Using drones to scout / hunt game

[oneounceload]

that together with quiet battery powered drones, the work of our F&G departments is in for some tough work.

I disagree as they can use them to get more accurate wildlife counts and access areas previous too inaccessible. If poachers can use drones for spotting game, then the wardens can also use them to spot the poachers and cover more area. When I lived in NV there were 10 game wardens, each with an area of approximately 10,000 square MILES of territory to cover.

 

[CraigC]

What? Please explain what you are talking about here. Are you saying that they were using RC aircraft with FPV cameras 100 years ago?

They were using aircraft to spot herds of elephants, then landing to hunt them. Google Beryl Markham.

 

[Berger.Fan222]

Most aspects of American life, including hunting and fishing, need less government regulation rather than more.

Limits on take and seasons can be used to preserve sustainable populations for future generations.

Criminalization of methods usually represents more jealousy and wrangling whereby one group of citizens attempts to assert domination over another through the pretense of scientific need and republican process.

 

[H&Hhunter]

They were using aircraft to spot herds of elephants, then landing to hunt them. Google Beryl Markham.

I've read the book. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Jason_W]

Most aspects of American life, including hunting and fishing, need less government regulation rather than more.

Limits on take and seasons can be used to preserve sustainable populations for future generations.

Criminalization of methods usually represents more jealousy and wrangling whereby one group of citizens attempts to assert domination over another through the pretense of scientific need and republican process.

I don't know about more or less regulation, but I'm all for smart streamlined laws.

My concerns about RC drones (which I admit are just RC toy aircraft with advanced optics that weren't small enough or advanced enough to put on a flying toy 10 years ago) aren't limited to the world of hunting.

It's that they represent additional erosion of privacy and quiet enjoyment of any part of the world. It's bad enough that the government is monitoring my every communication I make and that I'm on camera probably 50 times during a trip to the grocery store. Now we have to potentially worry about our jackwagon neighbors filming what we do in our private, fenced in backyards.

As the tech relates to hunting and fishing, I can envision a time in the not so distant future where you can't go anywhere, no matter how remote or hard to access on foot without someone's toy buzzing around you. Additionally, anti hunting groups have already started to use toy drones to disrupt lawful hunting activities. While that's illegal in most states, It's going to be difficult to enforce as it could be hard or impossible to prove that the drone operator was doing so for the purpose of disrupting hunting activities.

I'm by no means a Luddite. I think technology can be a great thing. Antibiotics are amazing and I'm in no hurry to trade indoor plumbing for a hole I dug out back. My issue is that in the last 20 years or so, most technological advancement has seemed devoted to making the world a more obnoxious and intrusive place. Sustainable nuclear fusion power plants? A cure for cancer? Warp drive? Forget that noise, check out this pocket sized device that will allow me to watch internet video while I drive or this flying camera that lets me photograph the neighbors wife while she sunbathes in her private fenced in yard. Yay progress!

 

[SleazyRider]

Old technology

Never thought of it as cheating, but for years I've taken my 70-year old Cub up for a bit of aerial scouting before the season begins. From an aerial point-of-view, it's easy to distinguish heavily used trails from those that are used less frequently, and I set up my game camera accordingly. It's also good to know who's planting what and where. Maybe it's time for me to check the regulations in New York State lest I run afoul of the law.

 

[Art Eatman]

Scouting seems to me to be legit. Gives a good idea of where critters are hanging out. It's the same-day hunt/shoot that strikes me as unethical.

 

[Jason_W]

Never thought of it as cheating, but for years I've taken my 70-year old Cub up for a bit of aerial scouting before the season begins. From an aerial point-of-view, it's easy to distinguish heavily used trails from those that are used less frequently, and I set up my game camera accordingly. It's also good to know who's planting what and where. Maybe it's time for me to check the regulations in New York State lest I run afoul of the law.

Checking the laws can't hurt but I doubt it could ever be proven that you're out flying to scout hunting territory rather than just for fun. I'm guessing the authorities start getting bent out of shape when people start hunting from aircraft or using them to harass wildlife.

 

[Choctaw]

As long as it stays on your property and is legal, I don't care what you do. However, I don't want to be buzzed by someone's little toy while on my property.

 

[H&Hhunter]

However, I don't want to be buzzed by someone's little toy while on my property./QUOTE]

I reckon Triple T or number 2 ought to work wonders on that little problem.

 

[Jason_W]

As long as it stays on your property and is legal, I don't care what you do. However, I don't want to be buzzed by someone's little toy while on my property.

I wouldn't want anyone's little toy hovering over my property.

Does private property have airspace? More murky legal territory to slog through.

Though, if there is such a thing as private property airspace, I could see someone developing interceptor drones for the purpose of taking out the drones of nosey neighbors. That would be kinda cool.

 

[SleazyRider]

I wouldn't want anyone's little toy hovering over my property.

Does private property have airspace? More murky legal territory to slog through.

Though, if there is such a thing as private property airspace, I could see someone developing interceptor drones for the purpose of taking out the drones of nosey neighbors. That would be kinda cool.

Take a gander here: https://www.faa.gov/uas/model_aircraft/

 

[oneounceload]

Scouting seems to me to be legit. Gives a good idea of where critters are hanging out. It's the same-day hunt/shoot that strikes me as unethical.

