How we deer hunt is always evolving, but hunters are incorporating more technology now than ever before. Is all this new technology a good thing? Is there a fair chase line of demarcation?
Many of us think we need every gadget and piece of technology at our fingertips to keep up with our neighbors and industry trends. For the most part, we have a distinct choice in how we want to hunt now more than ever before. From box blinds, cellular cameras, ozone generators, to cutting edge mapping tools and drones – there is no shortage of tech-filled devices to help us target, harvest, and recover animals.
Yes, there are laws and regulations we have to follow, but there are so many gadgets legally at our disposal that fair chase comes into question. Each hunter needs to define what fair chase means to them. But the real question is, has technology passed the point of no return?
What is Fair Chase?
That’s a reasonable question to ask in the year 2025. Not only do today’s marketing trends cater towards the big spender, there seems to be an ever-changing definition of what we consider fair chase.
Hunters feel obligated to use the latest tech and hunting advancements since these technologies are fun, and so readily available and advertised heavily. In some ways, hunters are using the latest technology because they feel the need to keep up. And if we’re honest, we want to increase our chances of killing deer. Myself included.
You may have forgotten or never realized, but there is an actual definition of fair chase. It’s defined by the Pope and Young Club. It states, “fair chase is the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit of free-ranging wild game animals in a manner which does not give the hunter an improper or unfair advantage over the animal.”
In the ten seconds it took me to read their definition, I thought of at least three items that are lawful, but give me what some might consider an unfair advantage. The words “improper or unfair advantage” are extremely vague and could include a whole host of items you and I utilize without putting too much thought into it.
Brock Rosenkranz is the Wisconsin Field to Fork Coordinator for the National Deer Association and told me “Fair chase is a funny term now days, isn’t it? Technology has been sneaking its way into the hunting world for years, some people might even say my rifle isn’t fair chase, it just depends on who you ask anymore.”
Last year, the state of Iowa nearly banned the use of all trail cameras on public land. Although that bill didn’t pass, the use of any trail camera on private or public ground in Iowa cannot aid a person who is “actively hunting.” Crazy, right?
The term “actively hunting” is not specifically defined in Iowa law, but according to my source from the Iowa DNR, we agreed on a phone call that it’s reasonable to assume “active hunting” means you are in the field. Iowa law 481A.24 categorizes cellular trail cameras as two-way mobile transmitting devices. So, climbing out of your stand and moving based off trail camera data is technically illegal on public and private Iowa lands.
While fair chase questions aren’t tied as closely to food plots or standing ag fields, does fair chase mean never planting food plots over a certain size, running trail cameras, using ozone and staying away from tracking dogs and drones to recover deer? Of course not. Instead, it’s each hunter’s decision to determine what fair chase means to them. Age plays a large role in this process.
How one hunter raised in the 1970’s was taught deer hunting will vary greatly compared to a food plot planting, cell camera running 15-year-old in 2025. A young hunter watching his favorite YouTube show might be convinced everyone hunts out of scent-proof fiberglass blinds.
The younger generations are growing up viewing real-time trail camera photos and videos from their phones. The hunter born in the 70’s had no access to trail cameras until the early 1990’s and thought using trip wire or standing in line at Walmart to process film was advanced technology.
Erik Barber is an avid hunter from Wisconsin and said, “Mainstream hunting media spends too much time focusing on the top 5% of the hunting community, which alienates anyone on the sidelines hoping to get involved. In my opinion, it requires a shift in narrative of how we communicate about deer hunting within our industry.”
Adult-onset hunters and youth may know nothing different other than what they are taught in the moment, and who they learn hunting from. It cannot be understated how important quality hunting mentors are so they can instill proper hunting ethics from the start.
Jerry Lynch is a long-time youth hunting mentor and said “We want all people who participate in our programs to learn about the sport, to learn the role of their quarry in the ecosystem and realize the role everything plays in overall conservation and management. We try to provide each mentee with all that goes into being an ethical and responsible hunter.”
A large part of instilling fair chase ethics begins early on in a hunter’s career.
Groundbreaking Technology
We know there are bad seeds misusing cutting edge technology such as thermal drones or scopes, and cellular trail cameras. The truth is, some hunters have and always will abuse technology and flat out break the rules even without today’s sophisticated technology.
