A Plague of Pigs in Texas, Texas wages war on $400M feral hog problem
http://starlocalmedia.com/opinion/plano-man-blends-technologies-to-the-detriment-of-wild-hogs/article_0b129f80-f335-11e3-a9c7-0019bb2963f4.html Plano man blends technologies to the detriment of wild hogs June 13, 2014 by Luke Clayton [image / Luke Clayton http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/starlocalmedia.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/28/428d81e6-f335-11e3-a021-0019bb2963f4/539b58bae7f1b.image.jpg Robert Blackstock takes aim with his rifle rigged with a Nite Site as the screen on the electric buggy plots the path ahead in total darkness ] Throughout the years, I’ve hunted hogs just about every conceivable way ... This past week, I was introduced to hog hunting the easy way. This tale has its beginnings at an outdoor show in Waco this past spring. For the past four years, I have been using a very rugged electric hunting buggy made by Ken Blackstock, owner of Plano Golf Carts. Ken’s buggy comes with a regenerative braking system. We use the carts in the mountains of northern Colorado each fall for our archery elk and bear hunts. When going down the mountain, just let off the accelerator and the buggy will gently come to an almost complete stop, even on very steep inclines. The system is a real break saver and during those periods when the mountain trails are wet and slippery, makes negotiating the steep slopes much safer. At the show in Waco, I was showing Blackstock the Nite Site (NS) which is an awesome tool for night hunting hogs or predators. With an affordable price tag coupled with a very clear image in complete darkness, the Nite Site puts night vision within the means of the average guy. After testing the NS, Ken made a comment to me that I will never forget, nor will I forget my off the cuff reply. “Luke, I’m going to figure out a way to mount a waterproof screen in the front of my buggy and mount the NS on top,” he said. “I’ll have to come up with a means of turning the NS directionally from the driver’s seat. When I get finished, it will be possible to drive my electric buggies on ranches, fields and back roads simply by looking at the screen and, in complete darkness.” I remember my reply. “But why would you want to mount the Nite Site on top of the electric buggy and drive it in complete darkness simply by looking at the screen?” Before I got the words out of my mouth, I had already thought of the answer but Ken was quick to set me on the right path. “Luke, just think about it like this: With this unit mounted on a totally quiet electric vehicle, you will be able to drive right up on hogs,” Blackstock said. “Imagine pulling the buggy up to the edge of a big hay meadow of crop field and scanning for feeding hogs. Once you find them, simply get downwind and drive within easy shooting range. Use the NS mounted on your rifle to shoot them.” Ken’s innovative mind was in high gear and I’ve known him long enough to know that what he dreams up, he has the technical knowledge to follow through to the finished product. Fast forward to a recent night test drive on one of Ken’s electric buggies with the NS rig perfected and mounted. We carried a rifle along set up with a Nite Site 200 just in case our little test run produced some porker action. We unloaded the buggy about 30 minutes before darkness. Ken gave me a quick tutorial of how easy it is to set in the front seat and reach overhead to turn the direction of the NS. When driving down a trail or back road, simply leave the unit pointed straight ahead. The road ahead is lit up as though it is daylight. Every stick, rock or obstruction can be seen easily. I already liked Ken’s idea of coupling the NS with the stealth of his electric buggy. The night was moonless and as dark as pitch. Ken flipped on the NS and the rugged marine screen mounted in front of the vehicle mirrored a perfect image of the terrain ahead of us. Yes, I really could drive the off-road buggy in total darkness. I drove to the edge of a tree line that bordered a 200-acre field of soybeans. A slow twist of the handle overhead caused the roof mounted NS to scan the field. No hogs from this vantage point, but we could easily make out the forms of several cows 150 yards across a bordering fence line. As is sometimes the case when hog hunting, the porkers simply did not cooperate this night. But I did log in several miles of off road driving in complete darkness, using the screen mounted on the electric buggy to find my way around. I wasimpressed and when we loaded the buggy back on the trailer, we were all making plans for round two with the porkers. In a few weeks, when those beans begin to ripen, hogs will pack into that field in numbers. It will be hot and probably sultry, but we will be hunting in complete comfort from the padded seat of our hunting buggy. Once we have our pork on the ground, we’ll load in onto the back of the buggy and transport it to the truck. The hunt will be easy and I’m learning to appreciate easy from time to time. [© 2014 Star Local Media] ... http://texascryptidhunter.blogspot.com/ Feral Hog Population in Texas Exploding May 29, 2014 ... http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/11/27/3002821/wild-pigs-hogs-invasive-desctruction/ Wild Pigs Are Taking Over The U.S., Destroying Crops And Uprooting Levees November 27, 2013 ... http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/the-city-of-dallas-is-looking-for-someone-to-banish-feral-hogs-from-the-city-limits.html/ Bring home the bacon: The city of Dallas is looking for someone to banish feral hogs from the city limits April 8, 2013 ... http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-plague-of-pigs-in-texas-73769069/?no-ist A Plague of Pigs in Texas January 2011 ... http://www.farmersvilletimes.com/articles/templates/news.asp?articleid=2452&zoneid=4 Texas wages war on $400M feral hog problem October 31, 2010 ... http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=search_page&node=413529&query=hunting+buggy&sort=date Electric hunting buggy For all EVLN posts use: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=search_page&node=413529&query=evln&sort=date {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-e-hunting-buggy-used-in-war-on-invasive-destructive-feral-hogs-tp4669950.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
