Airborne Snipers Called In To Deal With Lake Texoma Hog Problem

An invasive species has invaded the wetlands around Lake Texoma and conservationists have called airborne reinforcements to help.

"We're getting the hang of it. We've got four hours left and hopefully we can kill some more pigs," said helicopter gunner Chad Busse.

Snipers flew shotgun with helicopter pilots to help control the herds of feral hogs chewing up the wetlands.

"There's a lot of torn up crop land and stuff like that and we're just trying to get it under control," said helicopter owner Avery Kibbe.

These hybrid hogs can grow to 500 pounds. The population has been steadily growing for the past 15 years.

The helicopter crew needs to eliminate 70 percent of the herd to prevent future environmental damage.

"What we try and do is work them into the open country, like kinda into these farm fields or something real low," Kibbe said.

"This is a .223 AR-15. You have to put a shell deflector on here to keep the brass out of the blades of the chopper, or there could be some major problems," Busse said.

The chopper is GPS equipped, programmed to track the hogs from the sky.

So far, they've killed 170, but they're aiming for 500 to 600.