Just a few animals.   I love swine huntin  www.redriverboars.com 

this is not the first time I have had wild animals walk up to me. 

Very interesting job for the guys at Nueces Helicopters.  No offense to Nueces Helicopters, and I hope you guys make out well.   However, this seems like a very expensive way for the farmers to reduce the hog population, muchless control them long term.  The cost per individual hog eradication has to be very high.  I would think the farmers in the region would work with law enforcement and private citizens interested in hunting the hogs.  Law enforcement could provide background checks, and credit checks could be run by the farm bureau as part of an initial process to determine who they allow to hunt the hogs on their private land (responsible citizens only).   There are plenty of decent citizens like myself who are very responsible and would be happy to help the farmers for FREE, as well as doing other things, even catch thieves stealing diesel (another major farmer problem from time to time).  I find it really odd that the farmers are willing to pay a high price for such a sophisticated hog eradication method AND incur the EXTREME liability of just ONE stray bullet from a flying helicopter hitting someone a mile or more away.  A single accident like that could run well into the 10s to 100s of millions of dollars and take multiple farms under financially, not to mention the negative publicity.  It seems like hunters on the ground could be turned into a small profit for the farmers and totally avoid the liabilities.  Also, the pigs are about the smartest wild animals in North America.  Soon they are likely to figure out that the wirily-bird means death.  They very well may learn to stay in cover during the day and then be in the corn and other crops at night rendering the chopper method useless.

Greg Young took these three animals with a TC Encore .50 Caliber Muzzle Loader.

156 7/8 Whitetail from Hemphill County, 162 7/8 Mule Deer from Hudspeth County, and 71 6/8 Pronghorn Antelope from Hartley County.

Thanks anyway, but I've got all the ribbons I need.  As far as rifle/caliber suggestions go, I like the Remington 700, .22 centerfires.  Especially the .223 and 22-250 both using 55 gr. bullets like the Hornady SP or Nosler Ballistic Tips.  These calibers kick very little, yet hit hard, shoot flat, and usually produce one-shot, instant kills on animals weighing between 10-40 lbs.  I usually try to avoid taking head shots which are always risky business at long range.  I usually aim center mass and have always had favorable results doing so.  There are my suggestions to you. 

I want one

On the same trip through Yellowstone, we saw these bighorn ewes and their lambs. A lot of the tourists that see these think that they are "goats" because of the small horns. This is particularly true when they see a solitary animal without a lamb nearby.

They have pads on their hooves and can stick to rocks that most animals, except for mountain goats, cannot.

The Lone Star State boasts some of the finest hunting anywhere in the country, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Big Time Texas Hunts (BTTH) offer hunters a chance to experience the best of the best.  The crown jewel of the program is the Texas Grand Slam hunt package, which includes four separate hunts for Texas’ most prized big game animals — the desert bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, mule deer and pronghorn antelope. There are also several quality whitetail hunt packages available, as well as opportunities to pursue alligator, exotic big game, waterfowl and upland game birds.

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While at the 2008 Texas Trophy Hunters Association's (TTHA) 32nd Annual Hunter's Extravaganza in San Antonio I had a very brief opportunity to film one of the guest speaker panels. This is off the shoulder, nothing fancy, from the back of the room.

In this video you'll see the end of Morgan Tyler, of Mossy Oak Biologic, talking about when and how to plant different food plots.

Mr. Tyler was then followed by Erwin Quinn, of Gallagher Animal Management, who gave an interesting presentation on how their particular line of electrical fencing helps keep farm animals in and wild animals out.  Take a look at what he has to say about a deer's sense of depth perception and see what you think.

If this starts you thinking, don't forget to go to the Houston Show (8/1-8/3) or the Fort Worth Show (8/15-8/17).