Thermal drones and scopes are rising in popularity, and prices may eventually drop much like cellular trail cameras have recently. This will put high-tech drones in the hands of more hunters. By way of simple math, more technology in more hands will increase the likelihood of unethical use.
Lee VenDenBrink is the owner of Aerial Wildlife Solutions and uses drones to provide a variety of ethical management services to hunters and landowners, including recovering game and creating state of the art maps.
Lee told me, “My main concern is the unethical use of thermal drones with wild game, such as using them to locate or track animals outside of fair chase and legal hunting practices. Like many advanced technologies, drones can be misused—but the issue isn’t the technology itself, it’s how people choose to use it.”
Even spotlights for shining deer are used wrongfully and have been the bane of game wardens for decades. Like thermal drones, thermal scopes are fascinating and are a great tool for hunting predators or nuisance animals. Mainly used for nighttime hog or coyote hunting, they have been misused during illegal shooting hours.
Lee’s comments take me back to asking the question – “how do you want to hunt?” Is hunting in a heated blind over a 5-acre standing cornfield with a gun in -5-degree weather not fair chase because you received cell camera photos of a target buck near the plot?
Zach Hoheisel of Growing Wild told me, “We are out here to kill, and 99% of the time, we don’t. It takes a lot of time and effort to outsmart one, and using our advantages, especially weather patterns, is about as fair chase as it gets to me.”
Is sitting over a corn feeder fair chase? Have you read up on the electronic sophistication of today’s modern deer feeders? The ability to set timers to train deer like Pavlov’s dog is a real thing. But travel or talk to different hunters across the U.S. and you’ll quickly discover hunting over feeders or bait is a way of life for some regions.
If you tell a hunting club in a southern state that sitting over a feeder isn’t fair chase, they may look at you sideways. According to some hunters though, hunting near bait removes the element of fair chase from the hunt.
Well, let’s turn back time and go back to when explorers and Native people used to run big game off cliffs – is that fair chase? I think you see where I’m going here, the question of fair chase can always be asked with or without technology.
I think we can all agree flying a thermal drone over your property an hour before daylight on a crisp November morning to help you find deer and decide where to hunt is too much. But really, how much different is it than instant transmission cellular cameras?
Rosenkranz said regarding cellular cameras “you still have to get a photo and get out there undetected with the right wind and make an ethical shot.” While high-end drone technology has not reached the everyday hunter, they will no doubt gain popularity when more hunters can afford it.
Not long ago, some states only allowed special crossbow hunts or limited their use to those with a disability. Many states have now legalized crossbows to all hunters. Innovative engineering and high-end parts allow them to be incredibly accurate and efficient at long ranges.
But are they that big of a step up from vertical bows? Research is showing wound rates don’t vary much between vertical and crossbow archers. So while crossbows are killing a lot of deer, initial research is showing legalization of crossbows isn’t resulting in a significantly higher number of wounded animals.
In 2012, the last year before crossbows were legalized for all hunters, Wisconsin vertical bow hunters killed a record 45,775 archery bucks. In 2023, a decade after legalization, vertical archers killed 21,487 bucks and crossbow hunters killed 33,167 bucks.
That 2023 combined crossbow and vertical archery total is 54,654 – about 9,000 more bucks killed than the standalone vertical archery record kill from 2012.
The Choice is Yours – Sort Of
If you want to sit in a heated box blind on the edges of a manicured food plot or standing crop field, you can do that and you shouldn’t feel an ounce of shame. There is nothing wrong with admiring your hard work from a heated perch, 10 feet off the ground.
You can also hunt from ladder stands, saddle hunt, or even bow hunt from the ground with no blind for an added challenge. There are a hundred different ways to legally and ethically kill big game.
To some extent, hunters have no choice but to match their hunting style and effort with their available resources and free time. Income can determine the equipment or technology hunters are able to purchase to improve or manipulate hunting.
Additionally, the amount of time you can set aside for hunting endeavors may dictate how much money you want to spend or amount of time you can devote to chasing deer.
So long as you’re chasing game within the framework of the laws, your hunting style is a deeply personal decision that shouldn’t be dictated by anyone else.
Aaron Warbritton told me “The resource itself is what really matters. It’s a balancing act. If we want to protect what we love for the next generation then there has to be some give and take.”
