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A look at the Texas hog chopper law

Luke Clayton

I like to keep our weekly visits lighthearted and hopefully share a bit of information and knowledge I’ve gleaned from kicking around in the outdoors the past half century. But occasionally I feel the need to “vent” a bit about outdoor related topics. What are your feelings about “hunting” wild hogs from helicopters? Let’s look at the many facets of this often controversial subject.

About four years ago with the passing of House Bill 716, now known as the Pork Chop Law, shooting wild hogs from the air became legal. Granted, much paperwork must be filed with Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) and these “hunts” are probably monitored as well as possible. But how can any agency monitor a chopper moving about in the sky above remote ranch or farmland?

In the beginning, these “shoots” were approved to control the number of wild hogs but in reality, at costs of about $1,500 per hour, just how many people can afford (or wish to) partake? My personal feelings are that these chopper “kills” of wild hogs would be perfectly acceptable IF the pilots knew precisely where the property lines were on the ground and IF the slaughtered animals were retrieved from workers on the ground in ATV’s. In the real world, this is not happening.

I live one mile from what can be some good wild hog hunting. I hunt hogs on this property year around with bow or big bore air rifle and annually put several porkers in my freezer or give the meat to family or friends. There is a 350 acre tract that abuts the property I hunt on two sides. This property owner has signed a contract with a Helicopter “Outfitter” to allow hunts on his land. The company also has legal rights to hunt several other small tracts in the area and one big ranch.

Most of these Helicopter “shoots” occur this time of year, when there are few leaves on the trees and visibility is good. It’s easy to see hogs from the air in a barren winter landscape. On three different occasions, I’ve witnessed the chopper flying low with sirens blasting to scare the hogs out of cover, crossing into the land that I hunt at very low altitude. The heavy cover on the land we hunt must look like hog heaven to the chopper pilot overhead and I truly believe he  gets so caught up in the moment, that he fails to heed the property line fence he crosses over, in his focus to spot hogs in the heavy cover (NOT on his fly list).  Once, while at the camp in the interior of our lease, I watched a blue helicopter fly over just above treetop level with shooters visible.  Not only do these low flying choppers with sirens blasting get hogs up out of their beds and moving, it disrupts all wildlife, whitetail deer included.

I’ve had about enough of these encroachments on the land I hunt and several people that hunt other tracts in my area are in agreement. So, what is the answer to getting this stopped? Last week, I decided to try to do the upright thing; I called the owner of the company that runs these helicopter shoots and explained my situation to him. It is my desire that he take care of this promptly and everyone will be happy. I simply do not want the illegal act of the chopper flying over “MY” area, disturbing the wildlife. Others in the area feel the same way.

During our conversation, the Chopper “Outfitter” stated that I needed to bring maps, plats, etc. to him and he would go over them and made sure his pilots did not encroach again on future “hunts”. I described to him the track of land that joins his approved tract on two sides and even gave him the owner’s name. My request was that he look at the description of the land he is permitted to fly over and stay OFF the adjacent property (MINE). I also pointed out that I spend about 22 years of my life as an on the ground crew chief of a survey party.  “You should know exactly where the property lines are on this tract, right? So just stay ON THAT TRACK.” was my instruction. He continued to request that I bring plats, etc for him to look at. I finally asked if he would drive out and meet with me on the ground. I would walk the lines with him so that there would be absolutely no doubt about future encroachments. I never got an affirmative on that request.  If this problem persists, my next visit will be with our local game warden.

A couple of years ago, a couple of TV celebrities came out to do a hog “Kill” on the big ranch out here. I later watched the episode of the show and one would have thought they were flying in a Marine gun ship in Vietnam from the way they carried on. The show was appalling to me and anyone I believe that calls himself a hunter.   I understand that an enormous number of hogs were killed.  I inquired about how many were given to folks for meat; there are plenty of people out this way that would be more than happy to have the food but, never got a definitive answer. These Outfitters state that the meat is picked up by forces on the ground and given to needy people. Really???

It’s important to understand that I have nothing against killing hogs or, any legal animal for that matter that can supply meat for my sausage and BBQ. A partner and I outfit elk and bear hunts in northern Colorado. I kill quiet a few hogs by hunting myself during the course of a year. I make part of my living hunting and killing game with guns, bow, etc. that are manufactured by my sponsors. I put all the meat to good use; I see this as my responsibility.  Its encroachment and gross neglect for private property rights that I am addressing.

Although I would vote in a second to ban these helicopter hunts on tracts less than several thousand acres, I can tolerate them IF they are conducted ONLY on ranches/farms where they are licensed to fly. For the hefty price of $1,500 per hour, these outfitters can certainly afford to pay a few bucks to have a guy or two on the ground to retrieve the animals.

That brings up another good point; profit. The outfitters gains access to all these property for FREE. He tells the property owner he will remove their hogs. Many landowners jump right on this bandwagon and allow these chopper hunts to take place without charge. I can see a great deal of profit here for the outfitter. How much does the pilot charge for 1.5 hours or so of flying. What is the cost of fuel? Fifteen hundred dollars? I don’t think so! It’s a lucrative business, obviously with enough cliental to keep those whirly birds flying and.. a hefty profit going into the bank account.

What is a better solution to the problem? I think trapping and sport hunting can do an even better job and not just during the winter months. If you have time, go online to www.goinfencing.com and watch how these guys effectively use their smart phone activated traps to remove thousands of hogs each year. Hundreds of these trapping systems are in use in several states across the south and southwest and they are highly effective in removing hogs. Trappers then sell the hogs to meat hog buyers and everyone profits. WITHOUT ENCROACHMENT FROM THE AIR!

Outdoors writer, radio host and book author Luke Clayton has been addicted to everything outdoors related since his childhood when he grew up hunting and fishing in rural northeast Texas. Luke pens a weekly newspaper column that appears in over thirty newspapers.