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GFP revives stalled aerial hunting program
New planes, new rules geared for increased safety
By Kevin Woster, Journal staff
November 15, 2007
The state Game, Fish & Parks Department will re-activate its aerial-hunting program, which has been suspended for internal review since a state airplane crashed July 30 during a coyote hunt near Wasta.
Art Smith, administrator of GF&P's animal-damage control program in Pierre, said Wednesday that the three-month agency review affirmed the value of aerial hunting in coyote control but also determined that changes in the program were needed.
Those changes will include the use of a different type of airplane believed to handle better at the slower speeds and lower altitudes needed for aerial hunting. Pilots will be given additional training and follow more detailed operation standards, and they and their accompanying gunners will have to add burn-protection flight suits to the helmets and goggles they already wear.
"We think this will make it a much stronger program. And that has been the desire from the beginning," Smith said.
The aerial-hunting program should resume flights before the lambing season begins in mid- to late February. Most of the aerial program is aimed at coyotes that kill lambs and adult sheep.
"It's sheep driven," Smith said. "We'd be remiss if we weren't flying by lambing season."
Initially, the state will resume aerial hunting with just one airplane. Eventually, it may go back to two planes, which the program had before the accident last summer.
But rather than the Christen A-1 Husky airplanes the department had been flying, the program will now turn to an old standby in aerial hunting: the Piper Super Cub. The Super Cub, an airplane that is no longer in production but is still commonly flown, is a lighter craft that appears to be better suited to the low speeds and handling challenges of aerial hunting over lower-elevation landscapes of western South Dakota.
The Husky is a newer, heavier, faster and more expensive airplane that performs well at higher elevations or when greater power is needed, Smith said. The state had two Huskies before the July 30 crash. The remaining plane has been grounded since then.
"There seems to be a big advantage flying a Husky when the ground level is 8,000 feet and above. When you're flying below that, the Super Cub seems to be a more logical choice," he said.
A GF&P pilot and trapper crashed in a Husky during a low-altitude, low-speed coyote hunt near Lodgepole in 2005. Both survived, although the pilot -- who has since retired -- had lingering vision problems.
Last July, a different pilot and trapper combination -- Tony DeCino and Dan Turgeon -- crashed in similar circumstances in the Cheyenne River breaks near Wasta. Both walked away, although Turgeon needed more than 50 stitches in a head wound.
Smith said the crash last summer was likely caused by wing-tip vortices -- "sort of a horizontal tornado that comes off the tips of the front wings." A National Transportation Safety Board review of the accident hasn't yet produced a report on the cause.
Although the Husky is a quality airplane, it might not be as easy to handle in such situations as the Super Cub, Smith said. He expects to buy a high-quality used Super Cub for between $50,000 and $100,000 and hopes to sell the remaining Husky for $165,000 to $175,000. Meanwhile, the state has enough money from the insurance settlement for the Husky that crashed to pay for a Super Cub, he said.
Regardless of the airplane, aerial hunting is a controversial method of predator control that is often attacked as expensive, unsafe and inefficient. After the Wasta accident, the conservation group Sinapu of Boulder, Colo., urged GF&P to end its aerial program. Sinapu spokeswoman Wendy Keefover-Ring said Wednesday that she was disappointed but not surprised to hear that the program would resume.
"I think even the best-laid plans are going to be folly, because this is just an inherently unsafe practice," she said. "You're flying low to the ground. You can't anticipate wind sheer. And it's not even needed. If you look at the number of livestock actually killed by predators, it's miniscule."
Nonlethal control methods would be safer and more cost effective, Keefover-Ring said.
Smith disagrees, saying coyotes can have substantial economic impact in specific sheep herds in western South Dakota. And although aerial hunting does have proven risks, it is also effective at targeting coyotes that are killing livestock, especially in rough country where access is otherwise difficult, he said.
With an experienced state trapper serving as the gunner, pilots can respond quickly to predation reports and often kill the specific animals involved, Smith said.
