Helicopter Predator Hunt

[bigfatdave]

Sunray Do the mounties have an airborne division now?

I'm just curious about the method of arrest.

 

[Readyrod]

I get motion sick really easy. I mean really easy. If someone else is driving the car (mainly just my mom, sisters or girlfriend I get extremely car sick)

When I did helicopter work the only time I felt sick was when I had my head looking down. If you keep your head as level as possible it shouldn't be as bad.

 

[ultradoc]

Sounds like a good time to me. Keep us posted and take some vid!

 

[Justin Holder]

Don't forget a good sling, you don't want to be fishing your shotgun out from the middle of a cactus.

 

[rugerman]

As far as the motion sickness goes try Dramamine II (meclizine) 1 the day before and then up to 1 three times a day as needed. Same drug that they use for vertigo. Had a friend who had to ride in the front seat and look straight ahead or he would get sick, meclizine took care of it for him.

 

[Grunt Medic TXARNG]

Not as likely to shoot yourself down with an errant shot?

No, Sunray. As with any guided hunt, I'm quite certain that safety rules are stressed and enforced. In this case, the most important being not to load until the first target is identified, not to allow the muzzle to cover anything but the designated shooting zone, and to keep the safety on and your finger off the trigger until the target is identified and the decision made to fire. Though I wonder, with the cost of owning and operating a helicopter, if a paraplane might not do the job just as well and at a much lower cost.

 

[Sunray]

"...mounties have an airborne division..." They've used aircraft for eons.
Our CF Scarborne Regiment was disbanded in 1995. Too many intense guys with little to do.
It's not the RCMP you'd have to worry about though. Our CO's have more authority. They can confiscate everything you have with you, vehicles included. They'll wait for you to land.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

However, I don't recall TPWD allowing for the hunting of taxa other than hogs from a helicopter and hunting from a helicopter is only allowed in certain areas.

Hunting is not restricted to any certain areas (as in region), but there are constraints with respect to populated areas and air space.

No, not limited by region, but definitely limited to certain areas. Individual properties are certain areas.

Last time I checked, the list of animals that can be controlled by aerial shooting were: Feral Hogs, Bobcat, Coyote, Coyote/Dog cross and Red Fox.

Ah! My bad. The new law for allowing aerial hog hunt just added hogs that were classified differently to a list of other animals that can be taken in such a manner.

 

[kyle1974]

Up here, t'd get you arrested so fast your hair would curl. No hunting from aircraft and no loaded firearms in any motorized vehicle."...seems shotguns are the weapon of choice..." Not as likely to shoot yourself down with an errant shot?

God bless Texas.

 

[esheato]

Not sure if anyone mentioned this or not, but I think a lanyard or sling would be terribly important.

 

[oneounceload]

4+1 should be plenty - you might want to hit the skeet field and practice some crossers to simulate you going by a hog on the ground. Capacity without accuracy means no BBQ

 

[Girodin]

I would use this if I were going to use a shotgun.

I would also finally have a good excuse to buy this :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaC4hrTbwIY

 

[HGUNHNTR]

When your done you can go to the pet store to go fishing.
Seriously though, why on earth would anyone want to shoot at animals from a helicopter?

 

[Girodin]

Seriously though, why on earth would anyone want to shoot at animals from a helicopter?

There are way to many of that particular species of animal, a fact that is leading to serve consequences and you want to use the most effective means possible to kill as many of them as possible. That would be a pretty good reason and the one that is leading people to shoot hogs from helicopters and/or hire others to do so.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

^ OK I understand shooting hogs in this manner, but bobcats and coyotes?

 

[Art Eatman]

HGUNHTR, if you're trying to make a living in sheep/goat ranching, coyotes and bobcats can ruin your year.

Example: On the 7,000-acre ranch where we deer-leased, not far north of Uvalde, Texas, the rancher put a thousand goats out. His first-year kid crop ran about 60%. The next year saw a very, very active trapping effort. Many coyotes and bobcats were killed. IIRC, some thirty bobcats were trapped or snared just in the 3,000-acre East Pasture. The next kid crop was about 80%.

Ad valorem school taxes, back then, were $4,000 per year.

200 goats at around $50 each is a noticeable improvement in one's standard of living.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

I understand this philosphy Art. I grew up on a farm in rural Nebraska and we had cattle and sheep. Predators were a cost of doing business in their habitat. While we did hunt them, we also saw the benefit of having them around, and by no means did we ever attempt to exterminate them. I guess I would rather give up some standard of living vs. upsetting the balance. Afterall we introduced prey into their habitat, many farmers take the approach that the coyotes came onto THEIR property to consume their animals. I guess it's just another reason to only consume wild game or critters you've ethically raised yourself if you eat meat.

 

[hobodemon]

On a serious note, you could take whatever shotgun you're using and install a thing called the "XRail" system, by RCI. It's a magazine-tube extension using 4 rotating tubes to increase the capacity of a compatible shotgun to over 20 shells.

 

[Girodin]

^ OK I understand shooting hogs in this manner, but bobcats and coyotes?

Around a ranch I have the state pays people to shoot 'yotes from aircraft. Traditional hunting doesn't sufficiently control their populations. It is not an effort to exterminate them it is an effort to manage their populations. I'd rather them shoot them from an aircraft than poison them like used to be real common. I still feel bad about a dog we had there when I was a killed that was killed by poison intended for coyotes.

Trapping, arial shooting, poisoning, hunting etc have never come close to exterminating coyotes in that area. The number one effect on their population seems to be the jackrabbit population and whether it is up or down from what I can tell in terms of seeing and hearing indicia of them in the area.

On a serious note, you could take whatever shotgun you're using and install a thing called the "XRail" system, by RCI. It's a magazine-tube extension using 4 rotating tubes to increase the capacity of a compatible shotgun to over 20 shells.

The x rail requires a 26" barrel and cost about $700. For $700 I would prefer to buy and convert a saiga and get at least one drum. That's just me though. The x rail in an interesting product but its practical application is probably mostly limited to open class three gun competition.

 

[Girodin]

I guess it's just another reason to only consume wild game or critters you've ethically raised yourself if you eat meat.

That would be very far from convenient for all the people living in major metropolitan areas. You might expand the class of animals to those ethically raised by others.

 

[Art Eatman]

"I guess I would rather give up some standard of living vs. upsetting the balance."

Yeah, but $10,000 is a not-insignificant part of one's standard of living. You know: Health insurance, car payment, shoes for the kids.

And the goats eat what was once available to deer and rabbits and suchlike, which creates a balance problem, right there. Farming and plowed land is a case of "even moreso".

Folks want "balance" as long as somebody else is paying for it. Maybe not you, but the Sierra Club is loaded with them.

I note that the tax man doesn't give a hoot about anybody's standard of living...

Back to feral hogs: I figure that if I'm taking a sporting approach to hunting a hog, I'll follow my usual rules for "clean, ethical kill". Same as with any critter. But varmint control is a whole different deal. Nothing about sporting or fair chase is part of the deal. It's just like killing cockroaches, except more expense and effort. The justification for using a chopper is that it lets a shooter cover larger areas in less time.