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Nail a hog from on high
Mertzon, TX is taking hunting to a new level. If law proposed by Rep. Sid Miller is passed, you'll be able to jump on a helicopter and take pot shots at wild hogs ... if you have a permit.Lock and load! Grab a rifle or shotgun, set the rotors in motion.
These hogs have been causing plenty of property damage across Texas. Not only are they tearing up crops on farms, they're now uprooting golf course turf and disrupting the lives of suburban Texans. An estimated 2 million wild hogs cause $52 million in crop damage, so there is a serious side to this story.
If the new law can make it through the legislature, it will be the first of its kind in the United States. A handful of other states (such as Alaska) do allow aerial hunting, but only to keep predators, like wolves, at bay. Pigs, it seems, don't have any natural predators. They can even kick some coyote ass.
So, death will have to come from above. A lot of people are doing this.
Lat year, 1,100 hog-killing permits were issued, up from 201 in 2000. If Texans can start busting caps from on high, the number could go higher. Of course, there's always someone with a gripe. Jay Smith, owner of Smith Helicopters in Cotulla, TX, says, "If they're going to open up to where you can do this and anybody who's got a helicopter can go off to an old boy's place and hunt, that's going to be bad." Hell, the rancher's dog might get iced!
Fortunately, Rep. Miller has promised that the hunting would be closely regulated (bound to piss off the gun nuts), though he hasn't put together many of the details yet.
Once the wrinkles are ironed out, book that trip to Texas. You've always wanted to go, and now you have the perfect reason: hittin' hogs from a helicopter!
[Via Pocono Record, photo via Beard Papa]
Filed under: Activism, North America, United States, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Wait a minute Feb 20th 2009 5:18PM
Human beings have no right whatsoever to claim the upper hand over the "population control" of fauna, flora and otherwise. In this day and age where ecotourism is flourishing, the last thing we need is a travel idea that will perpetuate extinction and further drive our planet into shambles.
Mike Feb 20th 2009 5:34PM
I don't think a lot of people going to cry over some feral hogs that are running rampant all over Texas. FYI they cause a lot of damage not just to crops, private property, etc., but also wildlife. As the article says, they have no natural predators and are voracious. Notwithstanding the PETA rhetoric, our whole way of existence and civilization from the earliest days is predicated on claiming the "upper hand" over other animals. "It's survival of the fittest and we've got the f***ing gun." (bonus points for what movie that quote comes from)
BTW, in Texas there is no season on hogs if you're hunting on the ground, you only need a landowner's consent and maybe general hunting license, though not if they are in a state of "predation," which could be construed as "always."
Brian McKay Feb 21st 2009 12:17PM
Man has always had dominion over the wild things of the earth. When the hogs have caused "$52 million in crop damage," man is ethically and legally able to kill the wild animals. The killed pigs are then another food source. The circle of life continues.
Danno Feb 21st 2009 5:57PM
Right on, Mike!!
Oh, and Dennis Leary was GREAT in The Ref.
"Wait A Minute", who said anything about extinction? Ecotourism is one thing, but property damage is quite another. If you don't understand, go spend 6 months in the state of Texas. Fruitcake.
rooscogburn Feb 21st 2009 5:40PM
sure wish we could pass a law like that in idaho, wolves bgone
alflyfish Feb 21st 2009 5:57PM
As a hunter I make sure anything that I kill goes on the table. If the hogs that are killed will be used to feed individuals, thae I am for it, but if killed and waisted then I am not. Many could benifit from this. Al
Diane Feb 21st 2009 5:58PM
Killing for sport is one thing, just make sure that the animals killed are used for food. Wild boar is a very edible meat and shouldn't be wasted. Donate to the poor if you don't want to eat them, don't just kill them. Isn't that why the buffalo are so few.
DON Feb 21st 2009 6:20PM
SO LET ME GET THIS RIGHT . RICH RAUNCHERS AND GOLF COARCE OWNERS HAVE A PIG PROBLEM? SO THEY WANT US TO RENT A COPTER AND PLAY RAMBO TO SOLVE THIER PROBLEM? SEEMS TO ME THAT IF THEY WANT THEM GONE THEY SHOULD PAY US . BUT THEN HUNTING HAS BECOME A RICH BOYS GAME. LIKE THEY SAY IN ARKANSAS , " GO HOGS "
Renee Feb 21st 2009 6:23PM
Stewardship, not dominance.
Animals DON'T belong to us.
They are made from the same source that made us and need to be respected, as we would want the same.
They have feelings, needs, familiies and journies, just like us.
Having fur or feathers doesn't give them any less value than ourselves.
Maybe there's some meaning to "thou shall not kill" - it really doesn't specify what , just don't kill.
Please - HAVE A HEART!!!
Mark Feb 21st 2009 7:48PM
Renee, You may consider animals YOUR equal and maybe YOU are no better than an animal. I don't see it that way myself. I kill ,clean, skin, butcher, and eat animals. I also wear thier hide as leather. I would never do that to a human .
Wait a minute Feb 22nd 2009 5:55PM
Hey Danno, it's a simple concept: The domino effect. Remove one little insignificant, useless object/animal/plant/whatever (in your eyes, of course) from the system and whatever thrived on it, dies. The thing that thrived on it no longer has anything to turn to, which results in a decline. And repeat until every little bit has had the life sucked out of it.
Property damage doesn't even cover the surface, dear.