What's your thoughts on this gadget

[Ron LaClair]

My Son recently got a drone and has been sending me pictures from the family farm where he lives. He's been playing with it as a novelty but recently has been using it for surveillance.

We have a private lake near the back of the farm that isn't visible from the house. Occasionally he sends the drone up to see if anyone is fishing on the lake. We let people fish if the come to the house and ask but sometimes locals from town will sneak in from the backside to hunt and fish. We want to keep track of who's on our property and with the drone he can do that.

With this new technology there's the potential to use it for scouting/spotting deer. In the 60 years that I have been bow hunting things have changed drastically. When I started bow hunting there were no tree stands, no baiting and no trail cams. Now we have drones that are sure to be used by some to improve hunting success.

What are your thoughts on this new gadget?

   

[9 Shocks]

I have seen some very neat videos of nature and wildlife on the internet from drone cams that I most likely would not have seen had the drone cams not been invented.  On one hand I love viewing wildlife whether that be in person or on TV or video etc...but on the other hand I just think those things are going to be commercialized by "the hunting industry" and become an acceptable way to monitor game and may boarder on harassment if the drone gets put in the wrong hands.  I personally wouldnt buy one.

I can definitely understand how flying it to the back of the property would be helpful so I'm not completely knocking them.  Just not my cup o' tea.

I also love the romanticism of the stick and string and going out in the woods "blind" so to speak...with no monitoring of game, picking a trail setting up, and seeing a real nice deer.  That feeling of the unknown and the possibility of seeing a big deer unbeknownst to me is awesome and very satisfying.  While I do use cameras (partially to make sure no one is trespassing), I quite enjoy seeing deer I had no idea existed.

[ChuckC]

We were handed a slippery slope and the slope is getting exponentially more slick and more steep.

Our technology is growing beyond what we could have imagined ( or rather..... if we could imagine it, it is here) as a child.  Point is, It is here and we need to deal with it.

I for one won't use a drone to scout, chase / herd / harass game, but maybe they might be fun to play around with, I don't know.  I can see myself spending some bucks and outfitting mine with a catch net and go drone hunting on my own.  Maybe I can't touch off a firearm in town, but I can net one...

I myself won't use a crossbow or one of those new fangled air "bow"s, ever... but I am only me.

On the other hand (and a friend giggles and points this out to me often) I love playing with my sonar in the boat ( even more than catching fish) and absolutely love playing Pac Man thru the ice using a flasher unit ( ice fishers know what I am talking about).  I have walked off the ice without lowering a jig once before when the battery went dead on me.

The world is changing faster and faster.  I no longer want to substantially change with it because I see a lot of laziness, cheating, and ill placed thoughts out there, but I am only me.

We all make our choices to jump in or not and how deeply we want to jump.  Although we all get concerned, it is not my place to tell you not to do something ( unless it is unethical...MY ethics).

ChuckC

[Hermon]

I don't know... I can see the novelty of them, see some legitimate uses (as you described) but I can also see where they could be abused.  Anytime that someone can find a shortcut they will take it.  I have always wondered about the legality of a drone flying over my property.  Do they have the right to do so?  Airplanes are can fly are to maintain minimum elevations above ground level.  If a drone is flying, hovering 50' above the ground in my back yard, can I legally do anything about it?  Flu flu's or #7 1/2 size shot?

[Sean B]

As long as it is used for good instead of evil!!!

[jonsimoneau]

I think they are especially going to be a problem out west where game lives in open country. Guys are going to use them to locate Elk, mule deer etc. I understand and hope that most states will take a stand against them but that won't stop opportunists from using them. I'm 37 years old and am worried what hunting will turn into by the time I'm 50.

[Roy from Pa]

I would never use it for a scouting or hunting purpose, just doesn't seem right to me. I believe some states have already passed a law banning them from scouting game.

[Ron LaClair]

 As long as it is used for good instead of evil!!!  

My thoughts exactly. We can't stop the drones because they are here already, but we can choose how we use them. People of dubious character are going to abuse them regardless if they are banned or not.

[WESTBROOK]

I think they will be a lot more bother/nuisance than they will ever be good.

[achigan]

Alaska(and other states?) don't allow one to huunt on the day they fly, because of the obvious advantage given by aerial scouting.
  There will be a push by "The Industry to have them legalized, just like X-guns and air-bows. A guy named Todd Moen creates fantastic videos with dronesfootage complimenting his traditional camera work. But not for hunting.

[BWallace10327]

I'm pretty sure they're illegal for hunting in Colorado. If they aren't, I hope they will be soon, but that's just me talking. Good luck finding someone my age that is such a neoluddite I can say that #8 shot would do a number on one if it was hovering around my house.

[ron w]

I guess I like to hunt.......not find the game and then go after it. My Dad and Uncle, and then the old timers at camp taught me scouting and woodsman ship skills that helped me become a good hunter. Finding and reading the scat, tracks, and other sign left by game is an art. More of that is needed instead of trail cams and drones. I do like seeing photos of game from others on the trail cams but I personally would not use them where I hunt. Just my opinion........  

[Bud B.]

