We received this press release from ATLANTCO, makers of the popular TRU-SPEC brand of clothing and equipment. Hog hunting has become a popular sport here in the US and the action is even more intense when shooting from a helicopter. VERTEX Aviation Group offers the largest halo hog hunting operation in the United States. Recently, they moved to replace their crews’ no ex flight suits with a new line of FR combat-style clothing from TRU-SPEC.
Throughout the farm and ranchlands just outside of Houston, TX, Helicopter Hog Hunting has taken on a new image, and a new layer of protection when it comes to Aerial Gunnery, Ground Recovery and Day-to-Day Operational Apparel. VERTEX Tactical Aviation, a division of VERTEX Aviation Group, proudly announces its recent partnership with new sponsor ATLANCO, the manufacturer of TRU-SPEC® brand apparel and 5ive Star Tactical Gear.
“TRU-SPEC® represents a perfect match for the extreme demands that we place on our apparel that we utilize during both our helicopter hog hunts and ground-based hog recovery operations.” states Mike Morgan, President of VERTEX Aviation Group. “Our flight and ground crews are extremely hard on our gear, which is due to the harsh environments where we perform our services. On any given day, we can be running hogs out of high trees and triple canopy wood-lines into rougher terrain with rose thorn thickets where normal clothing gets torn to shreds. TRU-SPEC’s Tactical Response Uniforms and TRU-EXTREME uniforms answer all of our company’s requirements for clothing that can handle our extreme environments, and continue to stand up to our routine day-to-day demands.”
“Our flight crews normally wear Nomex flight suits,” continues Morgan, “but they get ripped up when going through thorns to drag out a feral hog that has gone deep into the brush. TRU-SPEC’s XFIRE™ Tactical Response Uniform enables our flight crews to continue to have the fire protection of TRU-SPEC’sInterlock™fabric, while maintaining the flexibility of going from the helicopter to a ground environment without losing protection from the brush.”
VERTEX Tactical Aviation is one of the leading Helicopter Hog Hunting companies in the State of Texas. Texas leads the country in the highest number of feral hogs, currently numbering in excess of 3.2 million. This number represents 50% of the total US population of feral hogs. “Feral Hogs cause in excess of $400 million dollars in economic and agricultural damages each year in Texas, and our company’s focus is to assist our farmers and landowners with the removal of this depredating species.” states Morgan. VERTEX provides Helicopter Hog Hunts where private hunters attend an Aerial Hunting Safety Course to learn how to shoot safely and effectively from a moving helicopter. The hunters then go out with VERTEX’s flight and ground crews to hunt the hogs from helicopters. These hunts take place on private farm and ranch lands where property owners have requested VERTEX to remove the depredating hogs.
“These properties are composed of everything from woods to plowed fields to prairies covered in thorn thickets and over rivers, through the mud, and back and forth over and under barbed wire fences.” Says Morgan. “Normal apparel just doesn’t stand up to our line of work. That’s why we partnered with TRU-SPEC. We started to use their gear, and it continued to stand up to our demands. Partnering with them seemed like the perfect choice!”
“TRU-SPEC is excited to partner with VERTEX Tactical Aviation as their official apparel sponsor. Our tactically inspired apparel fits the needs of their day-to-day operations, both in the field and in the office. If this is your life this is your brand! We know Mike and his team will put our products to the test and provide useful feedback to help enhance the TRU-SPEC brand,” stated Darrell Jacks, TRU-SPEC VP ofMarketing.
VERTEX Tactical Aviation is based at Hobby Airport in Houston, TX, and has been performing Helicopter Hog Depredation under permit from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department since 2009. In response to the HB716 “Pork Chopper” bill that was passed in May of 2011, VERTEX began offering their Aerial Hunting Safety Course two weekends per month at a cost of $350 per attendee. Since June of 2011, over 500 people have attended the course.
“Our Aerial Hunting Safety Course is an all-day course with 4 hours of classroom instruction in the morning and hands-on Live-Fire training in the helicopter on an active range during the afternoon” states Morgan.” Each class is normally limited to 12 people to keep the instruction more concentrated, resulting in more interaction and additional time for hands-on training.” Depending on the location, VERTEX Tactical Aviation will travel with one of the aircraft to perform the classes for larger groups at remote locations when scheduling allows.
For those who have attended VERTEX’s safety course, Helicopter Hog Hunts can be scheduled anywhere from Monday through Sunday, and in locations all over the state. “Helicopter Hog Hunts have become our specialty.” says Morgan, with a smile. “We’ve proven to be quite capable at teaching our private hunters to become effective gunners in performing our depredation services. We’ve culled thousands of hogs since we began these services. One property area alone has resulted in over 500 hogs taken out since Jan 15th of this year. Our farmers love us.
