Guns, Choppers, Wild Hogs: Congress Pressed to Fund More Hunts

A good hog-hunting helicopter pilot doesn’t just chase swine. It’s more like operating a giant, flying push broom.

A pilot spots the foragers in dense brush and hovers just over the trees, angling the helicopter to use its rotor wash to drive the hogs out into open fields. The flyer then pivots the helicopter to give aerial gunners, strapped in and hanging out the side, a clear shot.

“You could be a Marine Corps ace pilot, but you don’t necessarily qualify as a Wildlife Services pilot from Day 1,” said Michael Marlow, assistant program manager for the USDA’s National Feral ...