NWT plans to ban drones for hunting – with exceptions

This goes against the grain of bringing them into mainstream society and according to them, affording them equal rights, a great way for the government to breed hatred for the indigenous. I am starting to think that one of the qualifications to become an elected official is to go for a lobotomy prior to declaring your candidacy for office.
 
Thomas D'Arcy McGee said:
NWT plans to ban drones for hunting – with exceptions

By Ollie Williams – May 8, 2018 at 7:13 pm

Proposed new NWT wildlife regulations include a ban on using radio-controlled drones to hunt animals – unless the hunters involved are exercising Aboriginal treaty rights.

The territory’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources is consulting residents on the proposals. Measures included in the draft regulations are not yet final and could be changed if the department encounters significant disagreement from members of the public.

Also being updated are rules governing when you can possess or import certain types of animal in the NWT, alongside regulations introducing a new training course most novice hunters will have to take.

Residents can leave feedback online or attend a series of open-house sessions.

More: How to provide feedback on the proposed regulatory amendments

In full: GNWT presentation on the regulatory amendments and what they mean

Drone hunting has proved controversial in other jurisdictions.

For example, concerns have been expressed about the consequences for outfitters. One Nova Scotia outfitter told the CBC last summer: “A lot of guides, we have to have a course and a licence, and we spend time to get that. We have to know the outdoors and all the different things that we do. If someone can just take a drone and fly it around, there’s really no need for us.”

In Ontario, opponents said the use of drones was “not actually hunting” and “not very sporting.”

The topic was not covered the last time the territory’s regulations were revised, in 2014, as NWT officials felt they required more time to study the issue.

“Others jurisdictions in Canada have restricted the use of drones for hunting. But you can’t just snap your fingers and have a law – we needed to have some more input,” said Rob Gau, the NWT’s manager of biodiversity conservation.

Gau said the territory wants to abide by the fair chase philosophy, which states anything hunted should have a fair chance of being caught or escaping, while also respecting Aboriginal treaty rights.

“Fair chase is very enshrined by a lot of hunters but the use of drones and regulating the use of drones is another issue,” Gau told Cabin Radio.

“We’ve heard everything from making sure fair chase is followed, to making sure peoples’ Aboriginal treaty rights are protected. We want feedback on how we should proceed.”

The draft regulations as currently written would ban licensed hunters – those with general, resident, non-resident, and non-resident alien hunting licences – from using drones. Drones would, however, be available to Indigenous hunters in most circumstances.

Drone restrictions would apply to both big game such as moose and deer, and small game such as geese and ducks.

‘That’s actually happened’

New regulations under consideration would also activate a Wildlife Act provision requiring hunters to take a training course.

Currently, there is no such requirement. The regulations, however, exempt a wide range of people who already have hunting experience.

“The proposed regulations would exempt anybody exercising an Aboriginal treaty right, people that can prove they’ve had a hunting licence in the NWT or another Canadian jurisdiction, and people who can prove they have taken a hunter education course in another jurisdiction,” said Gau.

The safety of the NWT’s native species forms another area where new regulations are proposed.

Rules around ownership and importing of certain animals are strengthened, while new measures to protect animals – such as building fences to keep sheep and wood bison apart – are introduced.

“If you own a sheep or are planning to bring one in, and you are going to live in a place where there are wood bison populations, there will be potential restrictions in place regarding sheep ownership,” explained Gau.

“You need to have a fence in place preventing nose-to-nose contact, for example. There’s a disease that can easily pass between sheep and wood bison.”

Llamas, surprisingly, are another issue. Gau says the territory has been working on llama-related legislation ever since an enterprising soul brought them into the Mackenzie mountains as pack animals.

“That’s actually happened. That was a few years ago, but we have confirmed reports,” he said.

“Llamas are pretty hardy animals. The issue with them is they are another species with the real potential to transmit disease to our wild sheep populations. They are one of a number of species we are looking at putting restrictions on.

