COLUMBIA, Mo. — The deer stand is a place of peace and solitude for countless Missouri hunters throughout the fall. but there can sometimes be a downside to "Buck Fever."
“Bad things do happen,” hunter Adam Wolf told 5 On Your Side. “Accidents do happen. Poor shot placement happens. Anyone who hunts and says they haven’t wounded one hasn’t hunted very much. It’s going to happen.”
Hunters previously had to trek through the woods to recover a wounded animal. Hunter Jack Houston said he once had to track down an injured deer for over a mile after he shot it.
A new Missouri law, however, could make that process a thing of the past, allowing hunters to take to the sky with thermal drones to recover their trophies.
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.
Huston is taking full advantage of that new law. With a reported 99% success rate recovering deer, the University of Missouri grad student launched Missouri Drone Deer Recovery to help other hunters.
“There’s nothing like seeing the deer on the screen and the hooting and the hollering,” Huston said.
“Once he finds the deer with the drone, if it’s still alive, you can’t pursue it for 24 hours,” Wolf said. “At least you know it’s there. You know it’s close.”
Huston is also using the technology to do health assessments on the size of local deer herds to prevent overhunting.
“When the drone shows that’s a doe, that’s a small buck, that’s a big buck,” Wolf said. “To get your management right, it’s the biggest game-changer I’ve ever seen.”
Illinois, where drone use in hunting is outlawed, has a different stance on the issue.
"Not only is drone use for hunting unlawful in Illinois, it goes against the spirit of fair chase and widely accepted hunting ethics," the Illinois Department of Natural Resources said in the statement.
“I still want to teach my son to track his own,” Wolf said. “I want to go through that process, but to have this as a backup is unbelievable.”