In Idaho, a recent statute prohibits using drones to assist in hunting, including birds: It is unlawful to “Make use of aircraft, including any unmanned aircraft system, in any manner to spot or locate game animals, game birds or furbearing animals of this state from the air and communicate the location or approximate location thereof by any signals whatsoever, whether radio, visual or otherwise, to any person then on the ground” (36.11.3).
As most of you know, we enjoy capturing our hunting experiences in still and video images and like to share them. I’d love to have a drone to add to the kinds of shots we get; an overhead moving image of our dogs honing in to point birds on the edge of Hells Canyon excites me. I’m curious to know others’ thoughts about this, and plan to talk to our local Fish and Game officer soon to get his take. The way I read the statute, if we used a drone, we wouldn’t be in violation because we wouldn’t (couldn’t is more like it: there’s no way a drone can do a better job locating chukar than our dogs do). Anyway, I’m curious to know readers’ thought about this.