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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."
Now that is a good business model!
But I prefer parking fines since it requires a lower investment and less skilled personnel.
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After you pay about $2,000 for such a robo-deer, you put it on a side road
Then you watch as it gets hit by a car.
God spoke to me.
...developped in a joint research project by PETA and the DoD, will feature an autonomous targetting and self-defense system that fires back at persistent poachers to hand out harsher punishments than just fines. ;-)
entrapment, in law, the instigation of a crime in the attempt to obtain cause for a criminal prosecution. Situations in which a government operative merely provides the occasion for the commission of a criminal act (e.g., when an undercover agent posing as a narcotics dealer is approached by a would-be customer) do not constitute entrapment. Only when the crime was not initially contemplated by the target is entrapment said to occur: thus, for example, an undercover agent may not recruit a previously law-abiding individual into a drug distribution ring in order to prosecute. Many police operations, especially in the areas of drugs and gambling, raise questions of entrapment, which is available as a defense in a trial.
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.
Have you ever felt a live deer?
Yes. I also "just happen" to have some dead ones right at hand (No, I'm not just a weirdo; I'm a weirdo who ties his own trout flies).
They're fur is very high quality
If by "high quality fur" you mean thick, course, stiff and hollow hair, then yes, you're right. These properties make it an excellent insulator, and it floats, but it isn't what most people are looking for in fur; which would be something more along the lines of thin, flexible, shiney and silky smooth to the touch; like weasel (only be sure to call it something else for marketing reasons).
But you're right, these are the properties generally made in fake furs; which don't in the least resemble deer hair. I presume, however, most jackers operate at night; since a)that's when the deer are out and about and b)it makes the whole light in the eyes thing work a lot better.
KFG
The people who shoot them aren't actually shooting deer. They are shooting a robot. So how come those people charged for poaching, instead of just vandalism?
It's called entrapment, and it's illegal here in the united states, or at least is a valid defense against a 'guilty' verdict.
Like you said, goading or pushing someone into committing a crime they would otherwise not is unlawful.
What is perfectly lawful is presenting them with an opportunity to commit a crime, and then punishing them for it. There is a significant difference.
Further, 'knowing' that a deer was fake would not permit you to shoot it, as you're still discharging your firearm near/on a road.
You could maybe get away with attacking it if you got out of your vehicle and bum rushed it.
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
'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
All I asked for was sharks with frikin' laser beams attached to their heads! Deers? Oh, that's a start.
Victims of 9/11: <3000. Traffic in the US: >30,000/y
They had the fake deer out on the edge of the trees near the road, it didn't have all the motion stuff just a stuffed dear. An old guy in a pick-up truck saw it, pulled over, put on his hunting vest(orange safety) got out of the truck, got his rifle, moved the minimum distance from the road and vehicle, and proceeded to take a bead on it. He shot it and was surprised that it didn't fall down or run away, before he could take a second shot all the rangers busted out laughing and then he realized what was up.
They didn't fine the old man because he did everything he was supposed and had a license to hunt the deer, they just wanted to see if he could figure out whether or not he'd fall for a completely still fake deer (This was some 30 years ago.).
when the state starts using the police as revenue collectors, they are no better then gangsters. tax's are THE only place a government is supposed to make money. buying a device especially to entrap people into paying fines is no better then hitting them for "protection" money. If any hunter had the money to challenge this i'm sure a good lawyer would win it for them.
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
These "robo-deer" have been out for several years now. I recall one poacher in Michigan getting caught hunting these things not once but twice.
I've seen a few on the side of highways.
the next thing they will do is making robo-hookers and robo-drugdealers...
Nom de dieu de putain de bordel de merde de saloperie de connard d encule de ta mere.
What a great idea! Goading hunters to shoot at a target just a few feet/meters of the road where cars pass.
You seem to miss the entire point. This isn't about hunters, it's about poachers. Poachers are people who illegally kill animals, either in the wrong place, at the wrong time of year, the wrong sex, or without having paid their license fee to do so. A hunter doesn't just drive along and suddenly decide "Oh, I think today I shall break the law, since there is a deer standing right over there." The only people shooting at these robodeer, are the people who aren't following the laws. I am having a hard time understanding why so many people in this thread are seeming to confuse hunting with poaching, this isn't a subtle distinction. Hunters follow laws and manage the deer population in the proportions determined by people who know what, where, and how many deer should be removed from the population. Poachers, don't give a shit about the laws or management, they just want free meat without paying their fair share, and without regard for the laws.
If you get the impression that hunters get annoyed at being associated with poachers, then you're perceptive. Two different groups of people.
I tried this same defense. Someone put a 7-Year old girl on the side of the road. I stopped, picked her up, drove across state lines, and raped her. They tried to tell me I was responsible. Hah. I let them know it was entrapment. I was provoked into committing that crime.
Like another poster mentioned, this is just a blatant case of using the police as gangster-like money collectors. It's a big problem when you start measuring your laws and law-enforcement techniques in terms of how much PROFIT they generate.
It sounds like an all-too-common case of too many police, not enough crime.
If they're down to spending their time going after deer poachers, they're already scraping the bottom of the crime barrel. Perhaps they need to start making cuts in the police force rather than investing in a $2,000 money-making deer robot.
What, because the mere sight of a deer drives people into such a state of lustful desire that they can't control themselves?
"Yer honor, the deer was asking for it! His lips said no, but his antlers were saying yes, yes, yes!"
I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
How quickly can fill this order?
As soon as we can shoot and skin many members of Congress.