to deal with it. In the county I live in there are plenty of feral pigs but most of the land is privately owned and access is a problem Most of the lakes in our area were built by the army corps of engineers for flood control and are under their control any hunting is controlled by them Lake Lavon which is 3-4 miles from my home is going to issue 8 permits - archery only- that shows how much they want to thin them down -they are a problem state wide despite all the hunting and trapping that goes on. they are still classified as a non game animal and are not subject to bag limits or seasons -they are hard on the farmers - a little further east they raise melons/ cantalopes and other vegetables and the pig damage is severe. i guess when they start coming into the metro area then they will do something.