Sign me up. Feral pigs are a pandemic, and even though I already try to do my part in reducing their numbers from the ground, I would gladly jump at the opportunity to pop a few from the sky.

Now this is pest management that tastes GREAT! I imagine there's going to be a lot of HOG ROASTS! Feral or not, I hear they taste just as good as their domestic counterparts! Dibs on the baby backs!

SWEET HD Video on You Tube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGC1tjHCSVE

I agree with aferraro. The proper name for this is culling, not hunting, at least not ethical sport hunting. The Merriam-Webster on line dictionary gives the following definition for CULL:

"2: to reduce or control the size of (as a herd) by removal (as by hunting) of especially weaker animals; also : to hunt or kill (animals) as a means of population control."

Read my blog at http://awildbeastatheart.blogspot.com/

If the landowners would let hunters on their property instead of charging a fee to hunt. There would be hunters who would love the chance to hunt hogs.

I'm not usually crazy about semantic arguments, but in this case I really do wish the focus and terminology would be on eradication and pest control vs. "hunting".

Not sure I'd go for it unless someone else picked up the tab. I have no doubt it would be a memorable experience and exciting as all get out.

I just hope it's effective.

Second question.
Would I do it? (shoot hogs from a 'copter!)
NO!
No. 1 - Don't like heights! I hunt from ground blinds. I'm too old, I don't bounce! ...anymore!! LOL!
No. 2 - I'm too cheap. If I pay THAT much to "play", it WON'T be feral hogs!
No. 3 - LOOKS LIKE A BLAST!!!! HOOK 'EM HORNS and GIG 'EM AGGIES!!!!

Bubba

I bet it would be quiet an experience. I wouldn't lay down that kind of green to to it though. I agree with those above, lets not call this "hunting', it is pest control.

I searched on you tube for some aerial copter hunting and found this SWEET ~ 10 minute vid in HD with this guy shooting a Rock River AR-15 with a sweet EOTech Holographic Sight! Awesome High Definition and looks like a Great Time! (definitely watch in FULL SCREEN and crank your speakers!) Thinking very seriously on giving these guys a call--maybe even try to arrange a nice camp out w/ bonfire, cold ones and some fresh pig on the smoker! Check this out and tell me if this isn't worth a "GOOD COMMENT!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGC1tjHCSVE This is from "Freedom Aviation" in Texas.

BearElement5

All the places I'm allowed to hunt, the first rule is "Kill any and all hogs! On sight!"
When you go to one of those "hunting" ranches, you need to remember,
"Hunter's provide their income."
Allowing "freebie" hunting does not put money in their pockets. Therefore, it's a "Pay To Play" proposition.

Bubba

$350 for a safety course is robbery and this isn't hunting and it's not really culling either. In culling you intend to leave a certain amount of the population and for the most part, the biggest and best. This is eradication. Hog hunting in Texas is big business and while they do pose a downside there is also an upside to business who sell to hunters and ranches who charge for hunting. I would say in areas where farming is prevalent hogs can cause significant damage. However in other areas I simply haven't seen huge destructive issues like here in Central Texas.

from BearElement5 wrote 4 hours 46 min ago

I get why they do it, but I was looking in to a hunt down that way for big whitetails and asked the owner if it would be possible to hunt feral hogs while I was there and he wanted to charge me for it.

I would tell that individual to KMA, and not hunt his deer either. I could easily pay to go but the guys that own the rand if they are asking for help probably should pay for the job.

I think several of the posts above are getting at my concern with how this article reads. This topic should be handled delicately by us as hunters. Shooting anything from a helicopter using a lot of firepower is and will definitely be seen as indiscriminate killing and wanton slaughter by many. If Texas can publicly justify a "cull", and probably they can, then that's what they should call it. It should not be stated nor implied that this is fair chase hunting. This is a situation where we need to be conscious of how we are viewed as hunters for the future of hunting.

I can't afford it but to those who can, HAVE FUN and shoot straight.

Ethics do not enter into this.This is strictely eradication of an invasive species that are nearly impossible to control.If You have seen the damage done by hogs there is no question.
Doing it this way it makes some income for those involved.
I have a farmer freind in S,TX that we hunt geese on and 5 years ago He and 3 other farmers hired a chopper and shooter to eradicate hogs at a large expense and i chopper killed over 200 in 2 days.
To me this is much more ethical then getting Your name in the record book for catching a 100# fish on 2# test line.

I agree that this is pest control. Hunting ethics have nothing to do with it. If they would let out-of-state hunters in there to shoot hogs any time of the year with little or no cost to the hunter it could help control this problem. The economic gain from reducing the hog population would far outweigh the revenue from out of state license fees. Plus you would have visitors to the state who would contribute to the local ecomony.

dzinn you are right about a lot of places that used to let people in won't because of liability and past trangressions against them. One way I've found is to build a raport with the land owner and if their willing to accept a signed waiver of their liability from you go the extra step and get the paperwork. If someone does let you on, offer them meat from your kills, offer to help around the ranch whenever needed, basically refer to those good manners your grandparents taught your parents. I use those generations because I know my grandparrents taught my parents more than they taught me and that was more than I taught my children. The place I hunt is a friend of mine's ranch and there are basically 2 rules; 1) shoot a buffalo or goat if you want but if you do you're buying it and 2) Deer, hogs, yotes, foxes, and jack rabbitt are open season because they all affect his ranching negatively somehow. Although because of the buffalo he has no hogs or yotes on his property (I have seen the rest).

Sounds way fun if I had the chance to do this (and the money!) I would in a heart beat. But lets go over the facts:

Would it be fun - of corse

would I do it - Yes

Do we need to do it - Yes

Do I have the money - No!

As far as the anti gunners, better yet to have a Helo.

