Hunting Hogs with an AK-47. Read the full article.
Shooting feral hogs and coyotes from hot air balloons may soon be legal in Texas.
Last week, the Texas Legislature approved a bill to legalize hunting those porcine marauders and those depredating dogs from giant balloons provided one obtains a permit. The bill now heads to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.
Though it may sound like a joke, the reality is that feral hogs, in particular, are a big problem in the Lone Star State. According to researchers at Texas A&M:
Of the estimated 4 to 5 million feral hogs in the United States, approximately 2 million call Texas home. Feral hogs can be found in approximately 230 of our 254 counties and cause an estimated $52 million of damage to Texas agricultural enterprises each year. However, feral hogs are causing an increasing amount of damage in suburban/urban areas because of vehicle collisions and landscape damage.
“We’ve got a problem here and we are willing to fix it ourselves,” state representative Mark Keogh told the Texas Observer. “We have that Western, swashbuckling, cowboying type of way to deal with things. It’s part of the culture, it’s different than any other state.”
We’ve all seen those videos of people hunting hogs from helicopters. The problem with that approach is that helicopters are loud. Those smart little piggies can hear you coming from miles away. Plus, shooting from a chopper isn’t as easy nor efficient as it appears.
See Also: AK-47 Hog Blaster – The Ultimate Counter Insurgency Weapon
A hot air balloon, on the other hand, is quieter and gives one a more stable platform from which to shoot. Think of it, a balmy Texas day. You’re ballooning in the clouds, high above the world, and then suddenly you descend over a grazing sounder of swine. Pop, pop, pop! So long Mr. Pig and company!
“It’s not a joke anymore,” said Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who introduced the measure. “It’s not just an agricultural problem.
“Now they are uprooting tombstones in cemeteries; they are damaging golf courses, city parks and suburban lawns,” he added.
If control is what you want , invite an pay for group hunters to thin them out . A group of land owners could male this happen.
REMOVE ANY AND ALL RESTRICTIONS, REAL AND OR IMAGINED. TREAT THEM AS YOU WOULD A TERRORIST, AND PLACE $1,000 BOUNTY’S ON THEM! WHATEVER WORKS! I WOULD GLADLY DEAL WITH FERAL HOGS THAN ASIAN HONEYSUCKLE! HOGS YOU CAN KILL. THIS CRAP IS VERY HARD TO KILL AND EXPENSIVE TO DO SO, REQUIRING HUNDREDS OF MAN HOURS EACH YEAR!
Sounds like bullshit to me. I kill them all the time from the truck and they never know I’m coming. More government wasting time on stuff they have no business in. Why don’t they figure out how to pay for new roads here in TX instead of using taxpayers money to build toll roads?
Oh no, not the golf courses! The horror 😭
All Texas has to do is hang a sign on their property that says ‘ pig hunters welcome. ‘
PUT A $1,000 BOUNTY ON THEM, ILLEGALS AND TERRORISTS. THE PROBLEM WILL THEN BE SOLVED!
I’m embarrassed that someone from Texas thinks this idea could work. Unless you are planning to tie off the balloon above your property, how you gonna “drive” to the proper spot and hover there? We’re not in Kansas any more…
Every one complains about the damage the pigs are causing , but no one will allow you to hunt their property , with out an outrageously priced fee or lease charge .
Right on bro…I’d be glad take on the problem…and pay a reasonable fee. No hot air required!
If Texans would learn to eat pork Bar-B-Que like we do in NC there might not be such a problem. I have yet to see one in SE North Carolina and would really enjoy adding them to our hunting options. If anyone has a few they’d like to get rid of give me a holler!
\”Oh, the humanity!\” (For anyone with a furrowed brow, Google \”Hindenburg Disaster\”).
Hopefully this technique will be cheaper than the $1700/hr that is being charged by the helo jocks
Well if Texas is serious about the feral hog problem…. put a bounty on them! Bring left ear pick check for $5.00 or what ever would maybe encourage more hunters …..to kill the suckers! Have round hog round up like they for the raddle snakes!
Looking forward to giving it a try. The damage these animals leave behind is horindous, they need to be controld.
I don\’t see a problem with it because hogs are sneaky creatures to hunt . Many southern states are dealing with unbelievable crop damage and private property damage . If you\’ve witnessed the damage a herd of 30 can do it looks like a bulldozer pushed up a large area over night . Wild hogs have gotten wayyyy over populated , I\’ve flown over herds using our large drone some herds are number in hundreads that includes sow with piglets . Coyote will not mess with the young in fact I don\’t know ofbany predator willing to face off a herd of bore . Hovering over them would really be a much easier stable platform and be able to clear many quickly . Hopefully these ballon hunts will be respectful of others property . There is a space between the ground upward that\’s protected from aircraft such as taking photos of others family\’s, property and in this case hunting approved boundaries . To be effective if this is only a sport and not to clear wild herds all over the state not just one big ranch it\’s not going to work many have privacy concerns . We sure as hell don\’t need drunk hunters hovering overhead firing all types of hunting class weapons ( imsure tgere will be violations )
Over all I\’d approve of it withnsome strict state oversight .
I don’t see a problem with it because hogs are sneaky creatures to hunt . Many southern states are dealing with unbelievable crop damage and private property damage . If you’ve witnessed the damage a herd of 30 can do it looks like a bulldozer pushed up a large area over night . Wild hogs have gotten wayyyy over populated , I’ve flown over herds using our large drone some herds are number in hundreads that includes sow with piglets . Coyote will not mess with the young in fact I don’t know ofbany predator willing to face off a herd of bore . Hovering over them would really be a much easier stable platform and be able to clear many quickly . Hopefully these ballon hunts will be respectful of others property . There is a space between the ground upward that’s protected from aircraft such as taking photos of others family’s, property and in this case hunting approved boundaries . To be effective if this is only a sport and not to clear wild herds all over the state not just one big ranch it’s not going to work many have privacy concerns . We sure as hell don’t need drunk hunters hovering overhead firing all types of hunting class weapons ( imsure tgere will be violations )
Over all I’d approve of it withnsome strict state oversight .