Question about thermal imaging for game retrieval.

[waterfern]

Wondering what peoples take on using thermal imaging equipment for big game retrieval is? In your opinion is it ethical? Is it even legal?

I am pretty sure you cant use it to hunt, so it seems that if you have one on you in the field you may have a hard time explaining that it was only going to be used for downed game.

I do not have one nor do I plan on getting one, only wondering for wonderings sake.

[deckhandmike]

Not recovering your animal is unethical. It works great too. I used to use it as a firefighter to clear the surrounding area of car accidents to make sure we didn't miss anyone ejected into the bushes. I think it would be legal as long as it was not attached to the gun.

[jmonte35]

Not recovering your animal is unethical. It works great too. I used to use it as a firefighter to clear the surrounding area of car accidents to make sure we didn't miss anyone ejected into the bushes. I think it would be legal as long as it was not attached to the gun.

ditto...I'm not sure I would invest in a thermal imaging unit unless I was in your shoes where I could borrow the work one. I'm not sure how much it would really help but any help is better than nothing...you still need to follow blood and know general direction etc.....it's not the end all for tracking an animal. I really like the flashlights that make blood glow and they are cheap.

[TAK]

Well you shouldn't need thermals you should know or learn how to properly track an animal.

But if you had one I am sure DFG wouldn't think twice about giving you a ticket and taking your thermals. It's like at night if you have a spotlight and a loaded gun, just because you wernt actually using it to hunt if it's there then you are assumed to be using it for unethical reasons.

[Divernhunter]

You will not need them if you 1) shoot right and 2) use enough gun 3) Use proper bullets 4) do not take iffy shots for an ethical kill.

I have hunted for many years and killed many animals and never had a need to them.

[lewdogg21]

I shot a buck with my bow a couple years ago and it only left 2 spots of blood. Due to the contours of the land and brush choked areas there was a very small geographical area to search and after 2.5 hours I was angry, dejected, and ready to cry b/c I was so frustrated. I don't know if one of these things would have helped since I couldn't find where he went after he left my sight. That is the peril of August bow hunting in the Sierras. In the end I figured I must have shot too far back.

[jmonte35]

I shot a buck with my bow a couple years ago and it only left 2 spots of blood. Due to the contours of the land and brush choked areas there was a very small geographical area to search and after 2.5 hours I was angry, dejected, and ready to cry b/c I was so frustrated. I don't know if one of these things would have helped since I couldn't find where he went after he left my sight. That is the peril of August bow hunting in the Sierras. In the end I figured I must have shot too far back.

That's hunting Lew.....it happens.

[DeerHunter504]

Wondering what peoples take on using thermal imaging equipment for big game retrieval is? In your opinion is it ethical? Is it even legal?

I am pretty sure you cant use it to hunt, so it seems that if you have one on you in the field you may have a hard time explaining that it was only going to be used for downed game.

I do not have one nor do I plan on getting one, only wondering for wonderings sake.

1. I don't think it's ethical/sportsman like. Although the same could be said for a couple of other legal robot gadgets..scopes with built in range finders and programable red dots that automatically compensate for bullet drop..kinda in the same vein if you ask me. I mean it's man against beast right? At what point does man get so detached from the whole experience that it becomes computer vs. beast? Next thing ya know there's an app for that. There's an app for everything. I go to the woods and I hunt to escape all of that. Which leads me to 2. DANGEROUS! I don't need some green winged trigger happy douchebag that just completed hunters ed and thinks hes a hunter now, coming into my woods and not being able to discern the difference between heat blobs (me or a deer) on his magic thermal deer finder whatever screen. Next thing you know some tweaker thinks he's predator and we're all dead. I'm just sayin..

And P.s. This is all coming from a guy who's lost deer in the woods, who's spent thirteen hours straight tracking and come up empty handed. I know the hurt man. But like homeboy up there said, that's hunting. And I really wouldn't want it any other way. It ain't all easy, and it ain't supposed to be.

[spectr17]

You will not need them if you 1) shoot right and 2) use enough gun 3) Use proper bullets 4) do not take iffy shots for an ethical kill.

I have hunted for many years and killed many animals and never had a need to them.

Hunt a few more years and see how that works out for you, losing a wounded animal will eventually happen to most hunters. Murphy can be cruel many times and wild animals are incredibly tough some times when hit. I've been on two lost animals and both hunters who took the shot were good ethical hunters. One was a target shooter guy who put many rounds down range and he put a good hit on a buck that left a blood trail we followed for a day and a half. 7 guys switching in and out and we never found that buck till next spring. He bled way more than we all thought he could endure and still crossed a small river twice, several steep embankments and covered almost 4 miles.

