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Comment by rcurry | Hacker News Reader

I have to agree with you. This whole thing is bananas - it’s not like you have some good ol’ boys jacklighting deer and shooting them. It just sounds like some guy who was excited to have a little drone business and was happy to help some folks out with his toy.

As a sheriff friend of mine would put it, busting a guy like that really isn’t in the “spirit of the law.” Maybe there was some bad blood or something between this guy and the wardens.

Don’t get me wrong - wardens can be pretty strict and I’ve known a few who have actually ticketed themselves for making a mistake, but this wasn’t a warden just coming up on a scene and issuing a citation, and saying “sorry boys, I wish I didn’t have to write you up but here we are…” this was a calculated setup and seems like a pretty cheap shot.

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From the linked AP article:

“Wingenroth, who openly advertised his business in area publications, was told by state game wardens last year that such an activity was illegal, authorities said. Wingeroth, though, told them his lawyer “has a different interpretation” of the law.”

…The game wardens warned him and he basically forced their hand by telling them to shove it.

Ah, okay - thanks for the additional detail. Makes a little more sense now.

Because he’s not a hick with a spot light in his beat up pickup, he’s cool to use spotlights? Somehow on a drone it’s fair to chase deer with a spotlight at night?

The reason why they cited him was clear in the article. People didn’t like the law, they’re trying to change it.

It seems lazy to hunt an animal knowing you’ll need electronic assistance to take control of the dead animal.

Uh, okay. I guess it’s because he was enlisted to try and recover a dead or wounded animal and was not out shooting them that I find this ridiculous. He wasn’t a hunter, and wasn’t hunting - he was asked to help find a downed or injured animal with his drone and I think most people who had such an ability would be happy to help.

Nobody wants an injured animal to run off and die an awful death and so it’s best to find them any way you can.

He’s a professional. He is expected to know and consistently obey the laws, no matter how loosely they are enforced.

Don’t shoot if you aren’t sure you’ll kill the animal. Get better at shooting if you miss so much that you need a drone.

The only justification for illegalizing spotlights for recovery that I've seen is that it stops poachers from claiming that's what they were doing. That's all well and good- the law must be pragmatic so what can you do? And if they caught the guy out in the woods doing this, of course they'd have to enforce it.

What's absurd is running a sting to catch a guy who is explicitly not poaching and thus is not the target of the legislation. The government should be in the business of preventing harm, not going out of their way to punish people for violating bureaucracy.

You sound like one of those guys who can’t figure out why he gets speeding tickets when everyone else gets a warning.

Never got a ticket. I obey the laws. :)

> Don’t shoot if you aren’t sure you’ll kill the animal.

Nobody can guarantee they will kill an animal with any given shot from a rifle or bow. Nobody. That you think this is a remotely reasonable position makes me wonder if you've ever hunted, or fired a weapon at a (potentially) moving target before.

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