And Now, Drone Hunting Licenses!

13 Comments

by: Colorado Pols

7NEWS reports, and it's too awesome to not mention:

The small town of Deer Trail, Colorado is considering a bold move. The town board will be voting on an ordinance that would create drone hunting licenses and offer bounties for unmanned aerial vehicles.

Deer Trail resident, Phillip Steel, drafted the ordinance.

"We do not want drones in town," said Steel. "They fly in town, they get shot down." [Pols emphasis]

Deer Trail, Colorado, population 559, may be on to a kitschy new moneymaker in the form of a "drone hunting license." With distrust of the federal government at epidemic levels, such a "license" at $25 a pop could become a popular novelty item. Heck, we kind of want one ourselves.

[Deer Trail town clerk Kim] Oldfield said there's talk of promoting the ordinance as a novelty and, "Possibly hunting drones in a skeet, fun-filled festival. We’re the home of the world’s first rodeo, so we could [be] home of the world’s first drone hunt."

Frankly we love this, just as long as everyone remembers, as 7NEWS notes helpfully, that destroying federal government property, especially something as costly as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), is a big no-no. Also, Deer Trail may be way out in the country, but the town is technically within the boundaries of Arapahoe County–which is well-populated and might have the ability to sortie some drones right now. Or if not now then probably soon, since smaller UAVs are becoming popular with local law enforcement.

Above all, please remember that anything you fire into the air, for kicks or liberty, comes back down.

13 thoughts on “And Now, Drone Hunting Licenses!”

ajb says:

July 17, 2013 at 10:00 am

Oh great, a license to fire guns randomly in the air. What could possibly go wrong with that? As my mother said, "It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye."

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1. Diogenesdemar says:
  
  July 17, 2013 at 10:59 am
  
  … besides, ewewyone knows it's wewwy those wascally watemewons we should be wowwying about …
  
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  1. Diogenesdemar says:
    
    July 17, 2013 at 11:11 am
    
    s/b "… weawwy those wascawwy …"
    
    (… gawddam iPhone autocowwect!!!!!)
    
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davebarnes says:

July 17, 2013 at 12:37 pm

License – $25

ManPAD – more$

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Curmudgeon says:

July 17, 2013 at 12:44 pm

You know, I actually don't have a problem with the idea of shooting those damn things out of the sky. Mesa County has at least one, and I don't believe for one minute that it's up there our safety.

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DavidThi808 says:

July 17, 2013 at 7:41 pm

Sort-of on topic…

we exhibit at a couple of trade shows each year. I'm thinking of getting one of those indoor hobby drones and flying it around, with a banner that says "Property of the NSA." You think people would find it funny?

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1. Diogenesdemar says:
  
  July 17, 2013 at 8:41 pm
  
  Sure.
  
  … But, it'd be even funnier if you hire me to blow it out of the air!!
  
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mamajama55 says:

July 17, 2013 at 10:52 pm

According to a Maddow segment picked up from WGHG about Tyndall AFB in Florida, it turns out that drones have self-destruct mechanisms. So if our intrepid Deer Trail drone hunters actually shot a drone down, it would flame out somewhere unpredictable. Not a great plan in our Colorado wildfire season. Would one have drone hunting seasons?

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1. yameniye says:
  
  July 18, 2013 at 3:49 am
  
  That is a modified F4 (mean and fast, big thrill was sitting at the end of the runway when they took off using after burners) used as target practice. The AF could not find enough pilots to volunteer to fly one while being shot at. In Vietnam they could avoid a surface to air missle (usually).
  
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dwyer says:

July 18, 2013 at 2:29 am

Where do you think would be the safest place in the USA for terrorists to hide, safe from drones? Exactly.

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yameniye says:

July 18, 2013 at 3:50 am

They could offer a combo license too. Drone and UFO. Plenty of those in the Republican thinking.

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Gray in Mountains says:

July 18, 2013 at 8:47 am

Of course they're talking about licensing such a hunt with 12 ga. Not going to hit one with that. But, you may get photographed attempting and then you could bitch, whine and moan when the govt began investigating you

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ClubTwitty says:

July 19, 2013 at 2:01 pm

SURPRISE: FAA Doesn't Want People Shooting Drones

Not sure if a municipal hunting liscence would change that…

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