Hunter Tech: Are Improvements in Technology a Good or Bad Thing?

Jack Tierney

From the first flint-knapped arrowheads to today’s precision-guided broadheads, hunter tech has always evolved. Every generation of hunters has pushed the boundaries, trading in longbows for compounds, iron sights for high-end optics, and heavy, lead slugs for ballistic-tipped rounds. The latest evolution? Drones, thermal scopes, night vision and cellular-enabled trail cameras.

Some old-school purists grumble that this kind of hunter tech takes the challenge out of things. Of course, they said the same thing when scoped rifles replaced open sights and when rangefinders took the guesswork out of shot distance. But the truth is, these advancements don’t just make hunting easier—they can actually make us better. Used responsibly, they make us more efficient, better at managing game, and more capable of recovering every animal we shoot.

So, should hunters be afraid of technology? Definitely not. The better question is: How do we use it correctly?

Scout Smarter, Hunt Smarter

A big part of hunting is knowing your game. That used to mean burning boot leather—hiking ridge after ridge, checking rub lines, and sitting in a stand a month before the season opened, quietly watching. Today, a drone can do the same work in a fraction of the time. With a quick flight over a field or tree line, hunters can get a bird’s-eye view of game movement, bedding areas, and trails. Thermal imaging takes it even further, revealing heat signatures where animals are hiding in thick brush. And trail cams that send digital images to your phone via cell signal the second they are taken maintain constant vigilance on key travel routes and food plots.

Game managers such as Pat Gaffney at Whitetail Consultants in Minnesota and Wisconsin use drones and drone-mounted thermal to help landowners determine herd populations on their land, identify key habitat features and develop custom hunting and management plans for properties.

“As a tool, the drone and thermal capabilities give me the ability to survey large tracks of ground in real time,” Gaffney says. “I can now survey large tracts in a matter of days versus a matter of months utilizing past strategies.”

Of course, that means using the technologies before the season starts for legitimate analysis and planning is typically fine. Using one during season to scout fields and determine if a buck is in one so you can sneak up and take a shot is outright illegal in some states and would be determined to be highly unethical by many hunters regardless of where they are.

Recovering More Game with Hunter Tech

According to an article on Drone Deer Recovery, hunters are increasingly using drones to track wounded game—reducing waste and ensuring more ethical recoveries. It’s no different really than using a dog to track a wounded deer and can even be more effective in some scenarios. Let’s face it, every serious hunter has been there: you take a shot, and instead of a clean kill, the deer bolts. You spend hours tracking, crawling on hands and knees looking for a blood trail that’s fading fast as night descends. Worst case? You never find the animal. It unfortunately happens. But with thermal-equipped drones, those odds get a whole lot better.

Outdoor Life reports that big game hunters in Idaho, who were surveyed by the Idaho Game & Fish Department, largely supported such technology as conventional optics, firearms, digital mapping and even ATVs and side-by-sides. But they “overwhelmingly” oppose the use of thermal, night vision and drones for the actual hunting of big game.

A New Era for Predator and Invasive Species Control

When it comes to predator and invasive species control, technology such as thermal optics and night vision become a full-blown game-changer. Coyotes, wild hogs, and other problem animals are wrecking deer herds, farmland, and livestock across the country. Night vision scopes and thermal imaging put hunters on equal footing, turning nighttime hunting into a far more effective operation. This type of hunter tech can be used in conjunction with a suppressed rifle and subsonic ammunition and a single hunter can take out multiple hogs or even predators in a single sit, where a normal gun shot or use of lights might alert other  nearby animals and send them scurrying.

In states where night hunting for coyotes and hogs is legal, thermal optics have undoubtedly improved success rates. More dead predators mean healthier deer populations and better crop success. That’s a win for everyone.

Fair Chase vs. Smart Hunting

Fair chase can be in the eyes of the beholder to some extent, and this is where things begin to get murky. Hunting has always been a challenge—that’s part of what makes it worth doing. Some argue that using drones, thermal imaging, and night vision takes the hunt out of hunting, crossing the line into an unfair advantage.

The Boone and Crockett Club’s fair chase principles emphasize giving animals a sporting chance and the organization has already banned the use of drones in taking any animal considered for their records. If a hunter uses a drone to pinpoint a buck’s exact location, especially one using thermal imaging at night so the hunter can go in the next morning, would that be fair? Most hunters would likely admit such a scenario wouldn’t sit right with them, while other hunters would say why not? The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation reports to date, 14 states (Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Idaho, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia) have banned the use of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), commonly referred to as drones. Meanwhile, according to The Truth About Guns, only eight states outright ban the use of thermal scopes (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon), but others limit what game it can be used for and when, largely limiting its use to predators, hogs and certain small game.

As technology keeps advancing, state wildlife agencies are scrambling to keep up. Kansas has been holding public meetings on whether to restrict night vision and thermal optics for coyote hunting. Discussions are taking place in other state game commission meetings as well. Hunters should have a say in where the line gets drawn. Regulation needs to be based on ethics and conservation, not an old-school, kneejerk resistance to change.

Hunter Tech Is a Tool—Not a Threat

For as long as humans have hunted, we’ve looked for ways to do things better. The bow replaced the spear. The rifle replaced the musket. And today, drones, thermal optics, and night vision are the latest step forward.

Some will always push back against new hunter tech. They did it when compound bows hit the scene and then crossbows. They are doing it still even as AR-style rifles become more common in hunt camps across the country. But history has proven one thing: technology, when used right, doesn’t ruin hunting—it makes us better hunters, which is ultimately the goal isn’t it? The real challenge isn’t whether we should use these tools—it’s how we use them and for what purpose that matters. Hunting evolves as have the tools we use to do it. Always has, always will. The key is making sure we keep it ethical, sustainable, and fair—not rejecting progress just because it’s new.

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