To my bucket list I added .........

[J Miller]

............. hog shooting from a helicopter.

{ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj5dd-Bge5I }

Looks like more fun than anything I've done in decades.

Joe

[Blaine]

Do they make helicopters that big? (I know, I'm going to he!!, and I have no room whatsoever to talk.... )

[J Miller]

I was thinking of a Chinook, that would be big enough for both of us

Joe

[Lastmohecken]

That's on my bucket list too, expensive though.

[Blaine]

I was thinking of a Chinook, that would be big enough for both of us

Joe

For one of my legs, anyway....

[Streetstar]

Do they police up the hogs and do something useful with them after they are down

[Les Staley]

At this point in time, the most useful thing a hog can do is DIE. Overpopulating vermin ( that just happens to taste good). They outbreed even Democrats!

[AJMD429]

Overpopulating vermin...They outbreed even Democrats!

...how do you tell the difference...???

[Streetstar]

At this point in time, the most useful thing a hog can do is DIE. !

Sorry- that didnt answer the question

[FWiedner]

I was thinking of a Chinook, that would be big enough for both of us

Joe

Think how much more ammo you could carry.

... And a bigger gun...

[J Miller]

Do they police up the hogs and do something useful with them after they are down

Doug,

Yes they do police up the dead / dying hogs. In a couple of the videos it showed this and in one, their on video text said they issue head shots to those that are not yet dead.
They did not say, or I missed it, what they do with the carcasses. But I suspect those who do the shooting are well stocked with pork.

Joe

[J Miller]

I was thinking of a Chinook, that would be big enough for both of us

Joe

Think how much more ammo you could carry.

... And a bigger gun...

I was thinking of a couple GE Mini guns in 7.62 out of each side with pallets of ammo.
In a couple of the videos I watched there were herds ( is that was a big bunch of hogs is called? ) sometimes in the 20s and 30s they were chasing. The company that does this has two choppers in the air with shooters in each. In at least two videos they were using full auto M-16s or similar to shoot them.

Joe

[Streetstar]

Do they police up the hogs and do something useful with them after they are down

Doug,

Yes they do police up the dead / dying hogs. In a couple of the videos it showed this and in one, their on video text said they issue head shots to those that are not yet dead.
They did not say, or I missed it, what they do with the carcasses. But I suspect those who do the shooting are well stocked with pork.

Joe

Thats good ---- i had to be physically restrained a few months back by a co-worker when a customer was bragging about having to put a "clip" of 223 in a hog before he went down ---
I was on the way to deck the guy as that didnt seem to me to be a brag worthy incident. I did call the person a choice word (a pile of stuff) and strongly suggested he learn how to shoot, and pick a more appropriate rifle for hogs next time rather than just spray the poor critter with 55 grain FMJ's until piggy went down

I did lose it once on a guy who took an 800 yard shot at a mule deer and blew his foreleg off with a 7mm mag. We could see the poor critter hobbling around in a spotting scope for days before we were able to track him down and put him out of his misery
The hunter went away with a detached retina and i was afraid i'd get sued for months afterward

but respect the hunt and respect the quarry is a mantra i have tried to live by

[Chuck 100 yd]

Sorry friend but that just does not sound very sporting to me. Why not use a drone and you could play hog terrorist from your easy chair while chugging a cool one?

[Blaine]

Them pigs sure do millions in damage every year. I suspect some areas treat them about like moles, rats, prairie dogs or skeeters, and just want them gone. There's probably no real intent, or desire to be sporting with such pests.

[J Miller]

Sorry friend but that just does not sound very sporting to me. Why not use a drone and you could play hog terrorist from your easy chair while chugging a cool one?

Nope not sporting at all. It's eradication of a non-indigenous species that's destroying millions of acres of land, habitat and crops.

Joe

[Chuck 100 yd]

Oh, I agree with eradicating or at least controlling the population , but why not let people do market hunts and allow the sale of the meat. The increase in pressure on them should then greatly reduce the damage they do, yes/no?
Lets not try to make it look sporting like some of the TV shows are trying to do. Any non hunting types that see those shows think we are all a bunch of crazy blood thirsty Rambo's. The reason needs to be explained. We who have no hogs have a hard time understanding how a few pigs could totally destroy
"Millions of acres of land" .

[FWiedner]

Edited - Reconsidered.... Just sounded too... Well... Too.

[piller]

A large group of pigs is called a "Sounder", and with its noise connotation, that still makes me not sure how to give a good answer to the Doc's question.

Letting people come in to hunt, and letting them keep the meat is not a bad idea. I recently went on a hunt sort of like that with CRS, FWeidner, and a few others.

[Blaine]

Oh, I agree with eradicating or at least controlling the population , but why not let people do market hunts and allow the sale of the meat. The increase in pressure on them should then greatly reduce the damage they do, yes/no?
Lets not try to make it look sporting like some of the TV shows are trying to do. Any non hunting types that see those shows think we are all a bunch of crazy blood thirsty Rambo's. The reason needs to be explained. We who have no hogs have a hard time understanding how a few pigs could totally destroy
"Millions of acres of land" .

