Banning Hunting Tech in Idaho

[IDMONK]

I don’t know one non hunter that would care.

Most of my non hunter friends love it when I show them a video of my night hunting with thermals.

The ick comes from hunters that are worried their odds go down. IMO of course.

Most non hunters I know have never heard of a thermal, no clue about cell cams. If they knew hunters are using the same tools the military elite use to target terrorist to kill a deer I don’t think they would say “oh yeah, that seems sporting” we have seen the same response with killing at long range, that has probably hurt our overall perception. Yes, perception matters, these animals belong to them as well. And the 90% that don’t hunt ultimately will have the say in the future of the sport. I feel it’s in our benefit to be sure we are sporting and behaving in a positive way. My non hunter friends like to see my pictures of success in the field, and they like to hear my many stories of the ones that got away. The key here is there should always be more that got away. Let’s ensure the critters can have a reasonable chance to hide, escape, otherwise evade hunters or it’s not really hunting is it?

 

[35WhelenAI]

^^^You nailed it with the above post^^^, it's not sporting. When technology gets above and beyond the traditional things that we would all agree on, and folks argue that they need it, or argue because it's not illegal, why shouldn't I use it, it's putting the kill ahead of the hunt.

Nothing through the ages of sport hunting has been about the kill being more important than the hunt. The end result is where opportunity and preparation meet.

 

[Bluefish]

There is a difference between banning something that changes the way hunting is done vs something that has been done for a longtime and now no longer legal. IMHO Stopping the use of thermal before it becomes ingrained is the right way to do it. Anyone arguing that it’s ok and doesn’t increase odds in the hunter favor is either heavily invested in thermal or wants every advantage they can get.

Is thermal a magic bullet, no, but it does give the hunter an advantage they didn’t have without it. I like that the fish and game is trying to get in front of the tech instead of always being behind and trying to catch up.

 

[One300wsm]

Stop the Madness!!!
Poachers will be poachers, just like criminals will be criminals regardless of what laws are in place. More laws that only affect law-abiding citizens and gives law enforcement another tool to harass law-abiding citizens. If you’re an ethical hunter you know using thermal imaging to locate wildlife, other than predators is wrong. If you’re an ethical predator hunter you’re not going to shoot that big buck you seen while predator hunting at night. If you’re an ethical hunter you’re not going to shoot that big buck with your headlights beside the road. If you’re an ethical hunter you’re not going to shoot that big buck in the wrong unit. The benefits of thermal imaging as a whole saves more prey by killing more predators than you could possibly ever could do in daylight hours. OnX has only helped me stay an ethical hunter by letting me know I’m still on public land and retrieve an animal I shot 500 yards across a canyon. I’m not seeing how OnX is going to help you harvest an animal. Cameras in general could help you pattern wildlife at feeding areas and water holes. Cell cameras advantage is you can leave them for months without actually having to go in and leave scent behind pulling a SD card, get picture in a few minutes.
At the end of the day you can pass all the laws you want, but you’re mostly just hurting the ethical law-abiding citizens. If you’re an ethical hunter and want to use a thermal imaging device to shoot predators find a wounded or lost animal, you want to use cameras great. At the end of the day we need to be promoting hunting not hindering hunting. We are loosing hunters and more laws, rules and regulations aren’t going to promote any.
Also may I add Cell cameras and Thermal Imaging wide use started pretty much the same time about 10 years ago.

God Bless America
Salute our Veterans

 

[IDMONK]

I guess that’s one way to look at it.

 

[OrangeMan73]

Stop the Madness!!!
Poachers will be poachers, just like criminals will be criminals regardless of what laws are in place. More laws that only affect law-abiding citizens and gives law enforcement another tool to harass law-abiding citizens. If you’re an ethical hunter you know using thermal imaging to locate wildlife, other than predators is wrong. If you’re an ethical predator hunter you’re not going to shoot that big buck you seen while predator hunting at night. If you’re an ethical hunter you’re not going to shoot that big buck with your headlights beside the road. If you’re an ethical hunter you’re not going to shoot that big buck in the wrong unit. The benefits of thermal imaging as a whole saves more prey by killing more predators than you could possibly ever could do in daylight hours. OnX has only helped me stay an ethical hunter by letting me know I’m still on public land and retrieve an animal I shot 500 yards across a canyon. I’m not seeing how OnX is going to help you harvest an animal. Cameras in general could help you pattern wildlife at feeding areas and water holes. Cell cameras advantage is you can leave them for months without actually having to go in and leave scent behind pulling a SD card, get picture in a few minutes.
At the end of the day you can pass all the laws you want, but you’re mostly just hurting the ethical law-abiding citizens. If you’re an ethical hunter and want to use a thermal imaging device to shoot predators find a wounded or lost animal, you want to use cameras great. At the end of the day we need to be promoting hunting not hindering hunting. We are loosing hunters and more laws, rules and regulations aren’t going to promote any.
Also may I add Cell cameras and Thermal Imaging wide use started pretty much the same time about 10 years ago.

