I love running and gunning!  On a recent hog hunt where we simply stalked and shot the hogs I kept wishing for a charge – I wished to stop a charging sharp-tusked mammoth hog danger close when my life depended on it.  I might be strange but I crave that excitement but perhaps that’s why hunting destructive feral hogs from a helicopter is right up my alley.  In fact at the watch party for the Top Shot Finale I announced that I was looking for the opportunity to ride in a “Pork Chopper” and boy was I excited when it became a reality.

With the recent launch of Chester Moore’s book Hog Wild I was honored to join him in taking part of a helicopter hunt.  With the help of the JB Hunting ranch we were able to take flight in a Raven R44 for 2 hours with guns blazing.  Within the first 30 minutes we found a small pack of hogs and were able to harvest 4 of them from the air.  I was intrigued by the way chopper hunts work – the pilot will fly over wooded and shrubby areas where hogs are known to layup, then he makes the blades of the chopper “beat” the air and the wildlife will start to move below.  Whenever we spot a group of hogs we would chase them into a field and commence firing.  I took my VLTOR TS3 AR15 mounted up with a 1-4x Meopta illuminated scope with about 8 magazines loaded with 75 grain Hornady hollow point 223 ammunition.  If the hunt ended when I was out of ammo I wanted to ensure it lasted a long time!

I knew the shooting holds would be crazy different when we were moving from a helicopter and firing at running hogs, but the most challenging part was the constant changing of directions and speeds.  On a slower moving hog I was able to get in a single shot to the head/neck and stopped which it in it’s tracks, then at another time I was happy to have Chester riding “shotgun” with 00 Buck to help slow down the other boars.

We were also running video this trip – so stay tuned for some action clips later on!

It was a very cool experience and I can’t wait for the next opportunity.  If you need a Top Shot Champion exterminator let me know!