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Local News

Colorado to consider ban on hunting with drones

By Ryan Budnick
7News

Posted: 11/13/2013 12:01:00 AM MST11
Updated: 11/13/2013 06:53:33 AM MST



LAMAR — Colorado is looking to prevent the unmanned aircraft from being used for hunting.

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission is set to begin discussion on making it illegal to use drones to help hunters spot potential game. The topic is one of many the commission will take up during two days of meetings in Lamar starting Thursday.

"There is a ton of technology available to people that would make it very, very easy for people to hunt," Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton said. "We try to hold the line to make sure that hunting is done in an ethical manner."

The use of aircraft to aid in hunting is explicitly illegal under a federal law called the Airborne Hunting Act. That law prohibits people from hunting for at least 48 hours after you fly over an area.

However, the law was created years before the private use of unmanned drone aircraft.

"It was not something that most people were engaged in, and it wasn't needed in a regulatory model," Hampton said. "Because it has become more prevalent, we want to make sure people understand it is still outside the bounds of what is allowed."

The commission, which is expected to pass the rule, will be presented with the topic Thursday morning.

It would need to be passed through two readings.

If adopted, it would take effect for the 2014 big game season, which begins in the end of August.

Also on the agenda for the commission's meetings is to give final approval to increase the price for tags to hunt cow elk by out-of-state hunters.

Colorado lowered the price of the hunting tags years ago when the Division of Wildlife was looking at decreasing the state's elk population.

The state had an estimated 305,000 elk in 2001. That number has dropped to 260,000 — a figure the commission says is a reasonable number.

A cow elk tag is $350, compared with $585 for a bull.

It has not been determined how much the cost would increase, but it could be a similar price as that for a bull tag, Hampton said.

The price for elk tags for Colorado residents will remain the same. The price of tags for residents is controlled by the state legislature, not the wildlife commission.

If they increase the costs of cow tags for out of state hunters, that will reduce the number of hunters considerably, IMHO. Who will pay a similar price to hunt a cow opposed to a bull?

quote:

Who will pay a similar price to hunt a cow opposed to a bull?

For a non-resident the cost of the tag is a relatively small part of the overall cost of the hunt. Nobody likes to get gouged but adding $100 to a $350 tag isn't going to be a deal-breaker. The going price of fuel can make more of a difference.

Cow vs. Bull? A decent guided cow elk hunt is in the $1500 range while a $4500 bull elk hunt is still "low budget." The out-of-state D.I.Y. hunter is more likely to find a place to hunt (and an elk to tag) with a cow. Bulls and cows taste the same.

We don't have elk in Wisconsin (actually we do but the handful of elk up north are just food for the wolves) so the choice is simple: pay up or stay home.

It might not for you, but it will be for me and a lot of other folks.

I drew my first cow elk tag in Colorado in 1993 or 94. The cost then was $75.00 for a Non-Resident. My latest cow tag, late season this year costs $355.00. Pushing the price up $100.00 or equal to bull tags is going to have a negative impact.

It's all a matter of priorities.

I wouldn't pay a penny to golf at the finest golf course in the world. I wouldn't pay a nickel to attend a NASCAR race or watch a professional baseball, football or basketball game. I wouldn't pay a dime for a fishing license anywhere. But there are millions who gladly pay big money for these things. Likewise there are those who would balk at paying hundreds of dollars for a cow elk tag. (The only issue I'm having is finding someone to help me get the cow elk.)

Colorado's neighbor to the south charges $424 for a cow elk tag and the only way you can get one is with a landowner voucher. At least CO will sell a non-resident a cow elk tag for Federal land. NM will not, despite all of the Federal land in that state.

I'm not trying to sound snobbish, but if an extra $100 really, truly imposes a hardship or makes the hunt unaffordable it's probably not financially responsible to be planning an out-of-state hunt in the first place.

It is not a case of not being able to afford anything, it is a case of being WILLING to!

There is a difference.

I offer doe/spike hunts here in Texas, mainly because a good many Texans peruse this site, but when a Non-Resident contacts me about those hunts, I automatically tell them that while I appreciate their interest in the hunt, a $315.00 Non-Resident license negates the price I have listed for the hunt.

I would not pay $315.00 for a license and then the amount I charge per doe.

I am not going to pay as much or almost as much for a cow elk tag as I would pay for a bull tag, especially if I was doing a D-I-Y hunt on Public Land.

Yes, let's keep drones for spying on US Citizens where it belongs.

I go along with the idea about drones not being used to aid a hunter in finding game. I really see that as being no different than the flying in and not being able to hunt the next day.

Just curious, but is this some big problem they are having? Or is it mainly the theoretical chance that somebody might try it?

Or, could some of the concern be the news about antis using drones to scare off game, and thus get the jump on them by banning it all around.

Where passing laws is concerned, generally I like to see a legit problem to be addressed first. Is there one?

I don't believe it is a problem yet, they are just trying to stop it before it gets started.
C.G.B.

It's all Saeed's fault! Colorado must have gotten wind of his drone videos from his safari this year!

A cynic might suggest that the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission has been taking undue advantage of the latest revision in the Colorado dope laws ...