Drone Laws in Your State
Equipment
Just curious what your laws are.
Adding more stress to a prey animal is never good. I've seen YouTube videos where the deer stare at the drone then get nervous and aren't sure what to do or flee. Pretty sad. With any new invention there will be plenty of upside but also plenty of downside.
IN Colorado, they can not be use to scout or to hunt big game. The Regulations state" use the internet or other computer assisted remote technology while hunting or fishing. This includes unmanned or remote control drones used to look for wildlife."
Drones are now used heavily in most states for Ag purposes and trespass patrol. Game animals get use to them just like cars and ATV's. Great way to see wildlife as well, whether legal or illegal. Close your eyes I guess when you see the big one,lol.
Charlie, from watching the above footage, I did not see the deer become any more alarmed than the cattle or the horse he also filmed on his neighbor. Above a certain height, they just casually looked up and kept eating. I suppose they thought it was a giant bug lol. I agree they should not be used to hunt. Scouting, surveying your own land, locating other hunters, are some ideas that it might be useful though.
NM jumped in early and nixed them.
"“Drone” is defined as any device used or designed for navigation or flight in the air that is unmanned and guided remotely or by an onboard computer or onboard control system. Drones may also be referred to as “unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)” or “unmanned aerial vehicle systems (UAVS)”
It is illegal to:
"Shoot at, pursue, harass, harry, drive or rally any protected species by use of or from a motor-driven vehicle, powerboat, sailboat, aircraft or drone."
Then the kicker where NM made drone use more stringent than scouting via aircraft:
"Using information gained from air flight: (1) It shall be unlawful to hunt for or to take, or assist in the hunting for or taking of, any protected species with the use of information regarding location of any protected species gained from the use of any aircraft until 48 hours after such aircraft use.
(2) It shall be unlawful to hunt for or to take, or assist in the hunting for or taking of, any protected species with the use of information regarding location of any protected species gained from the use of any drone at any time."
The way I interpret this is you can never use a drone for scouting. Because if you see an animal, then hunt that same area, you could be charged with hunting with information gained from the drone "at any time". IMO drone law should have been identical to scouting from any other aircraft: 48 hours.
"IMO drone law should have been identical to scouting from any other aircraft..."
I would agree with that as soon as they make training and licensing to operate them similar to manned aircraft.
The NM law is vague and not enforceable. If I fly a drone over my ranch to check cattle, water tanks and pasture conditions that does not mean I now cannot hunt my ranch for deer. Of course I will also know where the deer and antelope are from my flights.
I see drones all the time over BLM in Montana. I do not know if they are private or FWP and Fire departments doing range, wildlife and fire patrol and animal counts. Could also be prairie groups doing studies for the new National park that is being discussed along the Missouri River.
As pointed out, if private property owners have a legitimate reason to drone their property for trespassers, then they will also see what else is out there - what the trespassers are chasing. You don't need to hover very low and disturb a buck or a bull elk to get a really good idea of what kind of rack it is sporting. Overhead views of bucks and bulls have already started appearing. The video clarity on sporting events is crystal clear. Like 2-way radios, drones are here to stay regardless of regulations. They're cheap and they work. Practically speaking, the only real enforcement will be on public land. With most drones being line-of-sight, regulators/enforcers might catch a few people using them, assuming they have the desire and resources to do so. Use a drone to catch a drone? I wouldn't be surprised that's what it takes.
While vague and "unenforceable" I don't want to be the test case. The way the wording is, NM COULD attempt to prosecute you if you ever saw a game animal with a drone and then hunted in the same area.
The main problem with enforcement is identification. Unlike manned aircraft, there are NO registration numbers visible. And now they've relaxed the requirement to register them at all. Without even a written test to operate them, most users don't have ANY clue what is and isn't allowed. I reported a guy flying one IN Olympic National Park last year after talking to him. He was also flying it over other park visitors. Both clear violations that he didn't know anything about.
