Drone use

The statute specifically prohibits a person from utilizing a UAV as an aid in “taking” the wild animal. Please refer to the definition of take provided in the statute below. It has been determined that utilizing a UAV to track a DEAD deer would not constitute a violation of the statute. Since the animal is already dead, the act of “take” is already complete. The UAV cannot be used in taking a deer but it can be used in an effort to find a deer that has already been taken.
Many of you would be quick to point out that often, when a hunter shoots a deer and does not find it, they do not “know for sure” that the deer is dead. In a situation where a UAV was used to track a deer that had been shot but the deer is found to still be alive, the hunter could not legally utilize information gained from the UAV to go to the area and finish the deer off. To do so would violate the provision of the statute that prohibits the use of a UAV to assist the individual in the “taking” of a deer. However, a clear violation would be to utilize the location provided by the UAV to immediately pursue the deer. Exiting the area and then checking on the location some time later to determine if the deer expired would be a better scenario that I think all of us could agree is legal.


IC 14-22-6-16 Use of unmanned aerial vehicles to aid hunting
Sec. 16. (a) This section does not apply to the following:
(1) The department or the department's designee.
(2) Employees or agents of a governmental entity while performing official duties.
(3) Employees or agents of an educational or research institution acting for bona fide educational or scientific purposes.
(4) Use of an unmanned aerial vehicle to assist, provide care for, or provide veterinary treatment to a specific wild animal.
(5) Use of an unmanned aerial vehicle to monitor areas of agricultural production or to monitor nuisance wild animals.
(b) As used in this section, "take" means to:
(1) kill, shoot, spear, harm, catch for the purpose of killing, trap for the purpose of killing, or pursue for the purpose of killing a wild animal; or
(2) attempt to engage in conduct under subdivision (1).
(c) During the period:
(1) beginning fourteen (14) days before the hunting season for a particular wild animal species; and
(2) ending upon the expiration of legal hunting hours on the last day of the hunting season;
a person may not knowingly use an unmanned aerial vehicle (as defined by IC 35-31.5-2-342.3) to search for, scout, locate, or detect a wild animal to which the hunting season applies as an aid to take the wild animal.