The Nuge and Pigman killed over 450 pigs in 2 and a half days....This was on the ranch I hunt a part of....note: They were killed and the meat was donated to feed the hungry....Thats a lot of pork....
Hogs by helicopter.....
- Thread starter Keg
- Start date
Double Naught Spy
New member
Sometime back, we checked into helihunting and could not find a deal for less than $500 per hour, 1 hour minimum, but everyone was willing to break it into 2 half hour sorties. The operation above is in a bigger helicopter and undoubtedly would cost a good bit more per hour, never mind the increase in fuel costs, LOL.
Vertex, minimum of $350 per person, $600 per hour, 3 hour minimum, and they supply guns, ammo, training, and copter, and flight.
Heli Hunters charges....
$1,000.00/hr for one hunter
$1,500.00/hr for two shooters*
$200 minimum for overnight stay for party of 4 (food and drink provided)
$50.00 per additional person
Can accomodate up to 10 people
Technically and legally, it is pest eradication, not hunting (regardless of how it is billed). As an environmentalist Texas landowner, I am opposed to letting feral hogs roam free and destroy the habitat for native species and destroy native species.
Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
Hogs aren't "game". They're a destructive, invasive species that is best eradicated at every opportunity. Fair chase rules do not apply.
Rifleman1776
New member
It is a gimmik for TV. On the show they kill only a couple per episode, not very efficient. And, this isn't 'game'. It is supposed to be an eradication effort of vermin. Trapping and/or shooting from the ground would be far more efficient, and far less expensive.
This discussion will not become a discussion on the ethics involved in eradicating ANY nuisance animal species so long as the discussed methods are legal in the locale the thread is about...
Legal in Texas... Good to go so long as the rules of law are followed...
If you do not agree with the legal methods used, then say so but that is as far it will go...
I am all about the ethics and humane kill etc... For game species as a state's resource...
Heck, i will blood trail a gut shot critter for miles in the worst weather but that black cat I thought I missed with the 20 gauge last week, I just figured if wounded it will die eventually and if a clean miss, it won't likely be back...
Couple days ago I see the dogs playing with a black cat's head... Guess my shot wasn't so low afterall
Brent
Legal in Texas... Good to go so long as the rules of law are followed...
If you do not agree with the legal methods used, then say so but that is as far it will go...
I am all about the ethics and humane kill etc... For game species as a state's resource...
Heck, i will blood trail a gut shot critter for miles in the worst weather but that black cat I thought I missed with the 20 gauge last week, I just figured if wounded it will die eventually and if a clean miss, it won't likely be back...
Couple days ago I see the dogs playing with a black cat's head... Guess my shot wasn't so low afterall
Brent
Double Naught Spy
New member
I don't know anyone trapping or shooting 450 from the ground in 2.5 days. As for the cost, it is quite expensive, no doubt, but if people are willing to pay to fund the pursuit as a tourist industry, then why not?
I have only spoken with a few folks who have been helihunting and all killed more hogs in one half hour session than they had ever killed on a given hunt.
It may be a gimmick, but one that yields typically much higher returns for hunters than they ever experience anywhere else. As a professional hunter, Quaca probably hasn't eradicated as many pigs so fast while hunting and Nugent probably has not either.
Heck for all of 2012, the good folks over at Texas Hunting Forum only took 2067 hogs. Most of those folks are your average occasional weekend or holiday hunter/trapper.
http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3919937/1
Given all the folks that hunt hogs when they can, most only manage a few hogs per year. That they can pay (through the nose) and take more in half an hour or an hour than they probably would take all year long otherwise is a big improvement. Heck, and given what some folks invest in going on hunting trips, a helihunt cost relative to pigs yielded may actually be economically more efficient than going on a whole series of hunts throughout the year to get the same number of hogs or less. Time-wise relative to hog yield, it certainly would be more efficient.
Did U see were I said they were 'killed'..I repeat 'killed'???......We know this is not hunting......as DNS.. Brian..and RM76 said..'pest eradication'......
I just thought some folks might be interested in what was done to help with this problem.....I know of no other way to get this type of result so quickly.....Normally..would take 6 months to a full year and many hunters and trappers to get these kind of numbers.....Anyway..I figure it will be televised at some point in the future.....
DNS..not sure how it was worked out..finances that is.....
Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
It's got to be wicked fun.... The first time in my life I'd want to own an AR.
they should just invite Franz Albrecht
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIBEwY4_Yqc
let him up in a helicopter
sure being up in the air makes it harder but many people in those vids take like 10 shots per pig.
And you mostly see ARs and regardless of legality I would use a bigger calibre, sure shot placement is everything but still
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIBEwY4_Yqc
let him up in a helicopter
sure being up in the air makes it harder but many people in those vids take like 10 shots per pig.
And you mostly see ARs and regardless of legality I would use a bigger calibre, sure shot placement is everything but still
Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
I didn't say my AR would be .223 or even that it would be a "15".
isn't there one AR calibre that is supposed to mimick 45-70? I'd take that but it be hella hard to judge how much infront AND how much above with it probably being a glorified potatocanon (runs and hides)
now've seen heli hunting, and there is a video with a mini-gun and hog hunting, how long until they combine it?
now've seen heli hunting, and there is a video with a mini-gun and hog hunting, how long until they combine it?
This is not hunting, it is more the the tune of eradication. Hogs are a destructive, invasive species, they do nothing but breed, eat, and destroy crops.
450 hogs can do some serious property damage.
Personally I think those 450 hogs are better off feeding the hungry. It is legal, helps those in need, helps quell the impact hogs have on property and other wildlife.
allaroundhunter
New member
You think that you can kill the same amount of hogs in two days by stand hunting and with traps that you can in a helicopter?
You can kill the same amount of hogs in a matter of hours using a helicopter that would take you a week or more by more "traditional" methods.
If we can eradicate these by spending more in the immediate time period, it will save a whole lot of money in the long run. Therefore, it will not be more expensive, and it is much more effective.
Wild Bill Bucks
New member
A few years back, the Noble foundation, did a survey along with several state departments. They estimated in the state of Oklahoma, there were around 500,000 hogs with a presence in all 77 counties.
In Texas they estimated a population of 2.6 million hogs that do around 550 million dollars A YEAR in crop damage.
I feel like I am an ethical hunter, but living in Southeastern Oklahoma, and close to the northern Texas border, I can tell you this is not hunting, it is WAR.
I makes no difference to me how this vermin is taken out, as long as it works.
If there is the benefit of someone gaining some groceries, then so be it, but I doubt that anyone here is going to feel to bad about how they are eradicated.
In Texas they estimated a population of 2.6 million hogs that do around 550 million dollars A YEAR in crop damage.
I feel like I am an ethical hunter, but living in Southeastern Oklahoma, and close to the northern Texas border, I can tell you this is not hunting, it is WAR.
I makes no difference to me how this vermin is taken out, as long as it works.
If there is the benefit of someone gaining some groceries, then so be it, but I doubt that anyone here is going to feel to bad about how they are eradicated.