Big Bore Airgun Deer Hunting with a Drone: Is it Legal?

[UpNorthAirGunner]

Are drones legal to use while big bore airgun hunting during the deer season? Watch scouting video:

https://youtu.be/SMp9brSYq48

Here in Michigan... NOPE! But there are legal tactics that you CAN use to give you an advantage during the deer hunting season - read on...

Recent Michigan laws have made it illegal to use drones while hunting and also have made it illegal for animal rights activists to use drones to harass hunters (which is great).

You CAN NOT even have a drone with you in any way shape or form while you are hunting and I would HIGHLY recommend NOT to test this unless you are ready to have all of your gear seized. DO NOT even have drone with you in your vehicle when you are driving to and from your hunting spot. I gleaned this little tidbit of information while talking with DNR officials recently.

The beauty though is that it isn't illegal to use them pre or post hunting season to help give you an advantage for when deer season comes around next. In the past year I have been scouting runway patterns of deer that I have found to be VERY predictable from year to year. This gives me a HUGE amount of insight well beyond what my trail cameras can give me.

I use actual footage from my drone and comparing that footage to Google Earth historical photos of my hunting spots from year to year to compare runway patterns. Using this intel from my drone and in the field I can choose my hunting spots to set up various different blind locations so I can move depending on wind direction and weather.

I can find the exact spots where deer enter their feeding grounds and bedding grounds and be able to shift and adjust accordingly throughout the season. I have found the best time to scout these locations is right after the first snow as it highlights even the smallest runway locations and makes the well used runways stand out like a paved highway through the woods.

So leave your drone in the closet during hunting season - but document like crazy in the off season and you will give yourself the upper hand using technology legally and smartly for your next airgun deer hunting adventure.

 

[likkitysplyt]

Trouble we have down here is that it seems like almost everywhere in this state is within 5 miles of some kind of little air field that may not have but one small plane using it and you know what the law says about that. Many of the fields don't even have a tower you can call to gain permission or to find out if they have anything planned for a certain day. I have an Autel Quad with a 5k camera that very seldom gets used unless I travel about a hundred miles to put 'er in the wind. People think you are spying on them if you happen to fly over their house … bunch of paranoid homo sapiens we have in this world.

 

[badammo]

We are all spied on so much that maybe the obnoxious whine of a drone flying over head while trying to have some peace in thier yard is too much.

When I got married the first time. Hehe. We had an outside wedding and some crap head decided to park his helicopter over the lake to watch. Was wishing for my 06 about then.

As far as using drones in washington, it is also illegal. Its no different than using a helicopter to spot game.

 

[addertooth]

Prior to hunting season, you can use your drone to survey areas where you feel game might be. You can establish paths, terrain, water sources, bedding areas, safe shooting zones, distances to habitation for people, crops and plants which may be desirable for game, and game population. Those things I listed above will still be in place when the season starts the next week. I find surveys from the air very useful, and saves me hours of tromping through tough terrain to do the survey on foot.

Arizona does have specific laws which state you cannot "harass" game with any kind of drone. This means, you must be at a height which gives you good visibility without being so low that you spook game. You cannot (for example), use a drone to spook or flush game into your field of fire.

For the record, I am a registered drone pilot who operates within the FAA rules and state regulations.