Hunting Technology: How Far is Too Far?

Sitting in a doctor’s office yesterday I noticed two young girls reading library books. Once a common practice,  seeing young people (older people, too) not staring at a cell phone screen is downright unusual.

It seems that the hunting world is becoming equally affected. We used to sneak into the world of nature to escape pagers and ringing phones, yet today we seem to bring the world of technology along with us like some digital cockelbur.

States are considering regulations concerning drones, self-sighting rifles, and a host of other high-tech gizmos that affect the very hunting culture we strive to protect. Brian Grossman presents a thoughtful post on the QDMA website that lists the surprising amount of technology that many of us use.

Remember when phones had cords and if you wanted to learn about something, you had to drive to the library and look it up? Technology has changed so fast over the last 20 years that we often forget the way things used to be. While the hands of time move a little slower when it comes to the outdoors, deer hunting has certainly not been immune to the technology boom.

The rise of the Internet, the popularity of the smartphone and other technological advancements in hunting equipment have impacted the way many of us spend our time in the field. Some hunters welcome this technology and embrace any gadget that increases their odds of success in the field. Others feel that technology is ruining the experience and taking away from the woodsmanship that hunters once relied on to be successful. In the end, we are each left to answer a question: How far is too far when it comes to hunting technology?

Probably the most extreme instance of today’s technology finding its way into the hunting industry was in 2005 when Texas entrepreneur John Lockwood introduced the world to “Internet hunting.” With his invention, Live Shot, a hunter (and I use that term loosely) could sit at home and remotely control a firearm mounted in a blind on a Texas ranch. When an animal showed up on the live video feed, the user could aim the gun and pull the trigger with the click of a mouse.