Originally posted by achigan:
Alaska(and other states?) don't allow one to huunt on the day they fly, because of the obvious advantage given by aerial scouting.
  There will be a push by "The Industry to have them legalized, just like X-guns and air-bows. A guy named Todd Moen creates fantastic videos with dronesfootage complimenting his traditional camera work. But not for hunting.

All states will have to address it for hunting purposes, soon. Just like the flying plane scouting, so is a camera on a drone. Hunters use trail cameras already. The drone just makes'em mobile and in real time. Where will the line be drawn?


As for use on/over your own land, I see no problem with it at all.

[Scott Barr]

With the technology here, there will be those that use it in all manner of ways.  So heck yes I am concerned.  My only hope is that many people will tire of it and elect to return to more traditional ways, much like those abandoning wheelie bows or the resurgence of board games and cards over Xbox.  Scott

[Whip]

I just had a discussion on FB yesterday on this subject.  Here are my thoughts.
 
While the technology is amazing and they offer unique perspectives, I am not a fan of drones being used for hunting/scouting. Today's society is so driven by making things easier, and it just think we are missing something by replacing the need to get out and use our legs and lungs, relying instead on a flying video camera to do it for us.

I know, many will say this is just another tool, but kids today are already missing all of the outdoor activities that we grew up with. Even in the outdoors or in groups of people they are glued to their cell phones. Drones are another step down the road to not needing to do the work that used to be required to be successful in the outdoors.

The scary part to me is that they are just in their infancy. Will hunters in the future simply sit in their trucks flying a drone around until they find an animal they want to pursue?  I don't think we have even begun to imagine some of the unscrupulous users people will come up with for these things.  Their capabilities in range, speed and capabilities will continue to advance exponentially as they become more mainstream.

Scouting is a big factor in successful hunting, and my opinion is that hard work and effort should be part of the challenge we accept and embrace as hunters. Making everything easier does not increase the satisfaction of a successful hunt, it diminishes it.

Unfortunately, we see this over and over in hunting. The easier the better, the faster a guy can fill his tag with the least amount of effort required, the more people embrace it. It is a slippery slope, and the wide spread use of drones in hunting has the potential to explode and degrade our sport even further.

[Ron LaClair]

  I guess I like to hunt.......not find the game and then go after it. My Dad and Uncle, and then the old timers at camp taught me scouting and woodsman ship skills that helped me become a good hunter. Finding and reading the scat, tracks, and other sign left by game is an art. More of that is needed instead of trail cams and drones. I do like seeing photos of game from others on the trail cams but I personally would not use them where I hunt. Just my opinion.  

Ron, me too.    

[Sam McMichael]

I have mixed feelings like a lot of people do. It all depends on how people choose to use them. Unfortunately, I fear that it does not make any real difference how guys like us feel, or even if we get legislation to regulate its usage. People who are going to abuse it will do so no matter what. I understand the concern that some of you younger fellows have regarding the future of archery and hunting in general. Things have really changed since I began hunting in 1964. I sure do miss the America I grew up in!

[Ray Lyon]

I see this the same way as I see the crossbow and all the other technology. There will be many that choose to use it along with every other technological advance and that's there way of 'hunting'. For many on this site, the laundry list of things Ron mentioned available are not what constitutes a hunting experience  and therefore are not used. What will probably happen is the eventual watering down of woodsmanship to a newer technological experience.  

I for one am glad I still carry a compass in my pocket and use wool clothing and wood arrows. It's MY way that I want to experience things.

I would say the two big home runs in technology changes are the compound bow and the commercial tree stand. Those two things really changed the success rates of bow hunters.  We may find that crossbows and gamecamera/drone technology are the next game changers.  Before long, that may lead to reductions in archery deer seasons.

[oldbohntr]

While on a recent hog hunt, I heard some of the ranch hands talking about their adventures with night vision scopes and assault-type rifles.   By adventures, I mean shooting animals. They pointed out an ad for a military thermal imaging scope(or some such name)that they said could pick out a deer behind a screen of brush at 800 yards(or some such number!)  It cost around $12000. Other than I want our military to have those, I can't think of any acceptable use for them.

Drones, on the other hand, seem to actually have worthwhile uses in the civilian world.  But, they are unregulated and "unregulate-able".  Yes, Ron, your son has a valid use for one....but how about the neighbor who uses his to gaze through windows at little girls getting dressed? Far-fetched? I don't think so.  I think even someone who's all thumbs like I am could figure out a way to hang a hand grenade from a drone and fly it over the Su per Bowl.....pretty big challenge for a Blackhawk helicopter to shoot down a tiny drone over a jillion people!

Not to be like Chicken Little, but this one development could change the way terrorism is conducted, just as much as it may help some legitimate users.  

People on this forum likely all feel the same way about their hunting. But, the world is full of tech-crazed fools!  (And if one decides to fly his drone low over my house, I will not hesitate to practice my wingshooting!)

[centaur]

They are a great tool for military/police applications. All is fair in combat, and I hope that our military and law enforcement use them to full advantage. For sport hunting, they provide an unethical and unfair advantage. I hope that they are universally outlawed for scouting/hunting, but just because they may be illegal doesn't mean that otherwise unethical people won't use them. There is already more than enough high tech stuff out there that makes pursuing animals easier than it should be.