LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — They're fast, powerful, and useful. For years, drones have been used to capture sky-high video or conduct home inspections. Others across the country are using drones to help hunters track down wounded deer. And one Pennsylvania man is in hot water for doing just that.
Downingtown resident Joshua Wingenroth runs Wingy Drone Services, a company offering deer recovery on its website.
On December 9, court records show Wingenroth was operating on Welsh Mountain Nature Preserve in Lancaster County when Pennsylvania Game Wardens seized his drone and issued a citation stating, "The defendant did unlawfully operate a small unmanned aircraft system in search of game or wildlife."
He could face hefty fines and up to three months in jail.
Wingenroth is the first person in Pennsylvania to be cited for using a drone in hunting, according to the State Game Commission.
A Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesperson stood by the agency's actions: "Drones are prohibited electronic devices that cannot be used in hunting, which includes tracking. The drone was seized as evidence and citations were issued for the laws that were violated."
Finding a dead or wounded deer with a drone is legal in states like Ohio, where Mike Yoder's company Drone Deer Recovery operates.
Wingenroth's services are listed on the Drone Deer Recovery webpage. In a recent YouTube video addressing Wingenroth's case, Yoder claimed enforcement is inconsistent.
"They have discretion on how they want to interpret the law and one warden can say, 'Fine, go do it' and then the next is like, 'Nope, gonna lock him up, gonna take his drone,'" said Mike Yoder of Drone Deer Recovery.
"Unfortunately, right now there seems to be a lot of questions depending on which game warden is interpreting the law," added Republican State Senator Jarrett Coleman who represents parts of Bucks and Lehigh counties.
Senator Coleman first heard of the issue while watching a different video from a drone operator in another state.
"He told the hunter; I can't tell you where it is though. Here it is, you shot it. Here's a video of it. Here it is laying in the field. It's dead, but you're going to have to waste this deer," he said.
He soon learned about Wingenroth's case.
"The game commission set up a sting operation to find this guy and exhausted resources to do so," Coleman said.
Now, he’s drafting legislation to change the law.
"We have laws that allow for dogs to be used in the recovery," he said. "I just think that in today's day and age with drone technology the way it is, there's no good reason for us to waste any game, especially if we've exhausted every other avenue to retrieve the deer."
Senator Coleman said the new legislation will focus solely on allowing drones to recover dead or wounded deer specifically. He said using drones to track, spotlight or otherwise scope out and actively hunt deer would still be illegal and result in a citation under the proposed bill.
Wingenroth plead not guilty to the citations. Both he and his lawyer said they could not comment on pending litigation.
A hearing for this case has not been scheduled yet.