Texas may let hunters shoot pigs from choppers
2/19/09
I'm not sure which is more disturbing to me the fact there are that many wild pigs in Texas or the fact people will now be allowed to go 'Sarah Palin' on them to cull the herds.
2/19/09
MERTZON, Texas - Millions of wild pigs weighing up to 300 pounds have been tearing up crops, trampling fences and eating just about anything in their path in Texas. But now they had better watch their hairy backs. A state lawmaker is proposing to allow ordinary Texans with rifles and shotguns to shoot the voracious, tusked animals from helicopters. For years, ranchers in the Lone Star State have hired professional hunters in choppers to thin the hogs' fast-multiplying ranks. Now state Rep. Sid Miller of the Fort Worth area wants to bring more firepower to the task by issuing permits to sportsmen.
Bubba factor
"You're not going to have some bubba up there going, 'Pass me a beer and ammo' and hunting some hogs," the legislator said. "We certainly want to do it right."Many hunters and landowners will probably leave the carcasses in the field, just as they do now. Wild hogs that are gunned down cannot be sold for meat under U.S. agriculture regulations. (Moreover, wild boar is said by some to be tough and gamey.)The animals are descended from hogs introduced into Texas by Spanish explorers more than 300 years ago. But their numbers began booming in the 1980s.The big ones have no natural predators. Not even a coyote will tangle with a pig bigger than 20 pounds.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29287057/
I'm not sure which is more disturbing to me the fact there are that many wild pigs in Texas or the fact people will now be allowed to go 'Sarah Palin' on them to cull the herds.