Drone thermal imaging

[rogerthat]

You’re not totally wrong. I was thinking about that this morning, but out of all the people I know personally that hunt, only two of them have Swarovski glass, high priced clothing, etc. That’s just not normal for blue collar Joe in the south where I come from. Yes, many guys do have $60k trucks but they did not buy them for hunting. It’s legal here to pig hunt using thermal scopes and I only know two people who have bought into that and have night hunting set ups. The reason is the cost, and it’s not on the top of the disposable income want list. So maybe I should rephrase my statement, when it comes to peoples disposable income, I don’t think a thermal drone will be on the top of the list. But hey, I’ve been wrong before!

Yep, we have different experiences and demographics. Everyone out here where I live has a thermal night hunting setup for coyote hunting and I know for a fact they are being used for big game in unethical ways. It’s a slippery slope and if you don’t get strong laws in ahead of the curve then the technology gets incorporated into what hunters think is “fair chase”. It’s much harder to take something back than it is to never allow it in the first place.

 

[Tiredofthebickering]

I'd support a rule limiting information back to the hunter. For example, if the animal is found alive all they should say is "found alive" with further information.

 

[bigsky2]

Thermal imaging should be banned for all hunting purposes in my opinion. I think most people would be shocked to find out how much it is being used to locate big game here in Montana. Unfortunately it’s legal here and the FW commission has done nothing to get out ahead of it.

 

[seeth07]

It's an aside, but man, imagine tracking that deer without the drone. You'd find an incredible amount of blood, a location where he stood and bled for hours. You took the shot, and it looked good. Never finding him would be hard to square. I believe that deer is dead somewhere, but it was a single lung shot. Just makes me question some things - the efficacy of archery being one of them. I hunt with a bow, but jeeze things can go wrong.

Yet people take 70 yard bow shots and 600 yard rifle shots and call that "within their range". Thise guys are idiots

 

[Jwill]

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It's spreading...saw this post today.

 

[marshman]

Opposed. While I hate anyone loosing animals it's about time to stop rewarding marginal ethics/shots. Loosing animals happens learn from it. Not make it easier to repeat. Just my .02

Well said. Too much technology, learn to track.

 

[TheTone]

Isn’t technology great. Maybe we should just allow everything and we can get hunting seasons reduced. down to maybe a day or two in length at best

It’s pretty ridiculous the amount of gadgets marketed to hunters to make it easier and easier. Somewhere things hit a tipping point and it costs opportunities and fair chase

 

[Gellar]

If you could tell me with 100% certainty it was only used to recover an animal then sure why not. But like many mentioned people are not buying these just for recovery " unless they have a recovery business" I am also not sure the legality of flying them over public land? i have a friend who has a blood hound and he has recovered deer with her for people he also does commercial drone work but hasnt used it for deer recovery. Is using a bloodhound to track a gut shot deer crossing the moral compass or do people give that a pass because it is an animal and not a machine doing the work.

IMO, using a tracking dog is quite a bit different. Even the best dogs have bad days. Like @KipCarson said above someone who is willing to break the rules will break the rules whether it is with a dog or a drone. Using the original video as an example I could easily see the hunter using that footage to plan a stock to either recover the deer or to get another arrow into the deer, hell they could even have the drone operator stay on the deer and tell them what it is doing as they approach. If they do not have permission to be on the property I could see the operator using thermal imaging to do a quick scan of the property to make sure no other people are present. Or maybe there is some ground shrinkage of the animal so the hunter after seeing the drone video decides thats not the deer they were after and they abandon the recovery all together. Hell, it's probably not to far fetched to think that in the near future someone could find their wounded, still alive deer with the drone and use the drone to dispatch the animal.

I can think of way more situations where the drone could be used for bad than for good.

 

[Gellar]

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It's spreading...saw this post today.

At what point do all these services people offer from tracking and recovering to finding the largest animal in the unit to using the animals they harvest to pimp products become the commercialization of wild game? The North American model of Wildlife intended for the 2nd principle to limit the sale of meat because it was being sold by market hunters to restaurants and grocery stores, but as we have evolved I think one could argue that many of these services are commercialization of game.

 

[Khunter]

In rare circumstances, I might be more OK with it. The example that comes to mind is @Khunter moose hunt where he wounded the bull and busted his ass trying to find it. Whether he would've used it is up to him, but I wouldn't feel as bad about a situation like that.....once-in-a-lifetime tag and trying to recover an animal most people will never even get the opportunity to hunt. Some regulations would probably still need to be developed..maybe no hunting X number of days after use? Not sure what, but it would require more thought if allowed.

