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It was never called hunting again.

You my friend are a prodigy

So, you’re one of those guys that still hunts in bare feet, a loin cloth, and an atlatl? That’s badass!!!

“The new ways, soon it won't be called hunting.”

"Well I do still hunt with a bow I made, I don't need a cell cam are any pic to tell me if deer are traveling we're I hunt, I don't need a drone to find the trails, and I sure don't need a outfitter to do the hunting for me witch would just make me the executioner."

Well said gentlemen,,, X2 I concur...

I think it’s just human nature to want things to stay the way they are when you have your own personal glory years.

Why teach kids how to type they should just write by hand. Let’s ignore the fact that the world moves on.

My only experience with a drone: A few summers ago I allowed a guy to come with me to film some bachelor groups with his drone (he asked and I was honestly intrigued). He had one of the better drones at the time for optical zoom capability. It only took a few minutes to locate deer in tall field vegetation (no tree cover), in a secluded area which I couldn't see into by glassing. Some of the bucks which we located, I had been glassing for all summer, and had not yet seen up to that point. But afterwards something felt off to me, almost as if I had "cheated" at scouting? Granted summer time glassing/ scouting is more for fun than to actually aid at hunting come fall; there's still something old-school and pure about scouting via boots on the ground and glassing. I mean... fighting off mosquitoes as the sun slowly fades while waiting on a big velvet buck to break the shadows is most enjoyable!

Now, I've I got a buddy that just sold a regular drone and picked up a thermal drone. I had seen videos on YouTube of the thermal drone deer recovery, and even though they are edited videos, you can tell it drastically reduces the time to locate deer (especially in foliage/ tree cover). My buddy confirmed this. He found a "target" buck in minutes out in a swamp, quite a ways from the usual bedding spot on an overgrown powerline (note: this was during February). Does that give him some intel that might make hunting that deer easier this coming fall? Maybe... maybe not. IF he did that in October...yep!

I know I've gone off on a bit of a tangent here, but I think this drone use topic will be very relevant in the near future, if not already.

I do wonder if it's only a matter of time before we see every state (many already have) enact regulations specifically prohibiting the use of drones for wildlife surveillance, at least during open-seasons, since they can certainly provide (some) users a means for surveillance in a manner that is not 'fair chase'. And it could be difficult to argue that scouting doesn't involve locating game in some fashion, right?

With all that said, I think drones can serve a valuable purpose when it comes to surveillance uses such as herd counts/ density studies, winter kill survey etc. Thermal drone deer recovery also seems pretty logical to me. Dare I say....they could replacing tracking dogs for most (not all) tracking needs... I know...gasp! Try to argue that one.

Matt

On Public or Private or Both

I could see thermal recovery being on the docket for many states to review real soon. I think it has a place and could be here to stay, like it or not.

Matt

For arguments sake here's another thing to ponder: A good, "old school hunter" or tracker would be able to walk your piece of ground and tell you a heck of a lot more than any drone could. EVEN a thermal drone. He can walk your property and tell you where a mature buck is bedding, likely what wind he is using, which way he moves after he leaves his bed, likely how he enters his bed, and where he is likely feeding when he leaves his bed. A drone can only give you information that is a one singular snapshot in time. Just because that buck is right there right now, doesn't necessarily mean he'll ever be there again. He could have been chased by a hunter, dogs, wolves or coyotes and is right now (the moment you see him on a drone) in a completely unusual location. Only boots on the ground could verify what you see via drone. Or many repeated drone usages.

A good woodsman can tell you how and where the local doe groups operate, and what a good strategy would be to kill a desired buck based on all these above movements. He can tell this things simply by reading sign, and what is laid out on the ground. Much like mature buck can come along and smell who has been where and for how long.

Yet I've never ever heard of anyone having anything against hiring an old school hunter, or many of today's "Consultants" as being unethical. Yet for some money, that person can tell you more than any drone could. End result is the same. Info for money, and it's more and better info "the old school way" though it likely put more pressure on the deer obtaining it. So what's more unethical - hiring Don Higgins or a Wensel brother to look at your property, or flying a drone?

They are two different mediums of obtaining information. And like it or not, both will have heavy uses of technology baked in. An old school woodsman will likely drive to your farm in a modern vehicle, use paper maps (created by higher technology) or phone apps to show you what and where he found items. So if you think as an old school woodsman today you are one step removed from a 1500's plains Indian I think you are sorely mistaken. Tech is so baked into our lives that we can not say we have adopted tech.

Matt

Dads are not hired but they teach young hunters to read sign

Very few if any trackers that come out of the womb and start sniffing and tracking game

On the drones it would not be hard to enforce a NO flying drones during deer season. However that would never get passed as a law because of all the industries that use drones and fly them over rural properties. They would have to prove you were flying to find wildlife to hunt. Tough nut to crack

Many of us would say the fun is in the learning. But you never stop learning. Let's not forget that all knowledge comes from somewhere. You may get it from YouTube, Bowsite, your elder, could be any number of places. Just because you hire someone for information does not make you any less of a man. It might just have been the best way for you to attain the information you wanted, and if you have the funds and allocate that particular thing as a priority in your life a consultant might not be stupid.

You might hire a financial consultant because in the long run they pay for their fee and then some, and it is the best decision you ever made. Exchange enjoyment on your land for "long run payoff" in the previous example and a consultant could be a good idea for a hunting property.

That being said - I probably have too big of an ego, and not enough cash to do it, but that is my own fault!

To many helpful things flying over wildfires