Robotic Deer to Fight Illegal Hunting

Roland Piquepaille writes "If you were a law enforcement official searching for hunters who don't follow the rules, what would be a good gift for you? In 'Robot Deer Captures Poachers,' Brian Bull, reporting from Mosinee, Wisconsin, writes that you can buy robotic decoys for deer, elks, moose and even bears. These life-like creatures are made of animal hides or skins attached to polyurethane foam bodies and equipped with remotely controlled motors allowing the head and tail to move. After you pay about $2,000 for such a robo-deer, you put it on a side road. All you have to do is wait for an illegal hunter trying to shoot the fake deer and fine him. Many officers have reported collecting well over $30,000 in fines with a single robot. Not a bad deal."

Comments

Re:But what about

[Yold]

Actually Deer hides are relatively valuable, and the butcher will usually sell them. My buddy gets $5-$10 per hide ontop of his butchering charge. Quite nice for deer-skin gloves (typically made in China). As an experienced Northern hunter, I don't know why you think that Bear and Moose hides are easy to come by. They are typically the most regulated game in terms of getting a permit. You may have to wait 5 years to get a Moose permit in some parts of the country, and rifle Bear permits are also granted via a lottery system in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

But to answer your question "why would you even bother?". Well, as a deer-hunter in an area where these 'robots' have been in use for years already, it is often a matter of hunter's safety. The DNR/Conservation Officer will put a decoy in a position where it will be shot at from the road. It is illegal to hunt within 50 yards of a public road's median. Quite a hefty fine. Also, if a hunter is willing to break that regulation, who knows what other rules they are breaking.

Re:But what about

[kfg]

'Scuze me for that, I personally consider deer hide to be of a much higher quality than weasel, due to its relative durability.

I agree, but hide is not hair.

I think you'd be surprised at how bold some poachers are, especially in sparsely populated areas.

My cousin was killed in his own suburban backyard by deer poachers.

KFG

Re:Just like a real deer.

[Shakrai]

and now we're creating a device to reduce the number of the deer's last remaining predator.

Not if they follow the rules. This device does nothing to reduce legal hunting of deer. There's various reasons to regulate hunting, ranging from game management (you can only take so many animals and most of them have to be male) to safety (can't discharge your firearm within X yards of a structure). All this device does is provide a decoy for the violators to shoot at.

Living in Upstate NY and dealing with morons from the city that shoot at anything that moves (hint: diary cows don't look anything like deer yet they are routinely shot...) I think this is a wonderful idea.