Hogs and helicopters, can I clear this up for you folks!
- Thread starter A Guy Out West
- Start date
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A Guy Out West
Well-Known Member
Economics. That's another reason you see the pay and blast thing. The rancher does not have to pay for the pigs to be shot, the shooters do.
That’s spot on.
£££££££££££££££££££££££& more ££££££££££££££ is all they see, look at the gung Ho advertising,I Agree with AGOWIt kind of shoots down your argument that it’s just pest control when numerous outfits in TX are selling ‘Helicopter Hog Hunts’.
seems like that’s what all the outfits are calling it so that’s what everyone’s going to think of it as.......
Helicopter Hog Hunting Trips in Texas | HeliBacon
Do you want to eradicate herds of hogs from the air? Browse HeliBacon's helicopter hog hunting trips in Texas & book your memorable trip today!www.helibacon.com
But these boys are making good£££££, but it ain't hunting,
As AGOW has said its vermin control, and if the outfitters can make a few£ fair play ,
But the thought behind it ( anyone picking up a semi auto , for the buzz of killing is wrong)
That's the fine line ..... This outfit should be playing HALO from an armchair
But if the pros do it ( as AGOW has stated ) that's a different matter all together
Kjf
A Guy Out West
Well-Known Member
Ranching/farming is a tough go even under the best of conditions. Having to deal with a hoard of hogs can be the straw that breaks the camels back. What many don’t understand when they see the helicopter
gunning is that it would cost a rancher dearly to hire it done. A rancher by leasing his land to the chopper gunners or charging a fee for each trip, might actually be able to make some money or at least save his operation. I would bet that the worst hit properties don’t even ask the choppers for a lease fee or any other $.Rather depends on the jurisdiction as you well know. Not endorsing or bashing. The heli hog video I have seen clearly stated feral hog control not "hunting".
You can hunt them in a conventional manner.
A Guy Out West
Well-Known Member
Not talking about conventional manner. That is actually hunting.
The debate, on the internet:
Today, arguing for, we have The Truth About Guns.
The Truth About Guns: On The Ethics Of Shooting Hogs From Helicopters
And arguing against, we have The Sun.
The Sun: High-rolling hunters fork out £2,000 to blast terrified pigs from helicopters with machine guns for two hours
In today’s audience, we have the Common Suburban Man, Woman, Teenager and Child. None of whom understand anything about agrarian practices in the Southern United States of America. The winner of today’s debate will be judged on Facebook, with Likes.
Ready... Steady... GO!
Today, arguing for, we have The Truth About Guns.
The Truth About Guns: On The Ethics Of Shooting Hogs From Helicopters
And arguing against, we have The Sun.
The Sun: High-rolling hunters fork out £2,000 to blast terrified pigs from helicopters with machine guns for two hours
In today’s audience, we have the Common Suburban Man, Woman, Teenager and Child. None of whom understand anything about agrarian practices in the Southern United States of America. The winner of today’s debate will be judged on Facebook, with Likes.
Ready... Steady... GO!
A Guy Out West
Well-Known Member
That’s really what I would hate to see.
I agree somewhat to what you say...,,but having lived there (not a far distance from one of the most popular ones in north Texas - Sky Hunter) please explain, if it’s simply for efficient pest control why cash paying Walter mitty’s (usually overweight) are allowed to unleash their custom AR with all the add-on’s in camo clothing (not sure why that’s required in a helicopter?) are allowed to perform the task (and from many of the videos available online- are not really up to the task of cleanly killing a moving animal from a Helicopter)
I don’t mind a sensible defence of something, but when it’s clearly a commercial venture which caters from many people with a “nam” complex....it’s hard to justify it.
if it was about efficient control, most of the farms up around the state line and red river area I spoke to used drop cages and just good old fashioned ground hunting, sometimes with groups of people waiting to hit a group of hogs, which would hopefully cull high number before they ran off.
regards,
Gixer
What are they like to eat?
John Gryphon
Well-Known Member
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www.mcd.com.au
john_little
Well-Known Member
Bloomin’ good question borbal. Buffalo looks like a very healthy meat option.
Another name for feral hog is wild boar, and you can put as much of that in front of me as you like...!
As for prime beef.... breads like Limousin and Charolait are little more than dog food. Aberdeen Angus is not much better. The best beef in my experience is slow grown Galloway, properly hung. But for all that, I would still set that aside for a plate of wild boar.
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As a commercial beef producer (Angus Charolais cross) I could embark on a lengthy diatribe to re-educate you.
But you’re kind of right.
I haven’t bought beef from a supermarket for so long I’d be guessing when. When I have the misfortune to eat some at a friend’s barbecue or wherever, it’s always a huge disappointment.
But I’m sure you are aware how top-class prime beef is produced graded and selected for use in the kinds of restaurants where the beef is super tasty and perfect texture. The preparation of prime beef for the sharp end of the market is completely different in every aspect to the common or garden fare that the normal man buys from Waitrose.
For example our homekill beef is regularly commented on as the best beef someone has ever eaten, and that compliment has been paid by other beef producers, including pure bred Angus. And it’s simply because our home paddock beef steers are treated like royalty and get the best of everything until they are well past the normal killing age. What might surprise you is that usually our homekill beef is Friesian cross Hereford, a right mongrel and not one of the “name brands” like Angus. In New Zealand they are known as black white faces or brown white faces.
