Arizona’s Game and Fish Department is reminding sportsmen who may recently have received a drone as a gift that flying a wildly popular drone must comply with state and federal wildlife laws and regulations.
The Federal Aviation Administration predicted more than 1 million drones would be bought as holiday gifts. Like Santa’s sleigh, drones are considered aircraft.
That means the remote controlled gadgets equipped with cameras cannot lawfully be used for pursuing, disturbing, harassing or taking wildlife. In addition, drones cannot be used to locate wildlife beginning 48 hours before the opening of a big game hunting season.
“The use of drones for the harassment and sport harvest of wildlife is not only illegal, but it undermines the fair chase hunting ethic and the very tenets of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation,” said Gene Elms, the department’s law enforcement branch chief.
Anyone with information about individuals using a drone to pursue, disturb, harass, or locate wildlife is encouraged to contact the department’s Operation Game Thief hotline at (800) 352-0700, or visit www.azgfd.gov/thief.
For more detailed information about the laws and regulations associated with the use of aircraft to take wildlife in Arizona, review Arizona Revised Statute 17-301 and Arizona Administrative Codes R12-4-301, R12-4-319 and R12-4-320. The Federal Airborne Hunting Act also is applicable.