For me there would be a number of factors - was the plane used to "herd" the animals towards a certain topographical area better conducive to landing the plane and just shooting them? I mean, if you use a plane for same day scouting but still have to land miles away and then go and find them again, is that really cheating? Especially compared to folks who use feeders all year long as bait to keep them close to their elevated comfy deer stand? If you're using a helicopter where you can scare and herd them and land right there, that should get you skinned alive, especially if it is a poaching scenario. As long as the final aspect of the hunt is fair chase, preceding scouting does not seem unethical to me.

 

[notaglockfanboy]

It should not be allowed. If it were allowed, pretty soon you would fashion a way to mount your rifle to it and just sit in your truck all nice and warm, then fashion a hook to retrieve your prey and lay it in the back of the truck for you. Not very sporting if you ask me.

 

[SleazyRider]

A drone enthusiast would call you an "anti."

 

[Patocazador]

If it gets rampant, it's cheaper than shooting sporting clays.

 

[oneounceload]

It should not be allowed. If it were allowed, pretty soon you would fashion a way to mount your rifle to it and just sit in your truck all nice and warm, then fashion a hook to retrieve your prey and lay it in the back of the truck for you. Not very sporting if you ask me

If you can afford a drone that can lift and handle that, I think they call that a helicopter.......

 

[TarDevil]

Never thought of it as cheating, but for years I've taken my 70-year old Cub up for a bit of aerial scouting before the season begins. From an aerial point-of-view, it's easy to distinguish heavily used trails from those that are used less frequently, and I set up my game camera accordingly. It's also good to know who's planting what and where. Maybe it's time for me to check the regulations in New York State lest I run afoul of the law.

Hmmmm... I miss that view!

Carry on, guys.

 

[CraigC]

My concerns about RC drones (which I admit are just RC toy aircraft with advanced optics that weren't small enough or advanced enough to put on a flying toy 10 years ago) aren't limited to the world of hunting.

First off, they are not toys. Nor is any other hobby grade R/C. This ain't the $50 crap from the toy aisle at Walmart. They are very expensive, high sophisticated machines that are not to be confused with the toy grade garbage that doesn't last a month. So we can dispense with the toy nonsense if we are to have a polite discussion about them.

Secondly, if they are operated on someone else's property, then it is really none of your business. If it is operated on your property, then it is trespassing and that is against the law. I think your concerns about getting "buzzed by someone's toy" are a little silly and unrealistic.

Third, if you check the local weather forecast to plan your trips afield, you are already taking advantage of some of the most advanced technology available to mankind. Laser range finders? Modern optics? Sometimes you have to step back from the emotional rhetoric and kneejerk reactions and look at it from every angle. The point being, we all use technological advances to our advantage and mankind has always done so. We also have the choice as to how much technology we utilize afield (e.g. primitive vs modern weaponry, ATV's vs on foot, optics vs iron sights, etc.).

 

[H&Hhunter]

Craig,

Are we really going to get our feelings hurt over the proper terminology of an RC airplane?

 

[CraigC]

Feelings hurt? Absolutely not. I don't get my feelings hurt over anonymous internet drivel. I just don't care for the obviously condescending tone in the use of the word "toy". Sorry, I don't have patience for veiled insults. It has NOTHING to do with "proper terminology". This ain't a clip vs magazine thang.

 

[Art Eatman]

"The only difference between men and boys is the cost of their toys."

I tend to look at anything that's not used for some commercial purpose as a toy. Sure, I enjoy my toys: Guns, high-performance cars, Cessna 172s, all that stuff. But they're not really necessary for my comfortable survival through my lifetime.

(A rifle is a whole different deal for someone like caribou.)

IOW, it's the style of usage, rather than the thing itself.

So, for all that I have had a lot of satisfaction from the many toys I've had through the years, they're still just toys.

Amazon.com would like to use drones for a commercial purpose. For the vast majority of us, however, they're merely toys.

 

[Choctaw]

You are spot on, Art. I refer to my hunting guns and fun guns as toys. It is simply how I use the term. They are items I like to have but are not necessary to my survival or income. However, the sidearm I wear to work and the black plastic rifle I use are not toys. They are serious tools.

CraigC, if you were referring to my post, I wasn't making a "veiled insult." My comment wasn't directed at anyone. However, I don't feel the need to change my vocabulary to suit you and your chosen hobbies.

 

[Jason_W]

Secondly, if they are operated on someone else's property, then it is really none of your business. If it is operated on your property, then it is trespassing and that is against the law. I think your concerns about getting "buzzed by someone's toy" are a little silly and unrealistic.

Horizontal property lines are pretty cut and dried, but what about vertical?

And no, I really don't care if you use an RC drone to photograph every inch of your own property. I just know people as a whole and if a new technology can be made intrusive and obnoxious, it will be used in such a manner.

You can get as angry as you want regarding my personal personal opinion of civilian surveillance drones, but it's a waste of energy. Ultimately, the tech will win and violations of laws governing said tech will prove unenforceable.

Just because something is an inevitability doesn't mean I have to like it.

 

[short barrel]

If someone's drone hovers over your property, would the landowner be guilty of anything illegal if he shot it down? Vandalism?