Guns, Bows, Shooting Sports, and Hunting Heli Hog'in Texas style

[p-Bar]

http://vimeo.com/21181307

 

[BIGNASTY]

While I understand the problem with them and the need for the eradication of them, what becomes of the carcass's does someone pick them up or are they just food for Yotes and what ever other predator will consume them? Seems like a big chance of some kind of disease starting if just left to rot?

Funny that they mention Calif in this, the hunting of Hogs in Calif has become the leader in game hunting, I have gone hog hunting in Calif around King City I found that they were actually pretty good eating because of the crops that they fed in. The problem that was, One it was a pretty good drive to go hog hunting, two the cost factor was pretty high, when the farmers found out that people would pay for this hunting the supplemental income was not bad.

I thought about a DIY hunt there are several places that a guy can do this at least in Calif, but the terrain was some of the most inhospitable seen, even with that the access to them were not very good, with the amount of hunters that tried to hunt the place it became pretty dangerous !!! Bottom line was it was cheaper to raise a hog yourself.


Your Video was pretty cool, I had some flashbacks from it. :-laf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ1qn691Wtc

 

[NIsaacs]

Shooting any animal from an aircraft is bull****!

Nick

 

[HHhuntitall]

Shooting any animal from an aircraft is bull****!

Nick

Sorry, I'm gonna disagree. These creatures are threatening my way of life. My very livelihood. When they can destroy a 150 acres of crops in a few days, even with me shooting several a day, they are a plague. I've lost several crops, costing me more than most people's yearly incomes.... I could buy a brand new helicopter with the money they've cost me in the last year alone. I've killed several dozen since Jan 1st alone, and I'm not dedicating much time to it. If I were to hunt them deliberately several days a week, I could kill several hundred in a month. Time doesn't allow it, as I'm busy fixing fences, waterlines, and craters they've dug. Let alone the other million things that need to be done around here. They've decimated my turkey and quail populations in some places. One ranch I have had over 900 wild turkey on it a few years ago. Now, I'm lucky to see more than a few dozen. I find their broken nests repeatedly while out and about, and all have the same familiar cloven hoof tracks throughout. This problem is escalating, as well. The big scare here is hoof and mouth, or Aphthae epizooticae..... a dangerously infectious virus infection that will spread like mad throughout the Southwest region, mostly at the feet of feral hogs, who hold no boundaries to barb wire fences or river gaps. If you don't think losing a 1/3rd of the US's food production is a major threat, demanding major responses, I don't know what to tell you. It's become a war to protect our way of life, and I have no intentions of losing it.

 

[p-Bar]

This would be some great training for our military ......

 

[NIsaacs]

Thats cool, HH you are free to dis-agree. The video is not cool, and is an insult to Johnny Cash, I doubt he would approve. One thing about it tho, if they keep that up, sooner or later they will crash, Karma at it's best.

Nick

 

[DonFitzwater]

I used to shoot hogs from a helicopter at Matagorda island state park. Those hogs are destroying the environment. Coyotes don't get enough of them through predation to even dent them.

Don't knock it till you try it. It's fun!

 

[JR]

The problem I have with that video is leaving something for dead before it's dead. I wonder how many hogs in that video layed in the field and bled out.
I symptathize for people like Mr H who are directly affected by their infestation, but if your gonna kill somethin kill it don't just maime it and leave it to suffer.

 

[DonFitzwater]

" but if your gonna kill somethin kill it don't just maime it and leave it to suffer. "

Couldn't agree more.

 

[RUSSELL5000]

I don't do a lot of hunting any more; enjoy hunting, just a time issue. This may be unpopular, but I don't agree with some "hunting." I don't think setting out bait barrels for bears, running wolves in helicopters or small planes, and so on and so forth, is hunting. I have also always respected the animal I hunted and made sure that I used it (ate it). I have never hunted an animal I did not consume. A hunter does all realistically possible to avoid suffering of the animal - a clean shot, dropping the animal so that it never knew what hit is the goal (much easier said than done, but the goal nonetheless). My opinion, you are welcome to disagree.

I put mouse traps and rat traps in my basement every fall to eliminate vermin. That is not hunting. The feral hog population has exploded, and I don't think the video is intended to portray hunting; the video portrays another effort to contain the explosion of what has become destructive vermin. I don't like to see the animal suffer or see the carcass left, but this is not a hunting situation; this is a vermin eradication situation. I wish good fortune to those beset by the feral hog problem.

 

[BIGNASTY]

https://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/regula...hunting/general-regulations/means-and-methods

I guess its ok to break the law but only if the law says you can??????? something wrong with this?