You can't hunt with NVGs or TI or be armed in the field. Back in the early 80s it was legal to possess NVGs while hunting. Let's just say it was easier to see game in the hours before it got light but the NVGs back them really sucked on depth perception, you almost broke a leg trying to walk with them on. Then they were banned by DFG.

The TI's I've seen are pretty spendy, can't see average Joe hunter being able to afford them.

[waterfern]

Hunt a few more years and see how that works out for you, losing a wounded animal will eventually happen to most hunters. Murphy can be cruel many times and wild animals are incredibly tough some times when hit. I've been on two lost animals and both hunters who took the shot were good ethical hunters. One was a target shooter guy who put many rounds down range and he put a good hit on a buck that left a blood trail we followed for a day and a half. 7 guys switching in and out and we never found that buck till next spring. He bled way more than we all thought he could endure and still crossed a small river twice, several steep embankments and covered almost 4 miles.

You can't hunt with NVGs or TI or be armed in the field. Back in the early 80s it was legal to possess NVGs while hunting. Let's just say it was easier to see game in the hours before it got light but the NVGs back them really sucked on depth perception, you almost broke a leg trying to walk with them on. Then they were banned by DFG.

The TI's I've seen are pretty spendy, can't see average Joe hunter being able to afford them.

So it would seem then that you could use one for scouting as long as you were not armed and you could use one for game retrieval as long as you dropped the gun off at the camp,car or truck and again not armed in the field.

[TAK]

But if they DFG rolls up on you after you have retrieved the animal and you have a fresh kill with thermals and a gun in your car even if you are driving home. They are going to assume you used the thermals to find the animal before you shot it not after. It's just how it works.

[HOGDOG1955]

BLOOD TRACKING DOG

[Stevehazard]

I would not use one. If you had a TI near a rifle, bow, or retrieved game animal in the field or your vehicle while returning home the assumption is going to be made that is was used to actively locate the animal while hunting. The laws are quite often written in a manner so that reasonable enforcement is possible. I don't know what the specific law is here but I would wager this is the case.

[StraightShooter]

Hunt a few more years and see how that works out for you, losing a wounded animal will eventually happen to most hunters. Murphy can be cruel many times and wild animals are incredibly tough some times when hit. I've been on two lost animals and both hunters who took the shot were good ethical hunters. One was a target shooter guy who put many rounds down range and he put a good hit on a buck that left a blood trail we followed for a day and a half. 7 guys switching in and out and we never found that buck till next spring. He bled way more than we all thought he could endure and still crossed a small river twice, several steep embankments and covered almost 4 miles.

You can't hunt with NVGs or TI or be armed in the field. Back in the early 80s it was legal to possess NVGs while hunting. Let's just say it was easier to see game in the hours before it got light but the NVGs back them really sucked on depth perception, you almost broke a leg trying to walk with them on. Then they were banned by DFG.

The TI's I've seen are pretty spendy, can't see average Joe hunter being able to afford them.

Would you be able to provide the law that states no hunting with NVG's ? I have discussed this with one of the DFG enforcement division people and for non game animals that you can legally hunt at night, NV is legal unless used with an external light source(I.e. infrared).

Just curious, thanks.

[tony270]

It looks like you have a good point SS, I will look a little more.

http://www.fgc.ca.gov/regulations/current/mammalregs.aspx#475

Big Game:

(i) Except as otherwise provided, while taking or attempting to take big game under the provisions of Section 353 or Section 354, Title 14, CCR, it is unlawful to use any device or devices which: 1) throw, cast or project an artificial light or electronically alter or intensify a light source for the purpose of visibly enhancing an animal; or 2) throw, cast or project an artificial light or electronically alter or intensify a light source for the purpose of providing a visible point of aim directly on an animal. Devices commonly referred to as "sniperscopes", night vision scopes or binoculars, or those utilizing infra-red, heat sensing or other non-visible spectrum light technology used for the purpose of visibly enhancing an animal or providing a visible point of aim directly on an animal are prohibited and may not be possessed while taking or attempting to take big game. Devices commonly referred to as laser rangefinders, “red-dot” scopes with self-illuminating reticles, and fiberoptic sights with self-illuminating sight or pins which do not throw, cast or project a visible light onto an animal are permitted.