Nail a hog from on high

by Tom Johansmeyer on

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]

St. Lucia There & Back Part 6: Sightseeing by Helicopter

by Adrienne Wilson on


After I took my first aerial tour in Oahu, Hawaii about two years ago I knew I’d want to take more by helicopter on future vacations, so before I departed to St. Lucia I did some research and found that there is one company offering helicopter tours in St. Lucia. Unsurprisingly, they go under the name St. Lucia Helicopters. They offer a number of tours depending on how much you wish to see and how much money you want to drop to see it. For the $155 I decided to spend I could have probably gone over to neighboring island, Martinique, but once more I wanted to see the island I was camping on at another angle. For $155 you get a 30 minute helicopter ride over the entire island. They also offer a quick 10 minute ride over the north side for $70 per person and a 20 minute tour of the south side for $120. If you’re serious about getting great photographs from the sky you should look into their photography tours which can be extremely expensive. Your best bet is what they call the North & South Tour or the one I joined in on.

For my second time in a helicopter the experience itself wasn’t that memorable. This helicopter was a six-seater which was much bigger than the tiny four-seater I had been on in the past, but it also much noisier once we really got started. I couldn’t hear the pilot well enough when he described some of the attractions on the island, but I was pretty aware of what was situated where for the most part. Also, I was riding with two happy vacationing couples and of course everyone wants a front seat. Well as my luck had it I got a window seat in the back as the couples divided up so one could take pictures in the front and the other could snap shots in the back. One of the girls, a slickster, tried tricking me into the middle passenger seat in the back so I wouldn’t be able to provide you with any decent photographs, but I shut her operation down by smiling and kindly stating that I would like a window seat. Move over toots!

With those two things being said I apologize for the lack of captions and also the lack of clarity in some of the photographs. I didn’t get the kind of weather I had hoped for on this adventure out and shooting through a thick helicopter window in the back won’t get you the kind of results you’d like. If you go, fight for a front window seat. Knock a few teeth out if you have to. I’m just kidding. Remember this is paradise or something close to it so sit back and enjoy the ride. Click continue reading to check out the photos from my view above.


St. Lucia Helicopters can be reached by email at stluciahelicopters@candw.lc or by phone at 758.453.6950.

Photo of the Day (2/14/07)

by Adrienne Wilson on


With the cold snowy winter wonderland hanging outside of my window here in Connecticut right now I sure wouldn’t mind catching a lift in one of those over a sunset like that in the Hawaiian Islands. This photo was captured by gtetonswy at Kaanapali Beach on Maui and from the looks of it they must have had a pretty decent seat on the beach or perhaps they were just rocking away in a nice little boat watching as the chopper flew off into the fiery sun. Sigh – I sure don’t know, but I’d give just about anything to be there and out of the snow.