down side to helicopter hunters

[aladatrot]

Normally I am very supportive of alternative forms of hog control because I believe that to keep the population in check you need all fronts. That said, I just received a call from a gentleman who has a ranch in west Texas and has his place hog proofed. He raises mule footed hogs free range in a 200 acre trap and has had the same bloodline for 15 years. He arrived on his place some days back to find all of his sows shot dead each within 10 to 20 feet of one another. No tracks and small caliber rounds he thought looked like .223.

He has contacted the authorities, but the local chopper hunters are denying they were near his place. With no tracks, it is pretty obvious his breeding stock was assaulted from the air. This is a terrible mess. I feel awful that this man's years of selective breeding is gone because of an unscrupulous hunter. This is what happens when the state authorizes someone to fly over private property with a gun. Everyone's livestock can potentially become fair game.

If anyone knows of any mule footed sows for sale which have been somewhat gentled, please contact me so I can get you in contact with this gentleman.
Cheers
M

[BarrNinja]

O man that sucks!
There are a few downsides to it but, I don't consider it hunting either.

Warning to all helicopter shooters. You keep flying over private property and shooting peoples stock, you might get shot back at!

[DangerZone]

The chopper guy working by my lease will hover over the woods on my side till the hogs run over to the farmed land, it's starting to piss me off, he know i got feeders going so he knows the hogs are gonna be there as some point, last time i seen them they had three shooters hanging out of the one chopper sounded like they went full auto( easy more than a 100 rounds ) and shot 4 hogs. I think he's working it from all angles charging the farmer to remove hogs and selling hunts from the chopper. the yahoo factor is gonna kick in over here at some point and either some live stock or worse is gonna get hurt..  and the shooting them and leaving them has boosted the buzzard pop. those ugly sob are every where you look now

[Cutter Bay Kennels]

Trot,

That ain't cool.  I feel for your buddy. 

[aladatrot]

He's not anyone I know. He called me this morning because I had that mule footed sow advertised and he is trying to buy up more bloodstock. He is pretty upset. Seems like a nice fella with a problem on his hands and he is frustrated with good reason.

I think that hovering over the woods to flush your "exotic livestock" through the fence is also immoral. I would invoke the castle doctrine and protect what's mine. Granted, it's not worth another man's life to protect your hogs, but there must be some way to let those fellas know that those are your livestock when they are on your place. Perhaps contact your local law enforcement regarding the issues and what is legal means to protect what is yours. That is certainly hunter harassment if not poaching. To keep the peace with the neighbor you may be better off putting in a good hog fence to try to keep your hogs from ruining his fields.

Cheers
M

[saltflats]

Pretty dumb on the part of someone hunting other peoples property from a helicopter, must not have ever seen one shot down, makes a mess of the helicopter and passengers.  I see some of you are refering to the hogs as "livestock", if that is the case and they are "livestock" there should be some angry farmers that border ranches.  The "livestock" live in the confines of the ranch "protected" from hunters and destroy corn and grain crops that belong to farmers.  If that is the case and they are "livestock" farmers are going to catch on and start going after neighboring ranchers for damages from the so called "livestock" destroying their crops.  If the rancher is going to protect them from hunters then they should be responsible for them leaving their ranches and destroying the grain crops.  Sorry to change the subject a bit, the "livestock" comment got my attention.  Back to Helicopter hunting, bad if happening across the fence!

[catchrcall]

Hogs are considered "exotic livestock", like an axis or a fallow.  They belong to whoever's land they are standing on at the moment. 

Too bad they shot up the wrong property.  Must have been a lot of effort to get those mulefoot hogs just thrown away for somebody being reckless. 

[jdt]

speaking of helicopters , me and a buddy were hunting a few weeks ago and a chopper flew right over the top of our heads ! a 1/4 mile past us they started shooting like crazy , i jumped under a rootwad and left my horse and the dogs to fend for them selves lol . i was sure i was a goner , i was having flashbacks of nam and i wasnt even born then !!

 as soon as they retreated we got the hell out of there . at the truck we found a game warden who gave us 300$ worth of tickets for being on that wma when it was closed for the choppers . ( i f the sign had been a little bigger than a liscense plate we might have seen it ) . also, apparently it is illegal to catch cattle without a hunting liscense in that county !