This is probably the first time I've ever disagreed with you, but I don't think we should allow Hoplophobes, and PETA twinks to define us when our activity is perfectly legal, and constitutional.
"Divided we fall". Here in WA, that would be illegal, and I would help escort the offender to jail. Just like we cannot run deer, bear, or cat with dogs, but it's perfectly legal in other states.

[J Miller]

From everything I've read, ground hunting feral hogs is like spitting on a house fire. Impossible to make any dent in their population. Due to the damage they do the only way to end it is to eradicate them. And to do that you've got to use what ever method you can.
Hense the helicopter shooters.

If this was a game animal I would be vehemently opposed to this type of shooting. But they are vermin and it's still on my bucket list.

Joe

[Batman1939]

I was thinking of a Chinook, that would be big enough for both of us

Joe

Think how much more ammo you could carry.

... And a bigger gun...

I was thinking of a couple GE Mini guns in 7.62 out of each side with pallets of ammo.
In a couple of the videos I watched there were herds ( is that was a big bunch of hogs is called? ) sometimes in the 20s and 30s they were chasing. The company that does this has two choppers in the air with shooters in each. In at least two videos they were using full auto M-16s or similar to shoot them.

Joe

I believe the term for a collection of pigs/wild boars is "sounder" Don't know the derivation of the term (and too lazy to look it up), but a group of them running through dry leaves while snorting/grunting can make a lot of noise.

[Blaine]

From everything I've read, ground hunting feral hogs is like spitting on a house fire. Impossible to make any dent in their population. Due to the damage they do the only way to end it is to eradicate them. And to do that you've got to use what ever method you can.
Hense the helicopter shooters.

If this was a game animal I would be vehemently opposed to this type of shooting. But they are vermin and it's still on my bucket list.

Joe

It would be a fun trip, but let's take 308 instead of 223....

[MrMurphy]

One pair of hogs, in one year uninterrupted, can have 12-20 more little hogs.

One hog, uninterrupted in a single night, can cause over $1k in damage to a farm. Around where I am, 1 hog can wipe out a row of (insert crop here) in an hour or two, which can cost several thousand dollars.

Hogs rarely act alone. 6-8 at once, one farm? How'd you like to possibly sustain $8k in damage in one night. With the possibility of 364 more nights just like it?


Yes we may hunt them as a sport, but as far as how they're hunted, they are specifically listed as a "non game animal". Eradication is the idea.

Another guy asked me what is legal to hunt hogs in Texas. My basic answer was "anything short of nuclear weapons".

[Chuck 100 yd]

After a bunch more consideration, you guys are correct,of course. Lets just not do it in the name of sport! It sounds like a job for the Texas Air Force.
We used to hunt fox for the bounty and the sport but not with machine guns. Maybe that would help offset the cost of the helo's and ammo.
Otherwise who could afford to do it unless it was for sport. Kind of a catch 22. I bow to your greater experience in this.

[octagon]

Chuck hunting pigs can be very sporting and exciting. I have hunted them with 44 mag, 45 ACP, AND 10mm pistols and had a big time doing it. most of my place is much too thick to walk through, but some of it is manageable, offering good pistol range hunting, with a good hike to get to it. They don't see well, and that helps. I usually just take the little oinkers they are excellent BBQ. My brothers place has been overrun with pigs since the 70s and they have to shoot all they can just to TRY and manage the numbers.

[InTheWoods]

Missouri Department of Conservation says 70% must be killed each year in order to just keep the population at an even level. They have outlawed pursuing hogs on state lands because they claim that hunters are messing up their trapping operations. Evidentally, MDC sets up a large bait site, lets it sit for a while while a complete sounder gets used to frequenting it, and then springs the trap catching the entire sounder at once. A single hunter finding a bait sight before it is sprung and shooting a hog or two over it ruins the entire operation. That is the claim here.

[Blaine]

Chuck hunting pigs can be very sporting and exciting. I have hunted them with 44 mag, 45 ACP, AND 10mm pistols and had a big time doing it. most of my place is much too thick to walk through, but some of it is manageable, offering good pistol range hunting, with a good hike to get to it. They don't see well, and that helps. I usually just take the little oinkers they are excellent BBQ. My brothers place has been overrun with pigs since the 70s and they have to shoot all they can just to TRY and manage the numbers.

How does the .45acp do? My Scientific Wild Azz Guess sez maybe 230 FMJ for penetration?

[octagon]

230 ball is fine for the little guys I like to hunt. I like em with a little milk around the snout they make the finest BBQ. I am going to try the Python next, it rarely gets to hunt since the 44 mag and the 10mm came to live here. The little guys are not tough like the big boys, a nine would be adequate for the little ones. In around 1980 a monster was killed at bros place. They hung it upside down with the hocks as high as a mans head and the collar bones were on the ground, it was as big around as a 55 gallon barrel. It was never weighed but from the pics it looks to be 600. Lbs. four shots in the head with a .270 400 pounders are not that uncommon at this ranch. You can smell em from a good distance, nasty.

[MrMurphy]

Governor Perry used to (probably still does) hunt them with a suppressed 9mm carbine, at night.

Old friend of mine used a 10mm Glock, brought back fairly regularly 150-200lb hogs. His wife gave him a Christmas upgrade to a .454 Casull back around 9/11, but he still brought the Glock as a backup piece.