Humans have had an unfair advantage when hunting animals ever since we first started sharpening sticks tens of thousands of years ago, and our advantages have only gotten stronger thanks to the unending progress of technology. These days, some hunters have even turned to drones to track game from above without frightening them away, but now it seems that the government of British Columbia has decided that using drones to hunt is taking things a bit too far.

“Certainly it doesn’t fall within the realm of fair chase that should be conducted when hunting,” said Al Martin, director of strategic initiatives for the B.C. Wildlife Federation (via CBC News). “[Using drones] provides an unfair advantage to a group of hunters that equip themselves with this sort of technology.”

According to the Boone and Crocket Club, a hunting club founded by Theodore Roosevelt which first used the phrase “fair chase,” the term refers to “the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild, native North American big game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper advantage over such animals.”

Thanks to British Columbia’s new law, not only can hunters themselves no longer use drones to track or tag game in British Columbia, but they also cannot use information gained from third parties using drones. These new regulations were added to an existing law that forbids the use of helicopters for hunting. A violation of this law comes with a minimum fine of $2,500 CAD ($1891.07 USD), but offenders could receive a fine as high as $250,000 and up to two years in jail.

Photo by jans canon