Helo hog hunting on the Texas costal plains

[txgunner00]

At least a few of us have done similar stuff in different venues and vehicles over the years. It is truly a lot of fun but we've got to remember that the hogs here are vermin actively destroying a lot of vegetation on ranchland and, possibly, public land.

Absolutely. I've seen the damage across thousands of acres of Texas ranch and farm land from the ground but seeing it from the air gives you a whole new perspective.

A good friend of mine is a farmer in Lubbock area. Last year in one field alone hogs cost them $30,000 in lost crops.

[JASmith]

I had the pleasure of shooting rabbits at night from a truck on a Lubbock-area ranch in '68 and '69. The rancher and his family were excellent hosts, and I miss their company.

I guess I was too early for hogs...

[txgunner00]

I had the pleasure of shooting rabbits at night from a truck on a Lubbock-area ranch in '68 and '69. The rancher and his family were excellent hosts, and I miss their company.

I guess I was too early for hogs...

I've done that myself north of Lubbock and it's a lot of fun. You can really test your marksmanship going after the little critters with .22s.

Ferrel hogs really weren't a huge problem back then like they are now. It wasn't until last year you could legally pay for a helo hunt. Befor that it was highly restricted and the land owner usually paid for it. Most couldn't afford it so the state changed the law to try to slow the population growth.

[txgunner00]

got the same scope.i am putting it on my fal.

One guy with us was using a FAL. Put a whompin' on them for sure.

Verrryy interesting!!!

Couldn't get a feel for how far out the hogs were. I'm guessing most were under 100 yards, but the camera made it look a lot longer.

I took a few shots at 80-100 yds and connected with one or two at that range. Most were within 50 yds and we were 20'-30' off the deck.

[ss355]

What a rush that was just to watch the video. Can't imagine how much the adrenaline was pumping when actually shooting!

I'm now full of questions, so please bear with me. Like one other poster asked, at what range were most shots? It was hard to tell from the effect of the camera lens what the actual distance was.

How did you manage mags? One bag for loaded mags and one for empties? I noticed the rope attached to the gun; that makes sense.

What did your BiL report regarding target acquisition with the EOTech? I recall in another thread that you said next time you'd opt for a red dot/EOTech rather than a scope. Was that because of airspeed/target speed or because looking through the tube of the scope made for an unpleasant stomach?

Gun details--bbl length, stock? It looked like you didn't use a brass catcher. Did empties bother the pilot? Just want to nail down all the details so when (not "if") I go I'll be loaded for bear.

Thanks so much for posting the video. Sure made for a fun 20-ish minutes of entertainment even though I wasn't pulling a trigger.

[txgunner00]

What a rush that was just to watch the video. Can't imagine how much the adrenaline was pumping when actually shooting!

I'm now full of questions, so please bear with me. Like one other poster asked, at what range were most shots? It was hard to tell from the effect of the camera lens what the actual distance was.

Most were within 50 yds.

How did you manage mags? One bag for loaded mags and one for empties? I noticed the rope attached to the gun; that makes sense.

I had 8 mags in a chest carrier and a bag at my feet for empties. The primarily function of the rope was to keep you from shooting the rotors. The pilot didn't care as much if you dropped stuff as we could easily recover it.

What did your BiL report regarding target acquisition with the EOTech? I recall in another thread that you said next time you'd opt for a red dot/EOTech rather than a scope. Was that because of airspeed/target speed or because looking through the tube of the scope made for an unpleasant stomach?


My BIL thought the EOTech was perfect for that application as did others that had them. It's hard to tell from the video but the pilot was doing some pretty acrobatic flying to get us good shots on the hogs. Focusing through a small area while changing directions so much is what unsettled things. It wasn't that bad for me really, I didn't get sick or anything. Just felt like I spun in place a little too long. There was one guy before us that had to be brought back and he was just using a standard shotgun.

Gun details--bbl length, stock? It looked like you didn't use a brass catcher. Did empties bother the pilot? Just want to nail down all the details so when (not "if") I go I'll be loaded for bear.

20" Satern barrel, Mega billet side charging upper, custom brake, CTR stock, Giessele high speed national match trigger & some other bells & whistles. The pilot didn't say anything about the brass. I'm sure he was used to it. I used fire formed IMI brass that I have several loads out of already so it was close to the end of it's life anyway. If you watch my BIL's video close you can see some of my brass flying in front of him and out of the helo. Most of it ended up at the pilot's feet.

Thanks so much for posting the video. Sure made for a fun 20-ish minutes of entertainment even though I wasn't pulling a trigger.

Thanks for letting me borrow the magazines. Hope to see you at the range soon.

[jawbone]

Definitely one of the best 20-ticket rides out there! Thanks for posting this.

Semper Fi

[Schwag173]

I bet PETA will go apeshi...! Makes me like it that much more ...

[JASmith]

Thanks for the range info-- those wide angle cameras make things look way out.

20' - 30' off the deck? Those 'trees' must have been scrub -- they didn't look higher than the bird...

[txgunner00]

There are not too many tall trees in that area. Too many hurricanes over the years.

Speaking of birds- we saw all kinds of birds of prey. Hawks, owls, mexican eagles and a bald eagle. That was cool as I can't recall ever seeing one in the wild before. Also saw deer and lots of alligators.

[Variable]

Man, this thread is so full of WIN! If Texas ever lets you hunt with full auto on vermin like the pigs I'm going to have to go down there. I'd like to try my 10.5" on auto shooting bursts. I'd probably use the Wolf MPTs so I could apply them very liberally.LOL

[usmc1371]

i did hear something about using cans on our sticks i dont recall how far it go. imagine hunting from helo and using a canned rifle.......sounds like fun...

[LRRPF52]

What would be sick would be a 6.5 Grendel RPD on a mount in the bird. Belt-fed hog-slaying, with steel-cased ammo. Brass would just fall out too, rather than ejecting into the crew compartment.

[Variable]

what would be sick would be a 6.5 grendel rpd on a mount in the bird. Belt-fed hog-slaying, with steel-cased ammo. Brass would just fall out too, rather than ejecting into the crew compartment.

me want!!!!

[txgunner00]

i did hear something about using cans on our sticks i dont recall how far it go. imagine hunting from helo and using a canned rifle.......sounds like fun...

TPWD is in the process of public hearings on using suppressors for game hunting.

Go here and voice your support! There are also a number of public hearing you can attend.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20120221c