The Pennsylvania Game Commission prohibits the use of electronic devices for hunting. When it comes to drones, Mike Yoder the founder of Drone Deer Recovery believes there’s a difference between hunting and tracking fatally wounded deer. 

Yoder and other trained personnel use thermal drones to locate down deer, actually doing the searching for the hunter, or picking up where the wounded deer track was lost. 

The success rate of recovering deer with a thermal drone is very high, yet many states have been reluctant to allow the practice.

Using a drone to locate dead or wounded deer is legal in some states, other states including Pennsylvania and New York prohibit it. The PA Game Commission considers drones to be electronic devices, which are prohibited for hunting. 

Yoder believes the Game Commission’s regulation prohibiting drones for deer recovery is too broad, especially when it comes to the difference between hunting a deer and locating a dead or wounded deer.

Yoder said, “They are confusing drone hunting with drone recovery, they say if you take a carcass, you are still in the hunt, but it’s the wrong interpretation of the word ‘take.’ How can you hunt something that’s already dead? If you don’t have a weapon and you’re flying a drone, how are you hunting?”

Travis Lau, communications director for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said, “The Commission considers drones to be electronic devices, which are prohibited for hunting. Even if the deer being searched for by a drone is dead, there’s no guarantee that will be the case. Drones can’t be used to locate or search for deer, dead or alive. You don’t know if the deer that you hit is actually dead, and the act of searching for it we consider to be in the act of hunting.”

Lau went on to say, “The Game Commission has been contacted by individuals asking that the drones be allowed for deer recovery, the commission is monitoring how other states regulate the use with the possibility things could change in Pennsylvania. We have made exceptions to this regulation before, so it’s possible it could happen with drones.” 

Since Yoder started his drone deer recovery business, demand from hunters has increased. He initially invested $20,000 in a thermal drone, and the cost was covered rather quickly by the fees charged for searches.

Yoder’s business trains and licenses drone operators to offer the recovery service. They are essentially independent contractors, but they use the Drone Deer Recovery name and marketing tools.