If your going to have a law only to make provisions in it to suit your needs then why have any law about 2/3rds of the way down under Aircraft

Aircraft

Aircraft may not be used to hunt any animal or bird unless authorized by the department.


WHAT A JOKE!!! :-laf

Don't like Pigs? Don't say as I blame ya really, but just open a season with no bag limit like they should do on the illegals coming over the fence,

 

[BIGNASTY]

We have a problem with ground squirrels and Prairie dogs eating the wife's garden. Kind of hard to use aircraft for them but sitting on the deck with a couple of beers, lunch and music of your choice.

Royal Order of the Red Mist club meetings each weekend my house during the spring,summer, fall, Bring your own brew, bring a side dish for lunch, Burgers and Dogs will be provided by ME!!! take turns keeping the below from eating the wife's garden from the deck of the house!!! some good times from sun up to sun down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V4zMovx4Rk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suYNNMPue6s

 

[KBurgoyne]

These guys still got nuthin on the Aussies. They poison steaks and drop them from a plane to kill off the wild hogs, and they still cant keep up.

 

[TJJEEPER]

Interesting... Feral hogs are just as bad a Pigeons.
In Northern California they subdivided large acreages into "Ranchos" These were large tracts of land that used to be grazing land and now were gentleman farmers 10 to 20 acre parcels. One is Rancho Tehama. Seems as though the new ranchers liked green and cultivated nice gardens. What was once dry and semi arid was a perfect feeding/breeding ground for the hogs. The population exploded as did the destruction of gardens, fences, and outbuildings. Pets were gored on a regular basis. Problem was, now you have neighbors less than 1/4 mile away and you can't drag out your 30-30 to dispatch them. I left the area before they came to a solution (if they ever did) but to an outsider it seemed funny to me. Mother nature has a way of showing your folly.

I have no problem of blowing these animals away from a copter. I would hope they would pick up the animals. Mother nature will invoke another problem if they don't... Coyotes will explode in population. Yet another problem.

 

[HHhuntitall]

I put mouse traps and rat traps in my basement every fall to eliminate vermin. That is not hunting. The feral hog population has exploded, and I don't think the video is intended to portray hunting; the video portrays another effort to contain the explosion of what has become destructive vermin. I don't like to see the animal suffer or see the carcass left, but this is not a hunting situation; this is a vermin eradication situation. I wish good fortune to those beset by the feral hog problem.

I also believe in not letting them suffer. But again, I feel this is war....... We do strip some meat off of them pretty regular. There is no way we use it all, or could. As for the coyotes eating the hogs.... not so much. They do get a large number of them, but most are eaten by other hogs. When they're hungry, they'll eat anything, including tarps, rope, plastic tubs, bones, and wood. A mature pig can crush cow bones like candy. Seen it, heard it.

As for Texas state laws on aircraft hunting, those only apply to natural wild game species, under regulation by Parks and Wildlife.... Which doesn't include feral hogs, Barbary sheep (aoudad), Ibex, Oryx, or any other non-native species. All these are no bag limit, no closed season. Just like cattle.

We have a problem with ground squirrels and Prairie dogs eating the wife's garden. Kind of hard to use aircraft for them but sitting on the deck with a couple of beers, lunch and music of your choice.

Royal Order of the Red Mist club meetings each weekend my house during the spring,summer, fall, Bring your own brew, bring a side dish for lunch, Burgers and Dogs will be provided by ME!!! take turns keeping the below from eating the wife's garden from the deck of the house!!! some good times from sun up to sun down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V4zMovx4Rk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suYNNMPue6s

Lost two dang good horses from those little boogers digging around. Got a grudge against them, too. The drought here in Texas has limited their populations quite a bit, but when it's raining like normal, they start taking over pastures. Snakes and 'yotes can't keep up with them.....

 

[BIGNASTY]

These guys still got nuthin on the Aussies. They poison steaks and drop them from a plane to kill off the wild hogs, and they still cant keep up.

The use of poison should be banned IMO, its an indiscriminate killer it may or may not kill the intended pray, often as not other animals are the ones that eat the poison or ingest it from eating the animals that were the intended

 

[BIGNASTY]

I would hope they would pick up the animals. Mother nature will invoke another problem if they don't... Coyotes will explode in population. Yet another problem.

