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Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Fly320s on February 07, 2019, 03:13:05 PM

Title: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: Fly320s on February 07, 2019, 03:13:05 PM
Anyone done it?

I have a 50th birthday coming up soon and my wife has given the green light to go helo hog shooting.  Other than being super expensive, do you have any info about it?

Thanks.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: Ron on February 07, 2019, 03:25:27 PM
So pigs can finally fly?
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: WLJ on February 07, 2019, 03:26:43 PM
So pigs can finally fly?

They learned how from the turkeys
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: Fly320s on February 07, 2019, 03:27:11 PM
So pigs can finally fly?

Only in helicopters.  That's because the are porkchoppers.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: Ron on February 07, 2019, 03:33:53 PM
Only in helicopters.  That's because the are porkchoppers.

You win your own thread!
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: Hawkmoon on February 07, 2019, 03:42:47 PM
Doesn't seem very sporting ...

https://www.youtube.com/embed/6pYDPY6mTDY?start=50&end=65
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: Ron on February 07, 2019, 03:45:10 PM
Doesn't seem very sporting ...

https://www.youtube.com/embed/6pYDPY6mTDY?start=50&end=65

Aren’t they considered a destructive nuisance? It’s doing the state a favor.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: Fly320s on February 07, 2019, 04:08:28 PM
Aren’t they considered a destructive nuisance? It’s doing the state a favor.

I don't think the state cares either way, but the local farmers and ranchers do.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: MillCreek on February 07, 2019, 06:21:51 PM
It would be more sporting if the pigs had Stinger missiles.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: RocketMan on February 07, 2019, 08:16:15 PM
As a radio operator in an 81mm mortar platoon, I remember receiving fire missions during training in Hawaii.  If the FO called in "troops in the open", we knew he had spotted some wild hogs.  Messy, it was.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: 230RN on February 07, 2019, 08:18:35 PM
I was going to say something about "fair chase," but then I remembered how many afternoons I spent sniping at prairie dogs from a bluff overlooking the pasture.

So I figured that would be hypocritical of me.

Terry

Me and my savage .223 in Superior Colorado.  Note date.  The whole area is built up now, and that bluff is now in someone's back yard.  Pic taken by a good buddy of mine who is now resting in peace.


Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: TechMan on February 07, 2019, 08:24:24 PM
I read the title as Herohog Hunting. :laugh: :lol:
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: MillCreek on February 07, 2019, 09:56:46 PM
I read the title as Herohog Hunting. :laugh: :lol:

Ooh!  We give him two hours to hide in a overgrown 5 acre plot; give him two Stinger missiles, and then deploy Fly320s in the helicopter.  First kill shot wins.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: TechMan on February 07, 2019, 10:35:59 PM
Ooh!  We give him two hours to hide in a overgrown 5 acre plot; give him two Stinger missiles, and then deploy Fly320s in the helicopter.  First kill shot wins.

Your ideas are intriguing to me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: BobR on February 07, 2019, 10:37:10 PM
I was going to say something about "fair chase," but then I remembered how many afternoons I spent sniping at prairie dogs from a bluff overlooking the pasture.

So I figured that would be hypocritical of me.

Terry




Me too, I can't tell you how many coyote I sniped from ridges in the spring when they were eating a winter kill cow down in a coulee. That was some serious fun.


Quote
As a radio operator in an 81mm mortar platoon, I remember receiving fire missions during training in Hawaii.  If the FO called in "troops in the open", we knew he had spotted some wild hogs.  Messy, it was.

We had a Marine 1st Lt do a artillery fire mission on a few elk while I lived in Lawton in the later 90s. He wasn't long for the Marine Corps after that stunt. I heard about it because the Marine C.O. at the Ft Sill school of big guns for Marines had a nurse for a wife, and I worked with her.