God Bless America
Salute our Veterans

Well said. When it just becomes personal attacks against you, then you know there's nothing left to argue with.

 

[Big Sky Guy]

the irony wasn't lost on me either.

good critique on the guests too.

This is the character of integrity when you can critically examine yourself and platform, kudos and respect to you Robby.

I wouldn’t have hunted many of the spots I have without OnX. My wife also works for the company (great btw) so there is the aspect of provision for us there as well. I moved and began hunting in the west in 2015, so OnX is all I know. I used a compass and paper maps when working for USFS but we were never close to private land and the convenience of a camera, map and comm device+computer is not lost on me. Having been here that long I now understand how guys get frustrated with an app “spot burning” something they may have taken years or even decades to find that new hunters can find in an hour escouting at home. There is zero excuse for unknowingly trespassing now in 2026, it’s such an affordable, easy to use app.

I do think prudent to have these honest discussions and see it as a shifting baseline. OnX and similar apps for example, are now here to stay. Scopes are here to stay. Rangefinders are here to stay. Once they are adopted by the majority of the hunting public, for better or for worse, I don’t think you can go back. So, in the case of thermals, drones and thermal drones hopefully it’s not too late but do see it difficult to enforce so may only hurt the ethical hunters in the long run, but I think the same can be said about a lot of hunting regulations.

Even if they are ultimately legalized and certain folks don’t get “their way” with limiting tech at least folks are having conversations and aware about the direction of hunting and how technology is likely impacting that. Hard to know what will be easily obtainable in another decade. AI powered mountain glassing that will identify animals by species? Seems far fetched but realistic at the same time.

 

[OrangeMan73]

This is the character of integrity when you can critically examine yourself and platform, kudos and respect to you Robby.

I wouldn’t have hunted many of the spots I have without OnX. My wife also works for the company (great btw) so there is the aspect of provision for us there as well. I moved and began hunting in the west in 2015, so OnX is all I know. I used a compass and paper maps when working for USFS but we were never close to private land and the convenience of a camera, map and comm device+computer is not lost on me. Having been here that long I now understand how guys get frustrated with an app “spot burning” something they may have taken years or even decades to find that new hunters can find in an hour escouting at home. There is zero excuse for unknowingly trespassing now in 2026, it’s such an affordable, easy to use app.

I do think prudent to have these honest discussions and see it as a shifting baseline. OnX and similar apps for example, are now here to stay. Scopes are here to stay. Rangefinders are here to stay. Once they are adopted by the majority of the hunting public, for better or for worse, I don’t think you can go back. So, in the case of thermals, drones and thermal drones hopefully it’s not too late but do see it difficult to enforce so may only hurt the ethical hunters in the long run, but I think the same can be said about a lot of hunting regulations.

Even if they are ultimately legalized and certain folks don’t get “their way” with limiting tech at least folks are having conversations and aware about the direction of hunting and how technology is likely impacting that. Hard to know what will be easily obtainable in another decade. AI powered mountain glassing that will identify animals by species? Seems far fetched but realistic at the same time.

Also well said, appreciate this post. AI is likely gonna blow the lid off all other technologies once its figured out how it's applied. Given that that one is not actually be readily used or implemented right now (AFAIK), maybe that's a better place to put focused efforts.

 

[One300wsm]

Wow, I can’t even imagine the mental gymnastics it took to come up with this comment. The last several thousand years of human history proves you wrong in every possible way. We are all now dumber after reading that comment, I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul.

I never claimed to be "intellectual serpent".
But it pretty obvious I have more common sense than you. Unlike you I respect law-abiding citizens right to choose how they spend their free time and if it’s going out with a thermal scope and shooting predators or putting up cameras have at it. This conversation and pushing your views on others is basically what’s coming out of California and into your State. You better be careful trying to push outlawing something that hunters have been doing for 10 years. It won’t be long until the liberals take over your state, and you’ll see first hand how it feels to have someone pushing to take away your right to hunt or own a gun. It’s already here in my state took less than a month. Pretty sure there’s a better alternative than just outlawing hunting tech and they are really good at wording that so they can comeback and take something else later. Watch what you ask for.

