Helicopter hunting hogs down side

[Revolting Peasant]

JEC, thanks for the info. Will keep that in mind in case our lease owners decide to try helicopters. RevP

 

[TheLongRanger83702]

From my perspective heli hunting is NOT about "hunting" at all. It IS about eradication. Heli hunting also targets predators so leaving the carcasses helps in that regard. These pests are responsible for millions of dollars of agricultural damage every year. Given a choice of protecting our food supply or hunting for sport, I side with our farmers. Kill them all. Of course we all know that that IS impossible given their nature.

 

[Deleted member 107796]

From my perspective heli hunting is NOT about "hunting" at all. It IS about eradication. Heli hunting also targets predators so leaving the carcasses helps in that regard. These pests are responsible for millions of dollars of agricultural damage every year. Given a choice of protecting our food supply or hunting for sport, I side with our farmers. Kill them all. Of course we all know that that IS impossible given their nature.

While this is true, I am wondering why, during my unsuccessful Quanah TX pig hunt, the rancher had so many rules and guidelines to avoid having the hogs catch our scent? In some places, making the hunting money is overruling the need to kill hogs. If you think about it, it's a self perpetuating money maker for some.

 

[azsugarbear]

JE, Good info. I hadn't even thought to consider that side of the coin. Thanks for sharing.

 

[GunHawk]

I read somewhere that hogs are the #1 predator of deer—they can smell the fawns when they hide in cover, they wreck havoc on ground-laying birds as well, plus they eat everything that would feed other species. I think they have a 3-3-3 (month-week-day) breeding cycle, so try keeping up with that!

Probably not well adapted to arid areas like AZ, NM.

 

[ducky]

From my perspective heli hunting is NOT about "hunting" at all. It IS about eradication. Heli hunting also targets predators so leaving the carcasses helps in that regard. These pests are responsible for millions of dollars of agricultural damage every year. Given a choice of protecting our food supply or hunting for sport, I side with our farmers. Kill them all. Of course we all know that that IS impossible given their nature.

My take on hog hunting in TX is, it's about the money. I don't think it is impossible to eradicate hogs in TX and other states. However, I don't think you'll ever eradicate them until you take the profitability out of them. Until that happens there is no real incentive to reduce the numbers.

Just an outsider opinion.

 

[TBell]

You mentioned 300 acres, is that the total acreage you are monitoring? If that is the case it would only take minutes for a chopper to buzz that. Your turkey and deer could have simply moved to heavier cover close by that you don't monitor. If the heli hunters are paying to hunt that property you might check in to matching their price to keep them from buzzing your hunting ground. Have you talked to the property owner and explained the situation?

well not only that but if you are lessening the land for hunting the owner may be breach of contract allowing heli hunting at all on or over that 300 acres

 

[CoyoteHunter6mm]

I read this thread with great interest because I'd like to go to Texas for a hog hunt. Not a heli hunt but from a blind over bait. Not necessarily a "trophy" hunt but I'd like to be able to get a few good sized ones. I realize these hunts are more about making money than eliminating the hogs but as long as it didn't cost an arm and a leg I'd still like to go. Anyone have any experience and/or recommendations they'd be willing to share? Good and bad. Thanks, Mark

 

[dougduey]

JE Custom, I live in San Antonio and we have a huge hog problem around here. They're showing up in the suburbs now and tearing up peoples yards. All the ranchers I know that try to manage the hog numbers are only putting a dent into their population. Like GunHawk stated, their gestation cycle is 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days. They'll have a litter of about 10. It's pretty much impossible to trap them fast enough to eradicate them. Hell, the state was considering using Warfarrin to poison them so they'd bleed out internally, because they are so out of control.
I had free reign to night hunt all the hogs on my golf club that's just East of Castroville. Did anyone see that news post of the 400 lb hog taken off a golf course in San Antonio? That's within 5 miles of my golf club. Although I got a lot of big boars and a few sows and their piglets, I didn't do much to lessen their numbers or drive them off the property. With all the building going on in the area, the hogs were pushed to the golf course. It's a refuge with plenty of cover, food and water. They caused so much damage on the golf course that the owner finally put a game fence around the entire property. I think it cost him about $450,000 but was worth it to stop all the destruction caused by the hogs. As you know, hogs are very smart. The local helicopter hunting outfitter had access to our golf club, too. He'd take out 50-80 hogs on some days. The pigs learned to bunch up under trees to keep the helicopter from getting to them. I started carrying my AR when I played golf because the course superintendant would grab me to help him kill the hogs under the trees when the helicopter pilot would call him and tell them where they were. We'd get a few and the helicopter would then chase them down after we flushed them out. A bit of an Apocalypse Now moment!!
Now, how did this effect other game in the area? I stopped seeing any deer on the course during daylight hours. I would find them at night while hog hunting with my thermal set up. The turkey didn't get effected as far as I could tell. Quail numbers are up since the game fence was put in.
My buddy has hunting land south of Sonora in West Texas. We just started seeing hogs on the land in the last 2 years and the numbers seem to be increasing. Not sure if this is related, but we did not see a single deer last weekend for opening day of deer rifle season. Heard only 5 total gun shots over the 2 days. That's totally unheard of. It usually sounds like WW III, and we normally pass on taking most the deer we see. It may or may not be related to the increase in hog numbers in the area. If it is related, I'm not surprised.
As far as I'm concerned, we need to wipe them out but I doubt that can be done. We can only hope to get them to a manageable number now. I'm totally impressed you were able to manage your hog numbers on your properties. That's very digitized do.

