Unbelievable--Internet hunting

[TomBow]

International Edition | fromL CNN

This was forwarded to me via CNN.

That moose may soon be just a mouse click away

Internet hunting idea has wildlife officials up in arms

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HOUSTON, Texas (Reuters) -- Hunters soon may be able to sit at their computers and blast away at animals on a Texas ranch via the Internet, a prospect that has state wildlife officials up in arms.

The Web site already offers target practice with a .22 caliber rifle and could soon let hunters shoot at deer, antelope and wild pigs, site creator John Underwood said on Tuesday.

Texas officials are not quite sure what to make of Underwood's Web site, but may tweak existing laws to make sure Internet hunting does not get out of hand.

"This is the first one I've seen," said Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wildlife director Mike Berger. "The current state statutes don't cover this sort of thing."

Underwood, an estimator for a San Antonio, Texas auto body shop, has invested $10,000 to build a platform for a rifle and camera that can be remotely aimed on his 330-acre (133-hectare) southwest Texas ranch by anyone on the Internet anywhere in the world.

The idea came last year while viewing another Web site on which cameras posted in the wild are used to snap photos of animals.

"We were looking at a beautiful white-tail buck and my friend said 'If you just had a gun for that.' A little light bulb went off in my head," he said.

Internet hunting could be popular with disabled hunters unable to get out in the woods or distant hunters who cannot afford a trip to Texas, Underwood said.

Berger said state law only covers "regulated animals" such as native deer and birds and cannot prevent Underwood from offering Internet hunts of "unregulated" animals such as non-native deer that many ranchers have imported and wild pigs.

He has proposed a rule that will come up for public discussion in January that anyone hunting animals covered by state law must be physically on site when they shoot.

Berger expressed reservations about remote control hunting, but noted that humans have always adopted new technologies to hunt.

"First it was rocks and clubs, then we sharpened it and put it on a stick. Then there was the bow and arrow, black powder, smokeless power and optics," Berger said. "Maybe this is the next technological step out there."

Underwood, 39, said he will offer animal hunting as soon as he gets a fast Internet connection to his remote ranch that will enable hunters to aim the rifle quickly at passing animals.

He said an attendant would retrieve shot animals for the shooters, who could have the heads preserved by a taxidermist. They could also have the meat processed and shipped home, or donated to animal orphanages.

Fair Chase? Nope. Hunting? Nope. Live Video Game? sounds like. A really, really stupid idea IMO.

[Jmnhunter]

hey tom, what is the pic supposed to be?

JN

[BDR]

Pretty sad to call this hunting. And even more sad is to use the guise it could be popular with disabled hunters. There are legit org. that cater to the disabled.

[B. Amish]

i suppose internet fishing will be the next thing...

this isn't hunting, if you want to shoot something you see on your computer screen, then buy one of them deer hunting games

[TomBow]

Jmn--sorry, the pic was just extra dump on the CNN HSOforum page. Not related to this story.

[nuts]

I agree with B. Amish - buy a video game.

I know I sure would be proud of the mount when it came back. People would ask "Where'd you get that?" and then I could puff out my chest and say "In the den...with my laptop!"

I shake my head...

[bigbucks]

Although it "sounds" fun, it's ridiculous & should be outlawed. You're talking about taking an animal when you really aren't even there. What happens if you make a bad shot? Suddenly some other guy's cleaning up your mess.

I can just see how it would get exploited even more. One acre pens with foliage (sp) in front of the fences & a basically tame deer walking past the remote controlled gun at a specified time. Maybe they could install conveyors under the earth colored floor, err I mean ground, of the pen that would then take the dead critter out of the pen into a nearby processing room.

I agree buy a video game.