For finding lost dogs, etc....all for it. Could also be a great aid in finding lost people from what I've seen in the videos for finding animals.

When I was searching for that bull the landowner had just recently purchased a thermal imaging monocular. About a day or so before my search began, he killed it doing a firmware update. That would have been a nonstarter for use anyway of course, but sure eats at your mind a little bit thinking how it could have aided the effort, if legal.

He was using it to spot critters for recreation at night and day time that were in thick willows. He is not a hunter.

 

[npaden]

At what point do all these services people offer from tracking and recovering to finding the largest animal in the unit to using the animals they harvest to pimp products become the commercialization of wild game? The North American model of Wildlife intended for the 2nd principle to limit the sale of meat because it was being sold by market hunters to restaurants and grocery stores, but as we have evolved I think one could argue that many of these services are commercialization of game.

That's an interesting side track. There is no doubt that social media is monetizing wildlife. Maybe not to the extent that market hunting did, but it for sure is commercialization of wild game. It isn't non consumptive as these guys are shooting animals for views plain and simple. Even if the views become nonmonetized they are going to be picking up sponsors and pimping products to be monetized that way.

 

[rogerthat]

.............what comes out of Utah is amazing. The press gang in matching cammie jammies. The 0 deg brim trucker hat. Kill pics that look like a community college drop-out reunion photo. Dead bull tickle fights. Selling GPS coordinates of targets. Stepping on your mother to 'harvest' a Grade A brown shed. Thermal imaging targets at night. What a time to be born and raised outdoors to keep hammering the tushlife.

#content

But at least thermal imagers and game cams have been banned in that state. Give credit where credit is due.

 

[Irrelevant]

.............what comes out of Utah is amazing. The press gang in matching cammie jammies. The 0 deg bill trucker hat. Kill pics that look like a reunion photo of community college drop-outs. Dead bull tickle fights. Selling GPS coordinates of targets. Stepping on your mother for a Grade A Brown shed. Thermal imaging targets at night. What a time to be born and raised outdoors to keep hammering the tushlife.

#content

^My vote for post of the Month (I'm too forgetful to remember all the other great one for the year).

 

[Gellar]

^My vote for post of the Month (I'm too forgetful to remember all the other great one for the year).

I did chuckle at the reunion of community college dropouts

 

[Jamen]

IMO, using a tracking dog is quite a bit different. Even the best dogs have bad days. Like @KipCarson said above someone who is willing to break the rules will break the rules whether it is with a dog or a drone. Using the original video as an example I could easily see the hunter using that footage to plan a stock to either recover the deer or to get another arrow into the deer, hell they could even have the drone operator stay on the deer and tell them what it is doing as they approach. If they do not have permission to be on the property I could see the operator using thermal imaging to do a quick scan of the property to make sure no other people are present. Or maybe there is some ground shrinkage of the animal so the hunter after seeing the drone video decides thats not the deer they were after and they abandon the recovery all together. Hell, it's probably not to far fetched to think that in the near future someone could find their wounded, still alive deer with the drone and use the drone to dispatch the animal.

I can think of way more situations where the drone could be used for bad than for good.

I agree 100% many people would abuse the tool for the wrong reasons. I knew a guy he arrowed a deer. He made a bad shot and hired an airplane to fly over and look for it.

 

[Jamen]

I’m all for a trained blood hound. If I had one it wouldn’t come out hunting with me until I hit something

I was helping him train her in when he first got her. Id drop my hat and go run into some trees making all sorts of crazy lines. ITs truly amazing watching them work.

 

[88man]

Had a drone fly over our camp in Wyoming around 10 pm two weeks ago!!!!!!!!!! We estimated it to be around 500 feet up and it was a very large drone

 

[devon deer]

That’s why they call it the North American model of wildlife management. Outside of the United States, Canada, and Mexico wildlife management is much different.

Correct!

 

[steveshuntn1]

I don’t care for it but it’s coming on strong, but hunting is becoming a completely different game than it was when I first started doing it. Technology is winning over being a smart hunter!
I also see it being used by guides to get their clients into the game faster. Then they’ll announce the extraordinary success rate and the price of guided hunts will triple. Not to mention the outlaws who will definitely use it for poaching. I know several guys who use their “coyote thermals” for deer at night. Hell, one of them is our new game warden. I know because he’s related to me!

 

[Nicoli7153]

If you've got blood and loose the animal after doing your best due diligence, punch your tag and call it good. Nothing goes to waste in nature IMO