I don’t know that any rules would really matter on this one……..Its just too easy for a guy to do what he wants to do without any way of enforcing or proving he was using the drone to choose his hunting location, etc…….The allure of killing that giant buck will have folks causing issues with them. One of the things that it’ll be used for that just doesn’t seem right to me is when folks use it to scout their neighbor’s land just to see what he’s holding, see if they’re hunting this weekend, etc……. This situation where privacy is able to be infringed on in such a manner is likely about to go too far with it now that the technology is getting in the hands of the general public.
If people are worried about the new cell cams changing the game, these drones would be like if those new cell cams were Bruce Banner and the drone is them morphed into the Incredible Hulk. I’m not sure what the answer is to this one……We all knew the day was coming and its now here.
I think all we can do is embrace it. IMO, fair chase ended when corn and cell cameras became legal to use together. This is why I think the only regs for private land should be season dates and bag limits. I personally prefer to scout for sign and set up based on where I think they will be, but that's not for everyone. I don't mind other people taking shortcuts on their land, just as long as they aren't wiping out the herd.
None of this applies to public land. If I start seeing drones out there, I'm gonna shoot them down lol. Anybody else's drone on my land is getting shot down too. Maybe I should keep the privet to protect my property from drone piddlers lol. Those things would be worthless on my land in its current state.