Helicopter hog hunting sounds like way too much fun, but you will need a few 100 rd mags for your AR type gun.

bob
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: sumpnz on February 07, 2019, 10:40:33 PM
Helicopter hog hunting sounds like way too much fun, but you will need a few 100 rd mags for your AR type gun.

bob

You say that like it's a bad thing.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: RocketMan on February 08, 2019, 06:17:35 AM
Helicopter hog hunting sounds like way too much fun, but you will need a few 100 rd mags for your AR type gun.

bob

Isn't that how it's supposed to be done?
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: MechAg94 on February 08, 2019, 09:24:48 AM
I don't think the state cares either way, but the local farmers and ranchers do.
I have heard Texas Parks and Wildlife does a lot of work on it.  I think they were trying to estimate numbers and looking for ways to kill them or keep them from breeding. 

The are non-native so fair game all year round and rice farmers among others see them as very destructive.  The last helicopter outfit I looked into was on rice farming land. 
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: 230RN on February 09, 2019, 03:44:17 AM
General search term, "texas wild hog problem," reveals a lot.  There are apparently  5 million of them and they are taking over parks and golf courses and whatnot.

So "fair chase" notwithstanding, if Officialdom is actively looking for ways to exterminate them, then have at it, Fly320s.

Terry
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: BobR on February 09, 2019, 10:59:34 AM
General search term, "texas wild hog problem," reveals a lot.  There are apparently  5 million of them and they are taking over parks and golf courses and whatnot.

So "fair chase" notwithstanding, if Officialdom is actively looking for ways to exterminate them, then have at it, Fly320s.

Terry

Those things are in nearly every state causing havoc but Texas seems hardest hit. They have quite a few roaming SW Oklahoma from what I understand also. I have had people up here saying they wish we had wild hogs in WA and I tell them that is a foolish wish. Just go somewhere else to shoot them if you feel the need, the local farmers and ranchers would love it.

bob
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: Triphammer on February 09, 2019, 11:19:34 AM
Just read this thread. Didn't go look at any hunt offers. YOUTUBE has helicopter pig hunt ads. WTF?
I've come to expect ads on subjects I've searched but this is a first for me.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: MillCreek on February 09, 2019, 11:28:51 AM
My sister-in-law and her husband have a winter home on a golf course in Tucson. We go down there the first week of every April.  In recent years, we have seen packs of wild pigs/javelinas on the golf course greens in the early morning and evening.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: 230RN on February 09, 2019, 12:43:45 PM
My sister-in-law and her husband have a winter home on a golf course in Tucson. We go down there the first week of every April.  In recent years, we have seen packs of wild pigs/javelinas on the golf course greens in the early morning and evening.

It used to be said that a golf course was a terrible waste of a good rifle range.  Maybe things will be turning around, eh?

Terry, 230RN
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: RocketMan on February 09, 2019, 02:12:34 PM
Those things are in nearly every state causing havoc but Texas seems hardest hit. They have quite a few roaming SW Oklahoma from what I understand also. I have had people up here saying they wish we had wild hogs in WA and I tell them that is a foolish wish. Just go somewhere else to shoot them if you feel the need, the local farmers and ranchers would love it.

bob

Too late.  Before I moved from OR to NC in 2014 I did a little informal research into wild hog populations.  I came across a map showing wild hog concentrations across the country.  Both Oregon and Washington had small populations in the northeast and southeast parts of their states, respectively.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: BobR on February 09, 2019, 03:06:59 PM
Too late.  Before I moved from OR to NC in 2014 I did a little informal research into wild hog populations.  I came across a map showing wild hog concentrations across the country.  Both Oregon and Washington had small populations in the northeast and southeast parts of their states, respectively.

People say there is a small population on the Olympic Peninsula but I am kind of skeptical. You never have a small hog population. I haven't heard of any of them crossing  from NE OR to SE WA yet and if they were here is would not be a secret and I would be all over them. There is a guy that used to do closed range hunts on his ranch for pigs about 10 miles from me, I suppose some of them could have escaped. I will be looking for them whenever I go out Coyote hunting.

bob
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: MillCreek on February 09, 2019, 04:01:05 PM
Because I like to learn something every day, what is considered the optimum rifle and handgun cartridges for wild pigs?
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: dogmush on February 09, 2019, 04:18:59 PM
Because I like to learn something every day, what is considered the optimum rifle and handgun cartridges for wild pigs?