"When you look at it on a per-house basis, coyote hunting by air is expensive, but it's very, very efficient," he said. "If there's a (livestock) kill and conditions are right, you absolutely know which animals you are getting."
http://rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/11/15/news/top/doc473bcf5495216138127435.txt
New planes, new rules geared for increased safety
By Kevin Woster, Journal staff
November 15, 2007
The state Game, Fish & Parks Department will re-activate its aerial-hunting program, which has been suspended for internal review since a state airplane crashed July 30 during a coyote hunt near Wasta.
Art Smith, administrator of GF&P's animal-damage control program in Pierre, said Wednesday that the three-month agency review affirmed the value of aerial hunting in coyote control but also determined that changes in the program were needed.
Those changes will include the use of a different type of airplane believed to handle better at the slower speeds and lower altitudes needed for aerial hunting. Pilots will be given additional training and follow more detailed operation standards, and they and their accompanying gunners will have to add burn-protection flight suits to the helmets and goggles they already wear.
"We think this will make it a much stronger program. And that has been the desire from the beginning," Smith said.
The aerial-hunting program should resume flights before the lambing season begins in mid- to late February. Most of the aerial program is aimed at coyotes that kill lambs and adult sheep.
"It's sheep driven," Smith said. "We'd be remiss if we weren't flying by lambing season."
Initially, the state will resume aerial hunting with just one airplane. Eventually, it may go back to two planes, which the program had before the accident last summer.
But rather than the Christen A-1 Husky airplanes the department had been flying, the program will now turn to an old standby in aerial hunting: the Piper Super Cub. The Super Cub, an airplane that is no longer in production but is still commonly flown, is a lighter craft that appears to be better suited to the low speeds and handling challenges of aerial hunting over lower-elevation landscapes of western South Dakota.
The Husky is a newer, heavier, faster and more expensive airplane that performs well at higher elevations or when greater power is needed, Smith said. The state had two Huskies before the July 30 crash. The remaining plane has been grounded since then.
"There seems to be a big advantage flying a Husky when the ground level is 8,000 feet and above. When you're flying below that, the Super Cub seems to be a more logical choice," he said.
A GF&P pilot and trapper crashed in a Husky during a low-altitude, low-speed coyote hunt near Lodgepole in 2005. Both survived, although the pilot -- who has since retired -- had lingering vision problems.
Last July, a different pilot and trapper combination -- Tony DeCino and Dan Turgeon -- crashed in similar circumstances in the Cheyenne River breaks near Wasta. Both walked away, although Turgeon needed more than 50 stitches in a head wound.
Smith said the crash last summer was likely caused by wing-tip vortices -- "sort of a horizontal tornado that comes off the tips of the front wings." A National Transportation Safety Board review of the accident hasn't yet produced a report on the cause.
Although the Husky is a quality airplane, it might not be as easy to handle in such situations as the Super Cub, Smith said. He expects to buy a high-quality used Super Cub for between $50,000 and $100,000 and hopes to sell the remaining Husky for $165,000 to $175,000. Meanwhile, the state has enough money from the insurance settlement for the Husky that crashed to pay for a Super Cub, he said.
Regardless of the airplane, aerial hunting is a controversial method of predator control that is often attacked as expensive, unsafe and inefficient. After the Wasta accident, the conservation group Sinapu of Boulder, Colo., urged GF&P to end its aerial program. Sinapu spokeswoman Wendy Keefover-Ring said Wednesday that she was disappointed but not surprised to hear that the program would resume.
"I think even the best-laid plans are going to be folly, because this is just an inherently unsafe practice," she said. "You're flying low to the ground. You can't anticipate wind sheer. And it's not even needed. If you look at the number of livestock actually killed by predators, it's miniscule."
Nonlethal control methods would be safer and more cost effective, Keefover-Ring said.
Smith disagrees, saying coyotes can have substantial economic impact in specific sheep herds in western South Dakota. And although aerial hunting does have proven risks, it is also effective at targeting coyotes that are killing livestock, especially in rough country where access is otherwise difficult, he said.
With an experienced state trapper serving as the gunner, pilots can respond quickly to predation reports and often kill the specific animals involved, Smith said.
"When you look at it on a per-house basis, coyote hunting by air is expensive, but it's very, very efficient," he said. "If there's a (livestock) kill and conditions are right, you absolutely know which animals you are getting."
http://rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/11/15/news/top/doc473bcf5495216138127435.txt
