Bill would allow helicopter hog hunting

Oklahoma could join Texas and Louisiana as places shooters can pay to ride in a helicopter and kill feral swine from the sky under a bill that passed the state House of Representatives last week.

“They are calling that, ‘the flying pig bill,’ anecdotally,” Rep. Jeff Coody, R-Granfield, and a cosponsor of the bill, said with a chuckle Tuesday.

Aerial gunners already are used to help control feral swine in Oklahoma. However, only trained, licensed contractors under the auspices of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry can carry out the work. Its Wildlife Services Division announced earlier this year its agents killed 11,206 pigs, mostly by air, in 2016.

Other states open the practice to individuals. Texas made headlines with its “Hog Chopper” law in 2011. In that state, shooters can hire an aircraft for anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000 per hour for the privilege of carrying out what once was left to government agents only.

Under House Bill 2324, a landowner, company or pilot would be required to hold a state license and be responsible for the activity, but the shooters on board the aircraft would not have to have a license or even reveal their names. Landowners with their own aircraft could take anyone they wanted to go out and shoot pigs.

“The intention was to take aerial depredation a little more back to what was originally intended several years ago,” Coody said. “Back then we were trying to provide rules by which it could take place through the Ag Department, but like a lot of agencies will, they overregulated and put so many administrative rules on their books it has made it difficult for private individuals to go out and shoot from an aircraft.”