Close Menu
Survival Prepper StoresSurvival Prepper Stores
  • Home
  • News
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Firearms
  • Videos
What's Hot

This Week’s Deals on Guns, Optics, and Shooting Gear

July 10, 2025

Slovakia Warns: EU Will COLLAPSE Without Russia Resources

July 10, 2025

Prime Day Deals on Action Cameras

July 10, 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Survival Prepper StoresSurvival Prepper Stores
  • Home
  • News
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Firearms
  • Videos
Survival Prepper StoresSurvival Prepper Stores
Join Us
Home » Texas Just Legalized Hunting Aoudad from Helicopters
Prepping & Survival

Texas Just Legalized Hunting Aoudad from Helicopters

Vern EvansBy Vern EvansJune 10, 2025No Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Texas Just Legalized Hunting Aoudad from Helicopters

Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter

Get the hottest outdoor news and cutting-edge gear reviews.

Lone Star lawmakers recently added aoudads to the list of animals hunters can shoot from helicopters in Texas as part of a management tool to aid in the ongoing fight against the invasive sheep. 

Senate Bill 1245, which passed both state legislative chambers and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in May, will go into effect Sept. 1. The bill expands Texas’ aerial wildlife management permit system, which previously only listed feral hogs and coyotes, to include aoudad. Aerial culling efforts have helped Texas with its burgeoning feral swine population. A 2019 USDA study found that helicopter hog hunting, also called “porkchopping,” has successfully reduced hog numbers by at least 31 percent. 

Aoudad, also known as Barbary sheep, aren’t native to Texas. Originating in North Africa, the species is well-suited to the rough and rugged terrain of West Texas. The animals were introduced to the state in the late 1950s primarily for exotic game ranching and hunting opportunities. Since then, this hardy big game species has flourished — often to the detriment of commercial livestock and native species such as mule deer and bighorn sheep. 

“Aoudad sheep bring sheer destruction — they eat everything, spread disease, and push out native species,” representative Ed Morales, Jr, a sponsor of the bill, wrote on X. 

High numbers of aoudad in dry environments can have a significant negative impact on browse resources, according to TPWD mule deer and pronghorn program leader Shawn Gray. “The desert ecosystem is so fragile. We’re not supposed to have thousands and thousands of animals on them long-term,” Gray told Texas Farm Bureau. 

More than 30,000 aoudad currently roam the state of Texas. That’s a major increase from the 31 animals originally released in Armstrong County in 1957. Natural predation is not enough to keep the population in check. 

“A coyote is not going to take one down. The lion could take one down, but it’s going to be a fight. So they’re breeding faster than you can manage them with a straight hunt,” West Texas rancher Warren Cude told The Texas Tribune. 

Aoudad also carry the harmful bacteria Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovip.), which spreads in respiratory droplets and secretions and can cause severe reactions and even death in commercial sheep and goat herds. 

Read Next: Aoudad in West Texas: Is the “Poor Man’s Sheep Hunt” Really a Sheep Hunt?

Texas aoudad hold plenty of appeal for hunters, whether they choose to pursue them from a chopper or stalk them on foot. Because the animals live in rugged country, they offer would-be sheep hunters the chance to pursue a challenging species without waiting a lifetime to draw a tag or pay tens of thousands of dollars to hunt native sheep. Texas considers aoudad an exotic species, so there is no closed season or bag limit, although a valid Texas hunting license is required.

Read the full article here

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Keep Reading

This Week’s Deals on Guns, Optics, and Shooting Gear

Slovakia Warns: EU Will COLLAPSE Without Russia Resources

Prime Day Deals on Action Cameras

BigBlue SolarPowa Prime Day Sale: The Solar Charger You Need

I Was Held Captive by Terrorists for 5 Years. Here’s How I Survived

CDC Expands Access To RSV Vaccine As RFK Jr. Endorses Meningococcal Vaccination Option

Don't Miss

Slovakia Warns: EU Will COLLAPSE Without Russia Resources

Prepping & Survival July 10, 2025

After European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Union would phase…

Prime Day Deals on Action Cameras

July 10, 2025

BigBlue SolarPowa Prime Day Sale: The Solar Charger You Need

July 10, 2025

USS Michael Monsoor arrives in Japan for port visit

July 10, 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest news and updates directly to your inbox.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Copyright © 2025 Survival Prepper Stores. All rights reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.