I'm starting to plan a hunt for my son in law and grandson for NEXT year. Our available months are January through mid March. I know this last winter was brutal for awhile but what month do the hogs "usually" start moving around? Thanks for any input.

Best time to hunt them is before everything greens up,, you can see them way better and get more shots off. It doesn't matter when the pigs are moving really since the helo pushes them out regardless if the pilot knows where to look for them. The biggest question is whether or not your the first group hunting a particular location or if it’s been hammered for the last week. These guys lease different property’s all over the place and move around a lot but I’d prefer to hunt over big ag fields in the North to North East Texas area. I had a group hunting next to me last week in Lamar county and it sounded like WW 3 for several days and then you could tell they were having a hard time finding them after the fourth day, lots of flying and very little shooting so being first to a spot is the key to the numbers game.

Jan-early March is perfect. Deer season is wrapping up and things haven't started to green up yet. As Ol'Thumper said I would ask a lot of questions about the property they fly. How often they fly them, how big they are, what type of cover is there. Good pilots will be able to "herd" them and push them out into open fields for maximum carnage. We flew my uncles ranch 4 weekends in a row a few years ago, killed 150 first weekend, 100 the second weekend, around 50 the third and about 10 that last weekend, ended up calling it a day by lunch that last weekend, so the question about how often they fly these places is important. We fly a place on the Brazos river where you can mow down about 200, then come back the following weekend and kill another 200 because of the travel route they have up and down the river, into the ag fields.

It is the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Enjoy it!

Thanks guys. We're looking at North of DFW with Sky Hunters Outfitters.

Let us know how it goes

There is never not a time when the hogs are moving around.

Besides, part of the purpose of the helicopter is to drive them from cover and to make them move around.

Fly in a real turbine powered helicopter, not the cheapest ride you can find.



I have no affiliation with these folks... https://www.executiveoutdooradventures.com/

EDIT: I searched on your outfitter name, looks like a good choice for equipment, I'll keep that name for myself as well.

Good luck and have fun!

Charlie

That could have ended a WHOLE lot worse......lucky

Good Landing = anything you can walk away from.

I've been through 2 auto rotation landings because of battle damage. One in an OH6 and one in an OH58. I don't think I'd fly with this guy. No attempt to flair just before touch down. I was a crew-chief, observer, gunner in an Air Cav unit in Vietnam.

I suppose that’s a good landing

Robinson R22, the Yugo of helicopters.

To avoid any confusion, that video is not Executive Outdoor Adventures.

I think that is a Robinson R44. Regardless, Robinson's don't have the best safety record.

I am told that in this case, the pilot may not have swotched back to mag after start.

I can hear Skyhunters outfitters take off and land from my front porch. I would try to go as early as i could cause they dont do near as much shooting the later it gets

Yes, that’s a R44. Robinson’s get labeled as “unsafe” because of what they are used for. The majority of civilian trainers are Robbies. On top of that they are used heavily inAg work.

Doesn’t look like pilot error to me as far as a mag being involved initially. Key is all the way to the right and if it was left in one of the positions that ground out the magneto during the operational check, I seriously doubt he’d have left the ground. It’s a noticeable feeling/sound in the aircraft when you do the above and of course a reduction in power. They run a dual mag system for redundancy, but loosing mag or fouling up a plug can be enough to put you on the ground. Especially if your are borderline on weight in high density altitude conditions.

Totally agree with you on the Robinson's.

It's not a matter of craftsmanship or safety record. It's a matter of how they are used and under what conditions they are used.

In fact, at very low altitudes, and pursuing game or livestock in a helicopter, when something messes up, you actually stand a much better chance of survival in a light craft you can maneuver, than a heavy, non responsive copter when a couple of seconds means the difference in a hard landing and an all out crash. Heavy craft can fall like a rock. Sometimes bigger isn't better.

What Unit?

Low and slow is the worst scenario for a helicopter with an engine failure. You want to be at 1000ft vs 100ft every time. Big or small has no bearing, the aerodynamics/mechanics involved in maintaining flight of either are the same. Hence the reason to pick a turbine over a recip any day for a hog hunt.

Charlie

7th Squadron 1st Air Cavalry BRIGADE, Blackhawks. Bravo Troop Dutchmaster Scouts.

I was in Charlie 2/7, 1st Cav, a Grunt, June 68 to May 69. Worked out of Camp Evans in I Corp, and Quan Loi and Phuc Vihn after we moved south. Mostly in the boonies, but LZ's included, LZ Nancy, LZ Billy, LZ Jamie, LZ Jane, LZ Jill, and pot full of ones that I can't think of the names.

Garry Owens.

My brother was with the 2nd Rangers attached to Charlie company 1st of the 9th. He was a LRRP during the TET Offensive. Not sure but iI believe at one time he was at Phuc Vihn. I was at Vinm Long. We flew the Parrots Beak.