Our Yote population is pretty good sized, and sometimes there are problems with them. I agree that Mother Nature will set things right, shes been doing it for Bazzilons of years. We tend to keep the yotes in check, more than not people up here hunt, the big game animals cant be hunted year round. So to appease their need to hunt most turn to predator hunting. My wife's family have lived here for a LONG time, my BIL when he was young used predator hunting to make some fun money in the off season until the likes of the Jane Fonda's of the world didn't like ANYONE to use animal pelts in the making of coats. The price fell out of the fur market and its just a pass time or protection of domestic animals or like us I have had several coats made for the wife and have had fur added to the hoods of many of my parka's. We still have the one's that protest this use, until their precious little poodle dog gets ate while it was out taking a dump :-laf

 

[NIsaacs]

I could buy a brand new helicopter with the money they've cost me in the last year alone. If I were to hunt them deliberately several days a week, I could kill several hundred in a month.

If this was the case (and I am sure it is or you wouldn't say so) at a million dollars a pop, I would think that would buy and maintain a lot of electric fence. Or hire a profesional (ground one) hunter and require that they be picked up and hauled to a central location and bury them. For a $100 bounty each, I would think that would be cheap crop insurance.

If they eat rotten meat and each other I don't think I would want to save the meat or eat them. I never figured a meat eating animal was something I would want to eat. A Bear comes to mind, besides they look like a person when they are skinned, they make my hair stand on end, yuk

Nick

 

[BIGNASTY]

If they eat rotten meat and each other I don't think I would want to save the meat or eat them. I never figured a meat eating animal was something I would want to eat. A Bear comes to mind, besides they look like a person when they are skinned, they make my hair stand on end, yuk

Nick

If this is your thinking then there are some that will eat meat or other living things that you wouldn't think that semi domesticated animals would.

Toss a mouse into the chicken pen and see what happens!! or a garden snake, I use fishing bait (worms, crickets) to give them a change of diet lady bugs from the garden shop, frogs, THEY GO NUTS!!! When we top a chicken for dinner and clean it, the chickens have no problem eating their buddy's innards. And I bet that Chicken nuggets are on most diets. Eggs for breakfast? fried or scrambled?

Domestic hogs will eat chickens, One chicken forgot where it was at and got between the wall and my Sow Sweet Pea, when 500 lbs of hog comes crashing down on the chicken YOU GO IN AND TAKE IT AWAY FROM HER!!! all her little piglets are just as happy about the free chicken nuggets that Mom just landed on. How's that bacon taste now? Pork chops for dinner is it?

NO!! im not going to eat meat that has been dead out in a soybean field for a few days. We dont eat bear, but I have seen dressed and skinned bear. They look like a person to you???

 

[HHhuntitall]

Well, random poisoning isn't very ethical. I've used poison quite a bit before, and it has it's place. Here in Texas, it's HIGHLY regulated, for obvious reasons..... It is required to have a pesticide applicators liscense just to buy it. Typically, the poisons are used in feedlots for birds and around grain mills for rodents. Baiting hogs with meat is, perhaps, a good tactic, if you care to get rid of coyotes, too, but you have to limit what can get ahold of it. Tossing it out of heli isn't responsible, IMO.

As for the cost of damage, figure $9.50 (a bit lower than it was a few back when I actually could have sold the crop) per 100lbs. A 150 acre field would have, in my estimate, produced in the area of 5,000lbs per acre...... That's one field.... Figure a 20% loss on 6300 acres of wheat... the crop sold for $7.15 a bushel, producing $1.4m, averaging 32 bushels per acres.... that average would have been closer to 40bu acre if the hogs hadn't been in it..... Then figure the damage to equipment..... I had one combine that broke a hydrostatic drive when it hit a friggin' crater some big sow dug.... That was $1500 plus my time down and labor to install!! And don't forget this is in a 6 month period, within the same year.... Drought has forced us to forgo planting a lot of our acreage, and the risk of hog damage forces us to rotate it in Cotton and wheat, which is not a bad crop, itself, but the risks expand without the ability to diversify.....

Electric fence is not effective. Hunting, baiting, and trapping are the only effective means of reduction of numbers and prevention of damage. Unfortunately, we stay too busy working and often don't have the time to do what we need. And despite the income, don't forget the exorbitant costs of operations... diesel, fertilizer, labor, parts..... To average 10% income is fantastic.... we usually do closer to 5%.... I've had a large number of people, family and friends, help shoot the boogers, and that only works until the next pack moves in and starts raising.... and in some places, once you kill one or two, they just move to the neighbor a few miles, and rebuild their army.... If that neighbor doesn't do much, they are a breeding ground, and the constant overflow is what we kill.

They are an epidemic, spreading to the very suburbs of our cities.... Every time I go South to the Austin or Houston area, I'll see a huge hog run over on the road..... a short ways down the road, I'll see a car with the front end wiped out!! There is little other way I know to deal with it, except treat like an invading army.... Kill them all, in whatever way, with whatever means necessary.....