In the war to control the wild hog population in Texas, helicopter hunt operators and farmers with large tracks of land have an alliance. Large landowners allow hunting flyovers to help thin out the herds of instinctively destructive feral pigs on their properties. At nearly $3,000 a person, helicopter hunting outfitters gladly oblige.
A license is not needed for aerial hunting of wild hogs done over private land. The most popular time for this type of hunt is during the winter months — January to March. The ground is more visible with leaves off trees, said Chris Britt, CEO and co-owner of HeliBacon, a helicopter hunting operation based out of Bryan, some 60 miles northwest of Houston.
“Helicopter hog hunting is not a solution, per se. It is a management approach,” Britt said. “You’re never going to eradicate all of the feral pigs. But what you can do is you can regularly fly a property and you can keep the feral hog population and the associated damage in check in that area.”
It is a lucrative business for the hunting operators, and for paying customers, it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. HeliBacon offers the machine gun add-on package at $1,295 per person. Semiautomatic rifles are commonly used in the hunts. Night vision gear is available for another $995.
There is no closed season for hog hunting in Texas, but HeliBacon does not fly in November or December, which usually is deer season. That way the helicopter is not flying around gunfire from other hunters, Britt said.
A helicopter hunt typically begins with a safety course showing hunters what they need to know to stay safe while flying. Then an extended presentation on gun safety and how to operate the firearms aboard the aircraft.
It’s skids up by dawn as the hunting party heads out to fly over hundreds of thousands of acres of private land to find their prey. The hunt begins as the sun breaks the horizon, lasting for at least two hours. Then the helicopter heads back to base.
Helicopter operators and hunters were reminded this past week that safety is not guaranteed. According to friends of TCU alum Bram Kolhausen, he fell from a helicopter on a hunting trip near San Antonio over the weekend. Friends familiar with the situation estimate the fall was anywhere between 70 to 80 feet.
Texas has been under siege from an invasive non-native species for decades and the battle still rages to this day.
Wild hogs have plagued Texas land going back to the early 1900s, tearing up property and crops in search for food. While these animals have many names such as wild boars, razorbacks and feral hogs, and come in different shapes or sizes, they’re all part of the same Sus Scrofa species.
The animals are prolific breeders and built to tear up land in search of food, said Mikayal Killam, program specialist in the range, wildlife and fisheries at Texas A&M University.
“When we talk about the damage and the impact [feral hogs are] having to the people here to the wildlife or natural resources, its all additive because this animal is not supposed to be here,” Killam said. “The environment wasn’t designed to support it.”
Texans have been doing their part to thin out the feral hog population for years, with lawmakers passing bills to make it easier to hunt them. Hunters use a variety of methods to hunt the feral hogs with some taking the high road — hiring helicopters for an aerial assault
Even though feral hogs have been in Texas for sometime now, they’re a non-native invasive species.
When Europeans traveled to and explored North America in the 1500s, they brought domestic pigs with them as a food source. Since pigs reproduce early and often, the goal was to produce meat quickly and in a surplus, Killam said.
Free ranging animals was popular at the time and explorers allowed the pigs to scrounge around for food. As camps of explorers moved, pigs would get left behind. More were able to adaptto the wild, and the population of feral hogs multiplied.
By the late 1800s and early 1900s, boars were being released into the wild in the United States specifically for sport hunting. They were introduced into Texas primarily from zoos and through accidental and intentional introductions. It didn’t take long for the animals to spread across the state.
With cross breeding and quick reproduction, feral hogs were soon in abundance.
“We have a wild animal that is designed to reproduce very quickly and very effectively,” Killam said. “That’s part of why their numbers have grown so rapidly.”
Since feral hogs are not a game species and their populations aren’t monitored like other animals in Texas, it’s hard to tell just exactly how many there are, Killam said.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department estimated that from 1982 to 2016, the feral hog population increased from 2.4 million to 6.9 million across the U.S. Of those, 2.6 million feral hogs were estimated in Texas alone.
There isn’t just one way feral hogs impact the environment.
Hogs are a habitat generalist, meaning they don’t have a ton of requirements to be successful and mainly just need food and water, Killam said. The hogs diet consists of plant matter and use a technique called rooting to dig into the ground for food.
Everything from roots and tubers, to even insects, are on the menu for feral hogs. Feral hogs will dig into crops, and in some cases go after food meant for livestock.
Hogs disrupt crops and livestock. In the wild, the animals are taking food away from native species, Killam said.
“When I say opportunistic, I mean they are opportunistic, “ Killam said. “They’ll eat all sorts of other stuff that’s available.”
Feral hogs also’ impact water sources in Texas. Just as farm pigs roll around in mud to regulate body temperature, feral hogs do the same in ponds, lakes and rivers, Killam said. Not only are these feral hogs spreading grime and diseases into the water, but they can impact the local ecosystem.
Hogs wallowing in water can contribute to erosion and sedimentation in waterways, along with disrupting vegetation growth, the wildlife specialist said.
“If you think of domestic pigs and other animals, they are not moving to a second location to relieve themselves when they’re wallowing,” she said.
The battle over feral hogs is ongoing, and there’s not one thing that will win the war.
Hunting the animals is sure at the top of the list — even taking to the skies on helicopters to thin out herds, Killam said. Trapping wild hogs is another way farmers and ranchers are thinning out the animal population. A coordinated management of the herd will be needed to win this war, the wildlife specialist explained.
“It’s not a one and done solution,” Killam said. “It’s going to require a use of multiple tools, but also long term efforts.”
This story was originally published May 11, 2023, 7:22 AM.
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