“Right now you can [bring anything in]. That’s the reason why we need regulations. The wording in the Act and the absence of regulations [mean that] right now people can do that.”

The full range of proposed regulatory amendments is available on ENR’s website.

Anyone with feedback should contact their local ENR officer, drop into their local ENR office, or send an email to wildlife@gov.nt.ca.

Open-house sessions are scheduled for Norman Wells on May 9 and Yellowknife on May 28, with more dates to follow. Contact ENR for further details.
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Come on people - their ancestors have been using drones for centuries, so it's only fair that their descendants be allowed to do so. Quit yer friggin' whinin, will yaz?

/sarcasm off/
 
cdm123 said:
Yup, must be a dummy for thinking that in this day of equality laws would be applied fairly and equally.Laugh2
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Like I said, if you think anyone, regardless of their tone of hide, is going to fly a drone with a 10-20 minute battery life in rugged country where the chance of damage and loss is high with almost no chance of locating an animal if going to partake in using a drone to scout for game, you're well and truly hooked.
 
Reminds me of the ATV ban in Alberta not that long ago during a dry spell. No beuno unless it's for traditional aboriginal activity.

How these idiots can write things like this and say it with a straight face to people is amazing.
 
BUM, not sure where your getting your 10 minute flight time from but even in 10 minutes a drone could cover a lot of terrain.... mount a thermal imaging camera on a prosumer drone and not only are you going to get more then 10 minutes of flight time but the drone will come home on auto pilot when it gets tired. Pretty easy to imagine a decent drone operator being able to not only locate but potentially drive animals.

The article shouldn't have tied drone use to traditional hunting and just mentioned that as usual, most hunting laws do not apply to first nations on their traditional lands.
 
Can-down said:
BUM, not sure where your getting your 10 minute flight time from but even in 10 minutes a drone could cover a lot of terrain.... mount a thermal imaging camera on a prosumer drone and not only are you going to get more then 10 minutes of flight time but the drone will come home on auto pilot when it gets tired. Pretty easy to imagine a decent drone operator being able to not only locate but potentially drive animals.

The article shouldn't have tied drone use to traditional hunting and just mentioned that as usual, most hunting laws do not apply to first nations on their traditional lands.
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Talking to drone pilots I know that live, and fly, in the NWT.
 
BigUglyMan said:
Like I said, if you think anyone, regardless of their tone of hide, is going to fly a drone with a 10-20 minute battery life in rugged country where the chance of damage and loss is high with almost no chance of locating an animal if going to partake in using a drone to scout for game, you're well and truly hooked.
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Whether or not they actually use the drones is not the issue here. You realize that, right? If I were allowed to carry a handgun in the bush based on my Ukranian heritage, but you weren't because of... whatever else your heritage is, that'd be ok, right?
 
Can-down said:
10-4, and they agree with you that no laws around drone use for hunting are needed in the north?
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Nope. They don't like it either, and the ones I've talked to are all indigenous.

But whether or not it is feasible matters not. It's unethical and I can't imagine any hunter worth having around would think any different.
 
BigUglyMan said:
Nope. They don't like it either, and the ones I've talked to are all indigenous.

But whether or not it is feasible matters not. It's unethical and I can't imagine any hunter worth having around would think any different.
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If it's not feasible it's a moot point..... if it is well then people can get ethical.
I think it maters if it's feasible or not.
 
BigUglyMan said:
Nope. They don't like it either, and the ones I've talked to are all indigenous.

But whether or not it is feasible matters not. It's unethical and I can't imagine any hunter worth having around would think any different.
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Problem with that argument is that Ethical supposedly doesn't apply to subsistence hunting. You gotta eat, so you do whatever it takes. Not many true subsistence hunters left in our highly developed nation, it's become more of a convenient excuse for those who would mindlessly exterminate one of our great natural resources and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

Grizz
 
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