God Bless America
And our Veterans who fought and died for our country, freedoms and rights, as in but not limited to bear arms and choose we salute you

 

[IdahoJoe29]

I never claimed to be "intellectual serpent".
But it pretty obvious I have more common sense than you. Unlike you I respect law-abiding citizens right to choose how they spend their free time and if it’s going out with a thermal scope and shooting predators or putting up cameras have at it. This conversation and pushing your views on others is basically what’s coming out of California and into your State. You better be careful trying to push outlawing something that hunters have been doing for 10 years. It won’t be long until the liberals take over your state, and you’ll see first hand how it feels to have someone pushing to take away your right to hunt or own a gun. It’s already here in my state took less than a month. Pretty sure there’s a better alternative than just outlawing
Hunting Tech and they are really good at wording that so they can comeback and take something else later. Watch what you ask for.

God Bless America
And our Veterans who fought and died for our country, freedoms and rights, as in but not limited to bear arms and choose we salute you

Having a debate back and forth is a far cry from what you just described.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[IDMONK]

I never claimed to be "intellectual serpent".
But it pretty obvious I have more common sense than you. Unlike you I respect law-abiding citizens right to choose how they spend their free time and if it’s going out with a thermal scope and shooting predators or putting up cameras have at it. This conversation and pushing your views on others is basically what’s coming out of California and into your State. You better be careful trying to push outlawing something that hunters have been doing for 10 years. It won’t be long until the liberals take over your state, and you’ll see first hand how it feels to have someone pushing to take away your right to hunt or own a gun. It’s already here in my state took less than a month. Pretty sure there’s a better alternative than just outlawing hunting tech and they are really good at wording that so they can comeback and take something else later. Watch what you ask for.

God Bless America
And our Veterans who fought and died for our country, freedoms and rights, as in but not limited to bear arms and choose we salute you

Just to be clear, no one is talking about thermal hunting for predators, as I understand it these new laws do not pertain to that. It’s just for ungulate species (deer, elk, sheep, pronghorn, ect. ) I think we can handle folks not using equipment that makes deer and elk lose their ability to hide without becoming flaming liberals. I personally respect the animals I persue and hope these new laws are enacted. Every other western state already have these same laws on the books. Hope to see you in the hills my friend and best of luck to you.

 

[IDVortex]

Personally (this is a personal decision, not trying to make it sound like its what morally should be acceptable, due to it could or is flawed.) I support the use thermals in predator hunting, game recovery. I also use to think it would be okay for what ID allows now with handheld. But with the changing of thermals tech and the cost of very good quailty dropping fairly quickly, I Personally dont think we should allow them anymore besides predator management. But, I also agree with WeiserBucks on this part. Why are we adding more laws if we cant fully enforce the ones we do have? Yes, theyre enforced, but not enough, or more of, we do  not have LE to help enforce what we do have.

Besides ISP working on getting a pay raise, we need to work on getting our FG cops a raise to, open up more spots with the department to get more officers out there, let's get the whole department setup to enforce things first, before we keep adding laws to the point nothing is really enforced unless it benefits someone.

Drones? No, they shouldnt be used unless for a  company that does animal recovery.

 

[One300wsm]

Just to be clear, no one is talking about thermal hunting for predators, as I understand it these new laws do not pertain to that. It’s just for ungulate species (deer, elk, sheep, pronghorn, ect. ) I think we can handle folks not using equipment that makes deer and elk lose their ability to hide without becoming flaming liberals. I personally respect the animals I persue and hope these new laws are enacted. Every other western state already have these same laws on the books. Hope to see you in the hills my friend and best of luck to you.

Thanks for clarifying,
Banning and Regulating are two different things, thread header says banning hunting tech it should read regulating hunting tech. Basically everything we use is hunting tech right down to your Gore Tex boots and Marino wool socks, last time I checked that’s technology and they’re definitely going to give you an advantage probably #1. If it’s between the Gore Tex boots and OnX I’m picking the boots. I don’t even own a thermal and don’t have any cameras. No regulation is going to stop a criminal from doing whatever they’re going to do and in the process probably just make more criminals. I know if I paid $5000 for one been using it for 10 years as intended and G/F banned it, I’m now a criminal. Why can’t we all just get along and go hunting life is short no fun intended . I hope to see you on the mountain also my friend and good luck to you all so be safe.

And God Bless America
And our Veterans that fought for our freedom and rights to go hunting!! We salute you