You just need something fast enough to set off the Tannerite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7OoXgcnczQ
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: Fly320s on February 09, 2019, 06:25:26 PM
Because I like to learn something every day, what is considered the optimum rifle and handgun cartridges for wild pigs?

I don't know about optimum, but most helo hog hunts use ARs in 5.56.  Some use shotguns or 7.62 rifles as well.  I think the helo hunts are more about volume of fire than effective hits.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: French G. on February 09, 2019, 06:28:31 PM
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/wildlifedamage/operational-activities/feral-swine/sa-fs-history (https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/wildlifedamage/operational-activities/feral-swine/sa-fs-history)

A deer gun with sturdier bullets ought to work fine right? Only thing I don't like about helo hog hunting is the high probability of not clean kills. I would prefer that everyone took a hot and made it into artisanal bacon from a brush Pat h you've probably never heard of, but the sad fact is normal hunting pressure will never eradicate these piggies and shooting them from a helo en masse is needed.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: Hawkmoon on February 09, 2019, 06:37:38 PM
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/wildlifedamage/operational-activities/feral-swine/sa-fs-history (https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/wildlifedamage/operational-activities/feral-swine/sa-fs-history)

A deer gun with sturdier bullets ought to work fine right? Only thing I don't like about helo hog hunting is the high probability of not clean kills. I would prefer that everyone took a hot and made it into artisanal bacon from a brush Pat h you've probably never heard of, but the sad fact is normal hunting pressure will never eradicate these piggies and shooting them from a helo en masse is needed.

So you're saying they should be using Vietnam-era Hueys with door gunners on both sides firing .50 cal Ma Deuces.

Or Puff the Magic Dragon ...
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: BobR on February 09, 2019, 06:39:50 PM
I just got an email from Nosler, they are having a bulk sale on ammo. If you are using 223 I bet that 62gr Varmegeddon with be just the ticket on hogs. Stock up now.

https://shop.nosler.com/nosler-ammunition-ammo/bulk-ammunition/shopby/utm_source//utm_campaign//utm_medium//utm_term//mc_cid//mc_eid/.html


bob
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: 230RN on February 13, 2019, 02:46:38 PM
...

There is a guy that used to do closed range hunts on his ranch for pigs about 10 miles from me, I suppose some of them could have escaped. I will be looking for them whenever I go out Coyote hunting.

bob

I'm curious:  Do they respond to varmint calls?
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: BobR on February 13, 2019, 04:07:07 PM
I'm curious:  Do they respond to varmint calls?

That is a good question, I wouldn't think so unless you had a pig distress call and even then would they care because they are not predators. I know a coyote pup distress call will bring the males running from far away, especially in the early spring.

Hogs I know nothing about except the ones that were outside the Chiefs Club at 32nd Street in San Diego at 2am. You don't want to know my memories of some of those encounters.  =(


bob
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: MechAg94 on February 13, 2019, 05:07:24 PM
I don't know about optimum, but most helo hog hunts use ARs in 5.56.  Some use shotguns or 7.62 rifles as well.  I think the helo hunts are more about volume of fire than effective hits.
I guess it depends on if you want to just kill them or if you want to drop them to skin for meat.  I know a couple people who have shot more than one with 22 LR and it was effective.  They just ran away before dying.  223 should work fine for inflicting a mortal wound. 
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: Scout26 on February 13, 2019, 07:20:22 PM
You might want to go with something bigger if you want the DRT, rather than  having to blood track them a long, long way until they bleed out.   They are some tough critters.
Title: Re: Helicopter hog hunting?
Post by: sumpnz on February 13, 2019, 07:26:37 PM
You might want to go with something bigger if you want the DRT, rather than  having to blood track them a long, long way until they bleed out.   They are some tough critters.

If you watch the videos they seem to drop pretty well to the .223.  Though that may be with multiple hits.  But from a chopper I don't think you have to punch through the gristle plate on the shoulder since you're shooting from above.

A custom butcher I know dispatches pigs with a .22mag.  Granted that is from about 2ft and going straight into the brain.  And he waits for the perfect shot.