Doug

 

[GunHawk]

JE Custom, I live in San Antonio and we have a huge hog problem around here. They're showing up in the suburbs now and tearing up peoples yards. All the ranchers I know that try to manage the hog numbers are only putting a dent into their population. Like GunHawk stated, their gestation cycle is 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days. They'll have a litter of about 10. It's pretty much impossible to trap them fast enough to eradicate them. Hell, the state was considering using Warfarrin to poison them so they'd bleed out internally, because they are so out of control.
I had free reign to night hunt all the hogs on my golf club that's just East of Castroville. Did anyone see that news post of the 400 lb hog taken off a golf course in San Antonio? That's within 5 miles of my golf club. Although I got a lot of big boars and a few sows and their piglets, I didn't do much to lessen their numbers or drive them off the property. With all the building going on in the area, the hogs were pushed to the golf course. It's a refuge with plenty of cover, food and water. They caused so much damage on the golf course that the owner finally put a game fence around the entire property. I think it cost him about $450,000 but was worth it to stop all the destruction caused by the hogs. As you know, hogs are very smart. The local helicopter hunting outfitter had access to our golf club, too. He'd take out 50-80 hogs on some days. The pigs learned to bunch up under trees to keep the helicopter from getting to them. I started carrying my AR when I played golf because the course superintendant would grab me to help him kill the hogs under the trees when the helicopter pilot would call him and tell them where they were. We'd get a few and the helicopter would then chase them down after we flushed them out. A bit of an Apocalypse Now moment!!
Now, how did this effect other game in the area? I stopped seeing any deer on the course during daylight hours. I would find them at night while hog hunting with my thermal set up. The turkey didn't get effected as far as I could tell. Quail numbers are up since the game fence was put in.
My buddy has hunting land south of Sonora in West Texas. We just started seeing hogs on the land in the last 2 years and the numbers seem to be increasing. Not sure if this is related, but we did not see a single deer last weekend for opening day of deer rifle season. Heard only 5 total gun shots over the 2 days. That's totally unheard of. It usually sounds like WW III, and we normally pass on taking most the deer we see. It may or may not be related to the increase in hog numbers in the area. If it is related, I'm not surprised.
As far as I'm concerned, we need to wipe them out but I doubt that can be done. We can only hope to get them to a manageable number now. I'm totally impressed you were able to manage your hog numbers on your properties. That's very digitized do.

Doug

Homo Sapiens has been exceptionally good at wiping out species, with the exception of small species that we don't eat (rats, flies, etc). https://www.huntercourse.com/blog/2011/08/10-animals-hunted-or-nearly-hunted-to-extinction/

 

[chindits]

Thanks for sharing your findings.

 

[bdyal1972]

Pressure is pressure

Poachers, wolves, large group hunts, coyote packs, hungry bears, helicopters, groups of motorcycles and atvs, city fol target shooters...

Oregon coast, washington coast, central and eastern oregon/Washington, kansas, Colorado, nebraska, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Virginia, Georgia...

I have seen roosevelts, rockies, blackmails, whitetail, mulies, merriams, Rio grande's, osceola, goulds, wolves

ALL CHANGE HABITAT IN AN INSTANT FROM TOO MUCH PRESSURE!

MOVE 2,5,10 MILES OVERNIGHT!

Matter of fact in the week before washington bow elk season there is a minor migration of elk off the colockum between greensburg and Wenatchee

15000 to 25000 hunters invade the colockum ridge and thousands of deer, elk, bear, cougars, wolves, foxes, coyotes leave the area

Seen it many times

Pressure moves the critters second only to a forest fire or volcano blowing up...

Mt st Helen's blowing up in 1989 moved roosevelt elk over a 100 miles east to the Hanford nuclear reservation

They are still there!

The biscuit fire in southern Oregon move about 100 rogue whitetail deer 50+ miles downstream to the beach.

They are still there.

I know a canyon that had over 100 roosevelt permanent residents there in the 80s, there had always been a herd of 100+ elk in there since the late 1800s

Was hunted by about 50 men 3 times in 1986? Took out a dozen NICE bulls

Never even heard of more than 5 elk seen in that 20 mile canyon since.

Pressure is pressure

Animals wont stand it...

Just my 2 cents

 

[26Reload]

bdyal1972...

The biscuit fire in southern Oregon move about 100 rogue whitetail deer 50+ miles downstream to the beach.

Curious on the info of this.....all the people I have known that hunted that area have never seen a whitetail....and there's three to four rivers run into that area....one heads north..other three out to the beach in various spots from gold beach south.....cant recall ever seeing a whitetail anywhere around them....did you mean blacktail....

 

[Eat Rice]

Hogs are nuisance period. I am a rice farmer in central louisiana. Hogs can decimate a rice field in a matter of nights. The will literally dig the beans up in a row the night after you plant them and now they are getting into sugar cane. Yes 12 foot tall sugar cane and they will roll over it and lay it down to wallow. The damage done by these animals is untold each year. Another note for about 12 years we have had a serious hog presence and since then the rabbit population has dwindled. They will eat literally anything they can chomp on inculding same game and fawn deer. I shoot them whenever wherever i can. There has been hundreds fall from my ar-15 from 5 feet to 350 yards. My load of choice is mk262 or equivilent(77gr matchkings loaded to 5.56 pressure). Heck i even shoot them suckers off the combine while im cutting. Had shot these a few years back and had to drive around the field and pick them all up.