Helihog Hunts Recamendation

[dozerboy]

I got buddy coming to town in mid march that interested in going. Any suggestions? We would want a outfitter that supplies everything. Looking for something with in a few hour drive of Houston. I searched but didnt find any post on this which is kind of surprising.

Thanks

[howdy]

I Googled "Helicopter hog hunt in Houston" and several came up.

[cmgee67]

I am not sure how far Throckmorton is from you but I saw a show on tv the other day from an outfit that's called pork choppers. You can killed hogs and coyotes. I think you have to supply your own ammo and rifle tho

[bblhd672]

https://www.google.com/search?q=helibac ... 8&oe=utf-8

[dozerboy]

The kind of money these places are asking for I was hopping to find someone on here that had a recommendation. We dont have any setups that would be well suited for shooting hogs out of a Helicopter so thast why I would like a place that provides them at least.

[jason812]

Your best bet is to befriend a farmer or 2 and I mean full time farmer with over 1k acres. They might rent a chopper and you could get in with them. Even with that, plan on about $350/hr. I use to think that was a lot until I learned it's about $200/hr to keep a bird in the air. Last weekend around Waco, a couple of farmers got together and shot 132 pigs in 2 hours and only had 2 get away. Sounds like a blast.

[ninjabread]

[The Annoyed Man]

Your best bet is to befriend a farmer or 2 and I mean full time farmer with over 1k acres. They might rent a chopper and you could get in with them. Even with that, plan on about $350/hr. I use to think that was a lot until I learned it's about $200/hr to keep a bird in the air. Last weekend around Waco, a couple of farmers got together and shot 132 pigs in 2 hours and only had 2 get away. Sounds like a blast.

It's not just the cost of keeping the chopper in the air. A Robinson R44 costs $420,000. A Robinson R66 costs $869,000. A Bell 407 costs $2.54 million. Monthly payments have to be made. If the owner is not the pilot, then there's a pilot's wage that has to be covered. Then there are airport related fees if the aircraft is kept at an airport. Etc., etc.

There's just no reasonable way to expect to get in on a helicopter hunt on the cheap. And if you want the helicopter company to also provide the rifles and the ammo, and other costs, well............

[jason812]

It's not just the cost of keeping the chopper in the air. A Robinson R44 costs $420,000. A Robinson R66 costs $869,000. A Bell 407 costs $2.54 million. Monthly payments have to be made. If the owner is not the pilot, then there's a pilot's wage that has to be covered. Then there are airport related fees if the aircraft is kept at an airport. Etc., etc.

There's just no reasonable way to expect to get in on a helicopter hunt on the cheap. And if you want the helicopter company to also provide the rifles and the ammo, and other costs, well............

I was going off memory but I believe off of Robinson's website, that was the cost of an R44 based off of a certain amount of flight time per year. That included maintenance, cost, insurance... I might be way low but for some reason that's what I remember. The R44 is popular for hog hunts I bet because it is one of the most "affordable" choppers that will hold more than 2 people. It sure would be fun to have though but I don't have the cash for the license not to mention getting a bird.

Edit, I just looked it up. It's $230/hr to fly NOT including depreciation. That wasn't included on their cost sheet and was based on 500 hrs a year. If you can depreciate it for 10 years, it's another $100/hr.

[rotor]

My name is rotor for a reason. You can at least double the figures from Robinson on cost per hour. I used to own an R22, completely non-commercial use. Insurance alone was $10,000 a year with a $10,000 deductible on a craft that at that time cost $100,000. I don't know how any company can make money with a helicopter hunt. I do know that the state hires pilots to fly state owned helicopters and they have a shooter to kill hogs as part of their eradication program. That low level flying is not the safest flying for a helicopter pilot. To successfully land a helicopter with a motor out situation you must be high (500 feet), moving fast if you are lower, or very close to the ground like 5 feet. None of these are really great altitudes for hog hunting. That's why they call it the dead man's curve. Each helicopter has a different dead man's curve. On the other hand, if you can afford it, go for it. You only live once and you can't take it with you. I have plenty of hogs on my property near Wichita Falls and they are tearing up everything. Night vision stuff or thermal gun sights cheaper way to go.

[G26ster]

As a military and civilian helicopter pilot since 1968, I know for a fact that there are two words that never go together - helicopter and cheap.

[dozerboy]

We are getting a hair off topic. I never said anything about cheap. I have gone on helicopters before I know they are expensive. But that dont mean I want to shell out $2K+ to go out with a hack. Roto does bring up a good point about safety which I didnt think about. Maybe we will just go drive and fire a tank.....

[TVGuy]

Used to skydive out of a Bell 412 and got one hell of a ride on the way up, that was a blast!



Good luck w/ your hunt if you end up going!

[The Annoyed Man]

Used to skydive out of a Bell 412 and got one heck of a ride on the way up, that was a blast!



Good luck w/ your hunt if you end up going!

I don't personally see the value of jumping out of an aircraft that isn't on fire and trying to kill me, but that outbound ride looked like it was tremendous fun. That pilot gave y'all your money's worth.

[Abraham]

If you value a huge adrenaline dump it's most valuable.

I used to do it in the 70's.

Loved it!