Two Tools, Two Jobs
Farmers often ask whether ground shooting or aerial shooting is better, as though you have to pick one. You do not. They are different tools for different country and different jobs, and the most effective programmes use both. Understanding where each one earns its place helps you spend your control effort, and your levy or programme funding, where it counts.
Here is the honest comparison, drawn from the national standard operating procedures and the peer-reviewed research.
At a Glance
| Factor | Aerial shooting (helicopter) | Ground shooting |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Rapid knockdown across large, rough, or inaccessible country | Targeted control near stock, crops, buildings; follow-up |
| Speed and throughput | Very high: approaches around 50 deer per hour at high density | Slower: a mob of pigs might mean 10 to 20 animals a night |
| Terrain | Swamps, gorges, broadacre, country vehicles cannot reach | Accessible paddocks, tracks, timber you can work on foot |
| Who runs it in NSW | Government-accredited shooters in coordinated programmes | Landholder with a firearms licence, or a contractor |
| How you access it | Join a Local Land Services or National Parks programme | Arrange directly, on your schedule |
| Cost | Helicopter charter dominates; often subsidised through programmes | Labour is the main cost; no aircraft |
| Main limit | Access, accreditation, cost per animal rises as density falls | Labour-intensive; inefficient for large-scale reduction |
Aerial Shooting: The Landscape Knockdown
Aerial shooting is the heavy hitter. PestSmart describes helicopter shooting of feral pigs as an effective and relatively cost-effective method of quickly reducing populations in extensive or inaccessible areas. When you have high numbers spread across big, rough country, nothing else removes as many animals as fast.
The research backs this up. A study of helicopter-based deer control found the method approaches a maximum rate of around 50 deer per hour where density is high, and achieved reductions of up to 88 percent, with the largest reductions when shooting was repeated in consecutive years. NSW programmes show the scale in the real world: in a single autumn programme in 2026 the Feral Animal Aerial Shooting Team removed 12,640 animals across north-west NSW parks, and Local Land Services has removed roughly 240,000 feral pigs across the state over three years, including through 162 aerial programmes.
The catch: cost and access
Aerial shooting has two real constraints. The first is cost. Helicopter charter is by far the biggest expense, indicatively around $1,000 to $1,200 an hour including ammunition, though rates vary widely by aircraft, region, and operator. Cost per animal climbs as numbers fall, because the shooter spends longer finding each one, and pigs learn to avoid helicopters, so repeat shoots on the same country become less productive.
The second is access. Aerial shooting cannot be arranged as a private, one-off job on your property. It requires a specially accredited shooter, through the NSW Feral Animal Aerial Shooting Team programme and the national AHCPMG311 competency, a helicopter operator approved by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for aerial work, and strict two-shot and fly-back welfare procedures. That is why aerial culling is delivered through coordinated government programmes, not hired ad hoc.
How farmers get aerial shooting done
The way in is coordination. Local Land Services and National Parks run the aerial programmes, and farmers take part by joining them, often at reduced or no cost. The western NSW feral deer programme in 2026 is the model: Local Land Services and National Parks together covered more than 726,000 hectares, with around 60 private landholders taking part through the NSW Government’s $10 million Good Neighbours Program. If your country genuinely needs aerial control, contact your Local Land Services office and ask about the coordinated programmes running in your region.
Ground Shooting: Targeted and Flexible
Ground shooting is the everyday tool, and its strength is precision rather than volume. Working on foot or from a vehicle, usually at night with thermal and night-vision optics, a shooter can put a single accurate shot into a target animal while keeping well clear of your stock, sheds, and boundaries. It is the method for the jobs a helicopter cannot do: control right around lambing paddocks and crops, work close to houses and infrastructure, and clean up the wary survivors that aerial and baiting leave behind.
It is also the tool you can actually run yourself or through a contractor. A landholder with an appropriate firearms licence can ground-shoot pests on their own land, and a professional operator can do it on your schedule without waiting for a coordinated programme. Our ground shooting work is built around thermal imaging, which finds pigs and foxes in timber and creek lines that are invisible to a spotlight. For the rules on who can shoot what on private land, see our explainer on whether you can shoot feral animals on your own property.
Its limits
Ground shooting is honest about what it cannot do. The national procedure puts it plainly: ground shooting is time-consuming and labour-intensive, and therefore an inefficient method for large-scale control on its own. It is not suited to rough or inaccessible terrain where animals are hard to sight and wounded animals cannot be followed up. And it should not be run in the days just before a baiting or trapping programme, because the disturbance can scatter pigs and undermine the bait or trap. Used in the right place, though, it is precise, responsive, and safe around your operation.
Is Aerial Shooting Humane?
It is a fair question, and the answer, done to standard, is yes. The RSPCA notes that aerial shooting can actually be more humane than some ground methods, because the shooter is close to the animal and any wounded animal can be followed up straight away from the air. NSW standard operating procedures require a deliberate two-shot approach and a fly-back over every animal to confirm it is dead, and the procedures state that the cost of extra ammunition and flying time must not deter operators from following the fly-back. Research on helicopter deer control recorded wounding rates of just 0 to 2 percent.
The same principle governs ground shooting: the standard operating procedures state that the humaneness of shooting depends almost entirely on the skill and judgement of the shooter. That is why both aerial and professional ground shooting are built around tested, accredited, competent operators using the correct firearms and shot placement, and it is the clearest line between professional control and casual shooting. See our comparison of professional pest control and recreational hunting for why that difference matters.
How the Two Work Together
The methods are complementary, and a good programme sequences them:
- Survey first. A thermal drone survey or trail-camera network tells you how many animals you have and where, so effort is aimed rather than guessed.
- Aerial for the knockdown. Where numbers are high across large or rough country, a coordinated aerial programme removes the bulk quickly.
- Ground shooting to finish. Targeted ground work close to stock and infrastructure removes the survivors the helicopter could not safely reach and holds numbers down.
- Bait and monitor. Coordinated baiting and repeat surveys lock in the result and show whether it held.
The one rule to remember is sequence: keep ground shooting away from the days just before baiting or trapping, and use it as the follow-up instead.
Which Is Right for Your Property?
- Choose aerial if you have high numbers of pigs, deer, or goats across large, rugged, or inaccessible country, and there is a coordinated programme you can join. It is the fastest way to bring big numbers down.
- Choose ground shooting if you need targeted control near stock, crops, or buildings, if your country is accessible, if numbers are moderate, or if you are cleaning up after baiting or an aerial knockdown.
- Use both if you can. Aerial brings the numbers down across the landscape, and ground shooting keeps the pressure on where it matters most.
How We Help
We provide professional ground shooting with thermal equipment, and we build it into a full programme for your property: a thermal drone survey to find the animals, targeted ground control near your stock and crops, coordinated baiting where it fits, and monitoring to prove the result. Where your country also needs an aerial knockdown, we help you coordinate with your Local Land Services programme so the ground and aerial effort work together rather than across each other. See our ground shooting and property assessment pages, or get in touch for a plan built around your country.
Sources consulted: PestSmart National Standard Operating Procedures NATSOP-PIG002 (aerial shooting of feral pigs, 2024) and NATSOP-PIG003 (ground shooting of feral pigs, 2024), plus the deer and goat equivalents; Bengsen et al. (2023), Wildlife Research, on effectiveness and costs of helicopter-based deer shooting; Hampton et al. (2022), Wildlife Research, on animal welfare outcomes of helicopter-based deer shooting; RSPCA Knowledgebase; NSW National Parks Feral Animal Aerial Shooting Team; NSW Government feral deer programme releases (2026); National Feral Pig Action Plan (NSW).