Illinois Hunting Legislation Puts Drone Use in Crosshairs
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High-tech hunters may have to target wildlife the old fashioned way.
High-tech hunters in Illinois might have to stick with doing things the old fashioned way if a new bill is signed into law that would ban the use of drones to target wildlife.
State wildlife officials describe the bill, proposed by state Sen. Julie Morrison, as a “proactive” measure to maintain the integrity of hunting as a sport and to keep state wildlife stocks at healthy levels.
“Let’s keep the man—or woman—in outdoorsman,” Morrison said in a statement last week. “Using drones to hunt makes the process too easy. That’s not fair for hunters and fishers who are seriously into the sport, and it’s not fair for the animals that deserve a chance to escape.”
Several other states including North Carolina and Colorado have passed similar laws restricting the use of drones in wildlife gaming activities. In 2014 alone, 10 states passed drone-use regulations, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported the bill may contain an exception to allow drones to be used to hunt for invasive species. Morrison collaborated with the state’s Department of Natural Resources to craft legislation for the bill.
“[T]he use of drones would basically reduce the element of fair chase, which is an important principle of hunting," Illinois Department of Natural Resources spokesman Phil Young said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune.
The newspaper notes that Illinois already has a number of gaming restrictions in place aimed to level the playing field between hunter and hunted, including the barring of bait, hunting dogs and certain types of night-vision lighting.
Interestingly, the proposed bill comes a year after another bill was passed in the state that banned using drones to interfere with legal hunting activities. That bill, put forth by state Rep. Adam Brown, was in response to a plan by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which wanted to use drones to film illegal hunting activities, according to the International Business Times.
The anti-drone hunting bill proposed by Morrison is also not without its critics. Owners of hunting tour-guide businesses say they rely on drones and other surveillance technology to spot animals and identify valuable hunting areas. As part of a compromise, Young said his department may help include language in the bill that would allow such businesses to use drone technology up to 24 hours before a hunt begins, so long as the drones are not used to herd or otherwise “harass” wildlife in their natural environments.
Along with its dueling approaches to drone hunting legislation, Illinois has been at the forefront of the debate over surveillance use. In the summer of 2014, then-Gov. Pat Quinn signed a law requiring state law enforcement officials to obtain a warrant before using drones in their surveillance efforts.
(Image by stevemart / Shutterstock.com)
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