CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission has banned the use of manned and unmanned aircraft to scout for wildlife during hunting season.
The ban recently approved by the commission prohibits using aircraft to look for animals to hunt from Aug. 1 until Jan. 31 each year. The change takes effect this August with the start of a new hunting season.
“We always knew we were probably going to have to address something with the new technology from drones, but we actually got quite a bit of public concern that got us looking into this thing,” said Brian Nesvik, chief game warden for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
Dozens of hunters and representatives from hunting groups contacted Game and Fish recently to support the ban, Nesvik said.
Game and Fish previously prohibited people from scouting for big game from the air within 24 hours of hunting the animal. But some hunters said that wasn’t enough.
“They didn’t think it was right to take advantage of an airplane and find an animal,” Nesvik said.
It’s an issue of fair chase, said Jeff Muratore, a Casper-area hunter and board member of the Wyoming chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.
He’s heard stories of hunters using planes to spot trophy mule deer and bull elk, note the locations on GPS units and find the animals the next day.
“Frankly, that is killing and not hunting,” he told the Casper Star-Tribune (https://bit.ly/1X4Z1N4).
He’s also been hunting when planes scouting for animals have flown overheard, spooking his quarry and ruining the hunt.
The regulation is not intended to prevent people from flying as recreation or using drones or using planes to count their cattle, Nesvik said.
“This prohibits a person who intentionally takes a plane or drone out to find animals to hunt them,” Nesvik said.
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Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, https://www.trib.com
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