TexasCHLforum.com

ScottDLS wrote:Is it legal to hunt armadillos? Do you need a license? They used to tear up my garden and lawn at night trying to get grubs, but I couldn't shoot them because I'm in city limits. They are dumb as dog mess. When I came out and ran at them they just looked at me. I got a metal rake and shoved them and they just stood there. Finally, I used a shovel and threw them in my neighbor's yard and they scurried off. From what I see on the roads nearby the preferred way of hunting them is via motor vehicle.

TXlaw1 wrote:Thank you, ELB, for posting this text -

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

relating to the taking of certain feral hogs and coyotes using a hot
air balloon.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 43, Parks and Wildlife
Code, is amended by adding Section 43.1076 to read as follows:
Sec. 43.1076. USING HOT AIR BALLOONS TO TAKE CERTAIN
ANIMALS. A qualified landowner or landowner's agent, as determined
by commission rule, may contract to participate as a hunter or
observer in using a hot air balloon to take depredating feral hogs
or coyotes under the authority of a permit issued under this
subchapter.
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the Parks and Wildlife Commission shall adopt rules as
necessary to implement Section 43.1076, Parks and Wildlife Code, as
added by this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.

I found it interesting that only a "qualified landowner or landowner's agent ... may contract to participate as a hunter or observer" using a hot air balloon. So it seems this is a very limited law that will only apply to landowners (or agents) on their own land being the hunter in the balloon. We'll have to see how the P&WC interprets this. Does not sound like helicopter hunting to me.

Because feral hogs are such a nuisance and their numbers are growing tremendously, I'd like to see the Legislature declare them to be a public nuisance that can be hunted at anytime and anywhere (with the landowner's permission) and without any charges being made by the landowners to the shooters. (They should be consider pest control exterminators rather than "hunters".) Seems many farmer and ranchers (at least in the Panhandle) realize the tremendous damage that they do to their crops and land but do not want to allow pest shooters to eradicate this public nuisance without charging them as though they were hunting as a sport. They want to have their cake and eat it too. I would be willing to shoot vermin to help the farmers and ranchers but I'm not going to take my time and effort PLUS pay them to do them a favor.

A few years ago we had a feral hog walk right along a main thoroughfare until it came to a playa lake developed as a public park in SW Amarillo where the police shot it. And about 5 or more feral hogs (a family?) came into the yard of a family in north Amarillo. A bunch of police with their AR-15's came in like a firing squad and opened fire simultaneously dropping them all. This is what I think needs to be done to help eliminate this public nuisance in the rural areas to prevent them from harming people and property in urban areas.

Just my $.02. YMMV.