A petition to ban hunting with the assistance of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, in Vermont is making its way through the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Eric Nuse of Orion, the Hunter’s Institute and Tovar Cerulli of the New England chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers submitted a petition to the Fish & Wildlife Board early this year arguing that the use of drones to track or conduct reconnaissance leading up to a hunt was a violation of the rules of fair chase and provided an unfair advantage to the hunter. The board accepted the petition and drafted a new rule to ban the practice.
“Drones are just an overwhelming technology that have no place in hunting,” says Nuse, former executive director and current board member of Orion, the Hunter’s Institute. Fair-chase hunting, Nuse said, hinges on the possibility of the animal’s escape from the hunter leading up to the moment he or she discharges a bullet or arrow.
“Up until that point, the animal should be able to escape and be able to use all of its senses to survive,” Nuse says.
Hunters must rely primarily on their senses, too. “They have to be skillful, they have to be patient, and they have to put forth the effort. That’s what modern hunting is about.”
The idea that one might use a drone to scan a forest and pinpoint an animal’s location, or even corner the animal or lead it in a certain direction has many Vermont hunters up in arms. A post on Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s Facebook page asking for thoughts on the issue provoked a resounding and passionate response, with many of the more than 100 commenters declaring that the practice fell far outside the definition of real hunting.
Although no instances of drone-assisted hunting have yet been reported in Vermont, Nuse believes the ban is necessary after viewing a YouTube video posted in January 2013 in which hunters use a drone to stalk an adult moose in a snowy Norwegian forest. The video has more than 850,000 views and has been cited as a catalyst for other successful petitions for preemptive legislation to ban drone-assisted hunting in Montana, Alaska and Colorado.
“It’s something that our board was interested in addressing before it became an issue in Vermont,” said Catherine Gjessing, general counsel for the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. She drafted a rule to ban the practice.
“We treat fish and wildlife resources as if they are public trust resources that belong to all of the citizens of Vermont,” she said. “Along with that philosophy is an idea that hunting should follow the traditional process of a man or woman out in the woods tracking the game. Using unmanned aerial vehicles would make it more like a video game.”
Nuse and Gjessing say that a rifle is the most obvious example of technology that has been used to give the hunter an advantage. Modern hunters intentionally limit themselves in their use of technology so that the chances of making a kill are far below 50/50.
“Even though my ultimate goal might be to get freezer meat, we really do this for the enjoyment of the hunt,” he said.
The future of hunting in Vermont won’t always look exactly like the past, or even the present.
“We’re trying to get new people involved and maybe that would involve new technology,” Gjessing said. “If there are new technologies that are consistent with fair chase, I think the board would consider them.”
While the drone ban would officially prohibit the practice, Nuse believes the onus will ultimately be on the hunter.
“It’s interesting in hunting,” he said, “because, as opposed to field sports, you’re almost always alone. It’s just between you and your own choices. In modern society we aren’t really used to that.”
