For you guys that have done a helicopter hunt, how many mags did you use in an hour? I'm going Sat, but bringing my own ammo.

Charlie

Charlie,

My helicopter hunt is scheduled for March, so I haven't been yet. However, in speaking with the owner, their standard loadout is 300 rounds per hour for .223/5.56 and 200 for .308. YMMV

Would love to hear a report Charlie, I’m thinking of splurging on this also

Thanks Marc, I guess I finally have a use for those extra 8 mags I bought by mistake. I guess I'll plan to go up with 10-11 .308 PMAG's with the M&P, only have 3 mags for the RFB.

Charlie

I realize that so much depends upon how many hogs are located, but I would really appreciate hearing your input on this!

Marc

Charlie -- I have PLENTY of 5.56 PMAGs if you want to use cheaper ammo. Just let me know and you can use them

Thanks for the offer TLew…

We’ll, it’s not every day you get to hang out of a flying helicopter with your rifle. 😀 Very cool experience, but harder than expected… shooting a running hog from a stationary position is one thing, doing so from something moving and usually moving in a different direction each time, sure does make it interesting. The toughest part was the cover they had… lots of live oak and cedar, we got very few on the run in the open shots. Seeing them run through the cover then just disappear…. Had a couple of sounders I could see running , just not enough to get shots into. I shot at 6-7, hard killed 3 (solo boars is my guess) and used less than (3) 20 rd. mags of ammo. I think for us, the amount of cover, even in the winter, was very atypical.



Would have liked more action, but still a great experience.

Good luck on yours Marc.

Charlie

Did you guys go get any of them or do leave them lay ? I’ve often wondered this when I see them put a bunch down

I guess short answer is no, we were not in open terrain and at least mine would not have been easy to get to.

Charlie

Looks like you had fun and that was the whole point of going! What general area were you hunting in? We will be flying farms and ranches inside of a triangle between Bryan, Madisonville and Navasota.

Marc

We were flying a ranch around the NE end of Possum Kingdom Lake.

Charlie

Thank you, Sir.

Worked with one group, they supplied HK 91's, and ammo, and they chose that platform for the cheap mags that are available.

I'm going on one this week out near Coleman. They recommend using their shotguns and buckshot but also encourage bringing AR platforms as long as they have brass catchers. I'm planning on using my AR and will bring 10-15 magazines for our hour flight. Planning to shoot some GoPro footage - only if I capture evidence of confirmed kills!

Given the cover I had and flight levels, I think Buckshot would have been better than a rifle.

I also put one of these on my M&P-10 and it worked great, they did not have me install a brass catcher.

https://ar15brassdeflector.com/

Have fun!

Charlie

I start with a beta mag, then have a small bag with 60 round and 30 round mags.

We did shotguns once, never again. Although we do like to take odd things up with us, handguns, fully auto, different AR platforms.

What are the best sights for this kind of shoot?

holographic would be my pick. fastest/easiest to on target.

neighbors did a copter hunt a month or so ago, we asked them to overfly us.

they got on a sounder barely 75 yds. from the lodge and killed 42 in about 10 mins. using 00 12ga. I got to watch the carnage from the ground since they were never more than 200 yds. from the lodge.

out here they can fly low enough that a 12ga. with 00 works good, ar would be too much chance of wild shot doing damage somewhere.

I used this, worked well for me. You don't want anything with magnification, one guy tried, he didn't shoot much,

https://www.sigsauer.com/romeo7-1x30-mm.html

Charlie

Charlie, Do you feel that full auto would have been a big benefit or not so much?

Marc

Marc

When is full auto not a big benefit? I’d a been.. “Hell yeah bitches, get you some…” or something like that. Then I would have killed 8 vs 3. 😀

I talked to the LO this PM, the flights in the PM were much more productive oddly enough. I don’t know if they needed a warming up to get moving or not.

Bring your memory card!

Charlie

Charlie,

I asked because this whole thing is way out of my wheelhouse. I am not normally a "spray and pray" type shooter. Your comments about shooting at moving targets from a moving platform - often going in different directions, made me wonder. I just may be tempted to warm up a barrel or two.

We have been upgraded to full auto weapons: SCAR 17, AR-15 and a belt fed FN M249 SAW with 200 round belts.

Marc

I would imagine spray and pray from above will be much more beneficial vs at ground level. With a M249 SAW, you’re not messing around, can’t wait to see some video.

Charlie

I never knew you brought your own guns on a helo hunt