As long as we call it eradication, I'm fine, train and leave a blood stain, Pay your bucks and good luck and shoot like...well you get it.SCHWINGS: There are folks that have been calling themselve hunters for yrs and their not, they shoot up other folks property and we wonder why we can't get permission to hunt. $350.00 to train, whatever per hr to shoot(not hunt)lots of folk benefiting, sounds very WIN-WIN for TX.. Properly handled in the field these hogs, any size will eat. Food banks should be a part of this as none of this meat should go to waste. Prisoners are probably eating better than Ladies w/Children in shelters along with homeless, hogs thought to be inedible should be picked up by local prisons to feed those mutts. A divice like GPS should be clicked for every hog so it can be located for removal(cause if there is disease then they should not be left on the land owners property). ROCKRAT: the anti's have always had the biggest mouths to do nothing, they are the NO,NO,NO's with no solution(I'm thinking of an administation).1STBuBBA: lets get into the pro & con of it and then lets put a fork in it and call it done,(only because there are P's & C's)(Yes,I am also afraid stopping quickly)its why were here,respectfully.HANDGUNHTRMAG:we know they ain't gunna get'em all so nicely put it is culling and these ranchers would love to get rid of all these boogers 'cause they won't ever bring @$2500.00 dollar a mangmt. buck will.Thanks MOISHE:, This KISS MY AZZ,I GOT MONEY, attitude is why landowners will always be skepticle of letting the young hunter on their property, they know this attitude exists, now THEY have to sort us out(and we wonder?). DUHWAIN: if we are going to call ourselve hunters it will always be about ethics...period. MCRUMRINE: you are the hunter with the background of well established ethics, you are the reason some landowner say "YES!" JLYNCH34 I came to Texas 27 yrs ago from Michigan and my eyes were hurt wide open(TX. is like an opinion, we don't agree on everything said but it probably needed saying p.s. I ain't ever leav'in) ? If I stepped on toes, my appologies, I love hogs but they do some damage a lot of folks want to shoot them for and I'm behind shooting them but lets not forget we are stewards for future hunters, so lets not make it tough on them. This is just my opinion and I've been wrong before as I have a wife to remind me.

Just for a little variation on theme: why don’t we leave the last few, remaining free creatures in nature alone for the waning hours that this living planet has left because of man’s assault on it? If culling is your answer to mitigate a given species’ destructive impact on the environment, should this method be applied to a certain vastly more destructive invasive species that is destroying the entire planet through global warming, deforestation, over-fishing, resource depletion, pollution, animal extinctions, etc because of its over-population? If not, consider yourself a hypocrite. Most creatures that enter this world are subjected to a hellish existence on this planet by man and his glutinous craving for meat. I reckon that with a hog’s growth rate, each bite of a ham sandwich is equal to 20 minutes of living hell on an animal farm spent lying in their own feces in a cage too small to turn around in. So be sure to savor every bite of that ham sandwich. No one knows how consciousnesses in the universe are merged with living organisms before birth to live their days on this warm, sun-bathed planet. It seems appropriate to me that in a perfectly functioning universe, an intelligent creature that knowingly conducts itself like a parasite should return as one. Or perhaps as a hog.

I put up a link about this 3 months ago, what a shoot it could be.

If you had a helicopter, big bucks!

You bet'cha Clay!

You'd be surprised just how far a little "sweat equity" will go!

Bubba

What did he say, Clay?

"Shucky darn."

Bubba

blackjac

NE and Pa are in for a "real" surprise! They tried "fencing" in them things in Tejas! Remember what the scientist said in that "Jurassic Park" (don't remember which one!) movie? "Nature finds a way!" Hogs, even domestic, are "tough" to keep fenced!
As far as the "risk" involved in eating one? I've had the chance to chow down one more than one, from nearly 200 lbs to 3 lbs dressed out! It's delicious, "BBQ'd" or "smoked". Wouldn't give you 10 cents a ton for it fixed any other way! I won't dress out a "feral" hog over about 40 pounds on the hoof! Prefer the 20 pounders. I'll fight over the piglets that can be "smoked" whole!!
In answer to your question,
"Is it worth it?"
I suppose the answer boils down to, "If you've got the moo-la you're willing to burn and/or think it would be fun!"
I spent $3500 on an Alaskan fishing trip last summer! Worth every red cent though I only made it home with 95 lbs of fish valued at $36.84 per pound! You can buy halibut for less than $20 lb.
I would NOT pay one red cent for a "pig" hunt!
THAT'S JUST ME!!!
Your money, your party!

Bubba
P.S. somebody above said leave them for the coyotes!? My neighbor killed three in his pasture last winter and left them lay. The buzzards wouldn't even touch them. It took nearly 3 months for them to rot away!! LOL!!

from wolframthejam

"Just for a little variation on theme: why don’t we leave the last few, remaining free creatures in nature alone for the waning hours that this living planet has left because of man’s assault on it?"

This is a hunting site,in case you fail to comprehend that fact.
Your anti-hunting,man is killing the planet,all animals raised for meat are mistreated,cutting any trees is bad,using any oil is bad,using anything other than stuff you grow and produce yourself is bad,heating cooling your home is killing the planet,having lights on at night is causing global warming comments/opinions and..... kindly post them on a site like PETA,or in the Huffington Post,on MSLSD,or Current TV,or on the Center for Biological Diversity's site,or Natural Resources Defense Council's site.

The feral hogs are just that feral,a non-native species,a danger to other animals,both wild and domestic,a danger to children,to food crops,to family pets,to plant species,to watersheds,to fish,to frogs,to turtles,to salamanders. Also they can contaminate drinking water for both livestock and humans.

Go hug a wolf-preferably in the northern Rockies,outside of the Greater Yellowstone area.