New law limits technology when it comes to hunting big game animals in Idaho

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BOISE, Idaho — Governor Brad Little signed HB 939 into law during the legislative session. This new law attempts to balance technological advances with fair-chase ethics to keep harvest numbers from getting too high.

The law prevents hunters from using thermal imaging, night vision, drones, and transmitting trail cameras to hunt big game animals and game birds from August 30 to December 31.

WATCH| Check out the video below to learn more about the law

New law limits technology when it comes to hunting big game animals in Idaho

“Our goal is to maintain traditional Idaho hunting as we have it now, and we have it pretty good,” said Roger Phillips with Idaho Fish and Game. “If we start seeing those harvest rates creep up, that could mean shorter seasons, that could mean fewer tags, and it could mean directions that we don’t want to go.”

The law’s origin dates back to 2024, when Idaho Fish and Game commissioned a Hunting and Advanced Technology working group called HAT. More than 750 people applied to be in the working group, and in the end, 23 people with various backgrounds met eight different times to discuss technology and hunting.

“They were unanimous on both the drones and the thermal imaging,” said Phillips. “There was some split on the cameras, it went through our rule-making process, and then it ended up in the legislature. They looked at what we were trying to accomplish, and they had some concerns.”

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The legislature exempted wolf and mountain lion hunting from technology restrictions, eliminated the ban on using technology for retrieving game and monitoring traps, and also made it so restrictions don’t apply to monitoring livestock and private property.