Hunting pigs with night vision
I have to admit that I have long fantasied about going hunting with high vision goggles and scopes. The idea probably fills most hunters with disgust, and rightly so. There cannot be even be a pretense of fair chase. AR Guns & Hunting has published a brief article about their nigh-time hunting experience with a crew called Tactical Hog Control. The feral pig population is out of control and they do much damage to landowners properties and the use of nigh-vision gear allows quicker culling.
From THC’s website …
Since we began hunting together in April 2008, our talley on hogs is just over 260 as of December 1, 2009. Of these hogs, only 3 were not processed and made use of by ourselves, our guests, or someone in need. Well over 90% are neck/head shots so loss of use due to less than perfect bullet placement is minimal. We work to maintain this record by getting in close for the kill and by being patient while waiting for the right shot presentation. The typical shot is at 3o to 40 yards standing off of shooting sticks. We are a one shot-one kill style of hunting.
…
Hunts can be booked by calling Randy at 210-884-7311 or Gerald at 210-884-7462 or by email at nighthogs@gmail.com. We are located in Seguin, Texas which is 35 miles east of San Antonio on IH10 and 160 miles west of Houston. Hunting locations are within a 30 minute drive of Seguin. We have reduced our price for 2009 to $300 per person for up to 4 people. There is no trophy fee and no cleaning fee. If you book for two consecutive nights it is $550 per person. We are so confident in getting you a shot at a hog, we will offer this guarantee. If we can’t put you within 75 yards of a hog with a shot opportunity, we will invite you back for a free hunt.
Click on calendar under “links” for available hunting dates.
I wonder if cavemen spent nights around the camp fire discussing whether or not the newly invented spear was fair on the wooly mammoths and saber toothed tigers that they hunted 😉 In all seriousness, when it comes to culling animals, anything humane goes. Night vision probably gives less of advantage than the helicopters do in the parts of the world where they are used for hunting.
[ Just a warning: any anti-hunting comments, “these guys are idiots” comments and other unhelpful comments will be deleted ]
I founded TFB in 2007 and over 10 years worked tirelessly, with the help of my team, to build it up into the largest gun blog online. I retired as Editor in Chief in 2017. During my decade at TFB I was fortunate to work with the most amazing talented writers and genuinely good people!
More by Steve Johnson
Comments
Join the conversation
Subby - here in Texas, feral hogs get classified by the Texas Park & Wildlife department as exotic animals. There's no state bag or possession limits or closed seasons on exotic animals on private property. You still need a valid hunting license, you still need landowner permission, and of course other general laws and rules apply (e.g. can't hunt on a public road).
Bottom line: you can hunt them 24/7/365 and shoot all you want. Most of the landowners around here are happy to do so, lest the buggers tear up your land, crops, eat all the food for more desirable animals (e.g. whitetail deer).
So can you rock up with your own rifle and shoot them? Sure.
What do these guys offer? Well, you are paying them for their time. Speaking at least for the outfit I went with, they have agreements with I think 10 or so landowners in the area to cull the boogers from their land. So these guys have to take the time to scout out and know where the pigs are running. They know the lay of the land, they know where the food and water supplies are. They've done work. Sure you could go out and hunt on your own, but you know how that goes.... you may or may not bag something. Guided hunts tend to increase your chances of success. And that's what they get.
The other thing you're paying for is the experience. Not everyone has nor can afford night vision equipment and suppressed rifles. It's just a different experience. Fun at that. :-)
So of course you don't have to pay these guys and can go it alone. But they offer something that may be tough to get any other way.
hsoi beat me to it. You're paying for their time (wear and tear on vehicles, gas, etc) as well as access to private property to hunt.
Here in CA up on the north end they have a real problem with ground squirrels. Some communities have an annual event where for a weekend they open their property to licensed hunters to blast the ground squirrels.