Idaho Restricts Technological Hunting Aids, Increases Lifetime Hunting Residency Requirement

The Idaho State Legislator recently passed a bill that will shake up the state’s hunting regulations, particularly for big game and bird hunting.House Bill 939,which was signed into law on April 2, took aim at the use of technological aids for hunting.

In particular, the bill, which was crafted with public input, outlaws the use of thermal imaging, night vision, and drones to hunt or scout for big game and game birds. It also forbids the use of cellular trail cameras on publicly accessible lands from August 30 through December 31 each year. The new regulations are intended to preserve fair chase ethics in the Gem State, and they are consistent with existingregulations in many other Western states.

“With better technology comes more success, and if we don’t find a way to moderate success, we are going to have to cut opportunities,” Idaho Wildlife Federation executive director Nick Fascianotold theSpokesman-Reviewin the lead up to the bill’s passage. Fasciano and his nonprofit considered the regulation changes “reasonable.”

The final version of the bill included several exceptions that weren’t present in earlier versions. Significantly, the use of advanced technology was not applied to wolves, mountain lions, and other predatory wildlife—though bears were not included in this carve-out. Additionally, game recovery, trapping, and livestock protection were not included in the technological restrictions. Standard, non-transmitting trail cameras remain viable for use on public lands, as well.

“This legislation essentially kept the spirit of the [original version of the] rule but expresses more explicitly the main concerns the legislators were hearing from the public on the rule,” Idaho Department of Fish & Game community engagement coordinator Ellary Tucker Williamstold theSpokesman-Review.

The moves follow on the heels of another important legislative change impacting hunters in Idaho: on March 31, Governor Brad Little signedH.B. 855into law. The legislation increased the residency requirement for purchasing a “lifetime hunting license" from six months to five years. The action was taken at the behest of local hunters concerned about non-residents moving briefly to the state for just long enough to snag a lifetime license—qualifying them for the resident tag drawing for the rest of their lives—then moving back to their home states. The bill was instituted as big game hunting opportunities seem to be increasingly popular—and difficult to draw—in the Mountain West.

“Because there has been such an increase in demand for non-resident elk and deer tags in the last 10 years and we moved to a draw system last year for all non-resident tags, I think many people were looking for a way to more consistently get tags,” state representative James Petzketold the Idaho Statesman. “This was one way they could do so.”

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