The reason we use dairy cows crossed with small Hereford bulls is because they put on weight slowly. They are not genetically predisposed to become as big as possible as quick as possible. As long as the feed is plentiful and decent quality then they will grow out with a sensible proportion of muscle mass to bone structure. The trick is to leave them to add condition past the end of the second summer grass growing season. By this time they have finished the majority of their growth and now they are just putting on fat and filling out. The marbling in the meat is extraordinary. If I put a plate of my beef in front of you, you will think you are eating at the table of Helios.
Back to feral pigs or hogs or boar or whatever we shall choose to call them. There is as much genetic variety within the various populations around the world as the Pavement Special dog of unknown parentage. Having hunted and eaten feral pigs in New Zealand, Australia (against advice), America, Britain, France, Germany and Portugal, I can say with absolute certainty is that not all feral pigs are created equally... I’ve been served some pig that was downright delicious and other pig that has been all but inedible. And to be honest my palate doesn’t particularly agree with gamey meat, for instance I will spot a post-rut stag from a yearling hind instantly.
And therein lies the challenge with the hogs of Texas and elsewhere... (a) you’re not sure what you’re going to get in terms of quality, (b) the meat can taste too gamey for many, (c) the market demands homogeneity in all aspects. Feral hogs are omnivorous of course, they eat a huge array of different foods and the simple fact is no one likes eating animals that eat the rotten carcasses of their own. The best way for a farmer in Texas to clean up all the feral hogs shot from the helicopter is to allow the other hogs to eat them.... uuurrggghhh. Maybe I’m spoiled that I have zero inclination to eat the pigs of our property that I know have been scavenging our dead livestock dumps.
The feral pigs that come from deep within the New Zealand bush and forests such as the Whanganui are a completely different proposition. They don’t get to see dead livestock, they are proper pigs and make a living from rooting and berries primarily, and limited browsing around on the few grassed clearings that far into the timber. But you don’t get to see them very often.
I’m sure the reality of trying to shoot / recover / process / enter foodchain feral hogs is no less onerous than all the wasted meat in the Aussie outback - camels and scrub bulls primarily. There’s just no way of economically delivering meat from those animals in those locations to the supermarket shelf whilst adhering to today’s food standards. And considering it’s likely to be a small market anyway, because people will turn their noses up to feral hog, then who is going to bother?
But you’re kind of right.
I haven’t bought beef from a supermarket for so long I’d be guessing when. When I have the misfortune to eat some at a friend’s barbecue or wherever, it’s always a huge disappointment.
But I’m sure you are aware how top-class prime beef is produced graded and selected for use in the kinds of restaurants where the beef is super tasty and perfect texture. The preparation of prime beef for the sharp end of the market is completely different in every aspect to the common or garden fare that the normal man buys from Waitrose.
For example our homekill beef is regularly commented on as the best beef someone has ever eaten, and that compliment has been paid by other beef producers, including pure bred Angus. And it’s simply because our home paddock beef steers are treated like royalty and get the best of everything until they are well past the normal killing age. What might surprise you is that usually our homekill beef is Friesian cross Hereford, a right mongrel and not one of the “name brands” like Angus. In New Zealand they are known as black white faces or brown white faces.
The reason we use dairy cows crossed with small Hereford bulls is because they put on weight slowly. They are not genetically predisposed to become as big as possible as quick as possible. As long as the feed is plentiful and decent quality then they will grow out with a sensible proportion of muscle mass to bone structure. The trick is to leave them to add condition past the end of the second summer grass growing season. By this time they have finished the majority of their growth and now they are just putting on fat and filling out. The marbling in the meat is extraordinary. If I put a plate of my beef in front of you, you will think you are eating at the table of Helios.
Back to feral pigs or hogs or boar or whatever we shall choose to call them. There is as much genetic variety within the various populations around the world as the Pavement Special dog of unknown parentage. Having hunted and eaten feral pigs in New Zealand, Australia (against advice), America, Britain, France, Germany and Portugal, I can say with absolute certainty is that not all feral pigs are created equally... I’ve been served some pig that was downright delicious and other pig that has been all but inedible. And to be honest my palate doesn’t particularly agree with gamey meat, for instance I will spot a post-rut stag from a yearling hind instantly.
And therein lies the challenge with the hogs of Texas and elsewhere... (a) you’re not sure what you’re going to get in terms of quality, (b) the meat can taste too gamey for many, (c) the market demands homogeneity in all aspects. Feral hogs are omnivorous of course, they eat a huge array of different foods and the simple fact is no one likes eating animals that eat the rotten carcasses of their own. The best way for a farmer in Texas to clean up all the feral hogs shot from the helicopter is to allow the other hogs to eat them.... uuurrggghhh. Maybe I’m spoiled that I have zero inclination to eat the pigs of our property that I know have been scavenging our dead livestock dumps.
The feral pigs that come from deep within the New Zealand bush and forests such as the Whanganui are a completely different proposition. They don’t get to see dead livestock, they are proper pigs and make a living from rooting and berries primarily, and limited browsing around on the few grassed clearings that far into the timber. But you don’t get to see them very often.
I’m sure the reality of trying to shoot / recover / process / enter foodchain feral hogs is no less onerous than all the wasted meat in the Aussie outback - camels and scrub bulls primarily. There’s just no way of economically delivering meat from those animals in those locations to the supermarket shelf whilst adhering to today’s food standards. And considering it’s likely to be a small market anyway, because people will turn their noses up to feral hog, then who is going to bother?
A Guy Out West
Well-Known Member
Gixer,
You miss my point entirely. I’m not defending it, don’t really give a rip about it. I just want people not to confuse this with hunting.
I guess the confusion comes when the companies themselves call them heli-hunts!
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