[BarrNinja]

Pretty dumb on the part of someone hunting other peoples property from a helicopter, must not have ever seen one shot down, makes a mess of the helicopter and passengers.  I see some of you are refering to the hogs as "livestock", if that is the case and they are "livestock" there should be some angry farmers that border ranches.  The "livestock" live in the confines of the ranch "protected" from hunters and destroy corn and grain crops that belong to farmers.  If that is the case and they are "livestock" farmers are going to catch on and start going after neighboring ranchers for damages from the so called "livestock" destroying their crops.  If the rancher is going to protect them from hunters then they should be responsible for them leaving their ranches and destroying the grain crops.  Sorry to change the subject a bit, the "livestock" comment got my attention.  Back to Helicopter hunting, bad if happening across the fence!

I can appreciate what you are saying about livestock but pig farming like this is not a new concept. Plenty of folks are still ranging them like this on their own property. Like any other livestock, the owner is responsible. It doesn't have anything to do with wild hogs.
These hogs where fenced in appropriately.

[kevin]

Mandi, he needs to call the FAA.  They have to have written landowner consent to fly over properties at low levels.  I believe you also have to have a FAR 137.   They can probably get in a little trouble.

[kevin]

Sorry the FAR137 is for Agriculture.  I think there is something for low level flying.   Buddy Goatcher that posts some might know more about this stuff, I think he is a pilot.

[dub]

If the pig is on your property it is yours. If they are driven off intentionally I would think it would be theft.

I guess a person has to get killed before something happens. Better not start shooting out of chopper near me I might think they are shooting at me!

[tnhillbilly]

Thats a bad deal, i would be furious to say the least.
    The only thing they hunt here with choppers, is pot patches, and i aint seen that in a year or two.

jdt,  is that the same deal you was tellin me about or you get in trouble again?   

[nosightsneeded]

I personally think helicopter shooting is chicken $h!t. They come in shoot everything and let it lay. I would be willing to bet that the men that do it drive cars.
1. It really stinks up the place.
2. there is no sport to it
3. not if but when someone gets cattle shot it will only give hunting another another black eye.
4. they haven't been doing it long enough to see if it really has any long term effects on the ecosystem. ie coyote, buzzard pop.

the ONLY upside is that it helps control population on properties. but so did Poison until enough research was done.
That all being said it could have been a road hunter shooting them from the road. and the helicopter pilot been completely honest. But, If you were standing there with a gun next to a dead person  and someone walked up they would assume you did it.

[saltflats]

They have been shooting wild hogs out of helicopters for years down here in South Texas.  The King Ranch for instance does it because they also farm within the confines of the ranch and they make an attempt at holding down the population.  At one time, the folks leasing the ranch land there had a quota of wild hogs to kill annually, if it was met they didn't fly your pasture, if it wasn't met they flew and shot the hogs.  Some of the ranches down here have picked them up and used them to feed the hungry.  There are YOUTUBE videos of some, nueceshelicopterhunts???, this guy is quite the marksman.  At one point he drops 8-9 hogs with 9-10 rounds of ammo.  I think there is a place for it, just not commercially selling helicopter hunts, and picking up what u can to feed the hungry.

[zachW]

thats the part that bugs me, you live an ocassional pig dead in the field is one thing, but to leave 30, or too not even know how many you killed to start with, to just shoot into a group and then tell every one you killed the group thats retarded.

[BarrNinja]

I personally don't have a problem with shooting hogs from a helicopter. Just don't do it on property you are not allowed to do it on. I also think it's wrong to fly over other folks property and hover. This is just a technique to herd them onto the property they are allowed to shoot them on and it's wrong unless you have permission from that land owner.

There are plenty of agricultural areas that can use all the help they can get but make sure you are shooting wild hogs and not someones stock. Stock includes; cows, sheep, goats, chickens, and any hog that is not feral to name a few.

It sounds like a mistake was made and no one manned up to it. Definitely a downside.

[pltx ken]

I think its dangerous, to people on the ground that may be hunting.  OR there dogs.

[dub]

I don't Carr how you hunt where you have permission. But poaching is poaching. If I climb a tree on my property and shoot a hog on my property fine. But as soon as I go on a branch over your property I broke the law. The problem is proving it. Video helps.

[ironheadknls21]

My wife was watching Good Morning America a couple days ago and they were talking to some of helicoptor shooters.. Robin ask one of the guys why couldn't they put the meat to use by feeding the needy instead of wasting it...They told her the bullet fragments ruined the meat and it was no good....THATS THE BIGGEST LINE OF CRAP I'VE EVER HEARD OUT OF ANY BUNCH OF LAZY S.O.B.'S IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!