MISSOURI, USA — The Missouri Department of Conservation recently released multiple rule changes ahead of this year's deer and turkey hunting season, including an additional tool hunters can add to their arsenal.
Hunters can now use drones to recover wounded deer, turkey, elk and black bear during the respective hunting seasons, according to Missouri's Wildlife Code. The state had previously banned all drone usage during hunting. Despite the new regulation, all other uses of drones are still prohibited while hunting, including pursuing, taking, driving, or otherwise harassing wildlife.
Drone operators must first obtain permission from the public or private landowner where the game animal was shot. Using a drone to trespass on someone's property to locate and recover a wounded animal is still prohibited. Drone operators also cannot have any kind of weapon on them while flying a drone.
"No person may possess or control a firearm, bow, or other implement whereby wildlife could be killed or taken while afield, whether acting singly or as one (1) of a group of persons, during times when an unmanned motor-driven air conveyance is in flight," the wildlife code said. "Operators of unmanned motor-driven air conveyances used in the recovery of a wounded animal as prescribed in this paragraph are exempt from hunting permit requirement."
Missouri's archery deer and turkey hunting season begins on Sept. 15, kicking off the fall hunting season. The turkey firearms portion begins on Oct. 1 and runs through Oct. 31. Early antlerless deer hunting runs Oct. 11-13, and late antlerless runs Dec. 7-15.
