Radio's

[Fridaythe13th]

I just seen the topic of communications. What state's is it legal for using hand held radios? And when I say legal, meaning telling someone there is a elk coming your way. or aiding in taking a elk. Or is it a gray area.

[wawhitey]

Im not aware of any laws against it in washington, and we have laws against just about everything. Ive thought about getting some radios for a long time now but the vast majority of my hunting is solo, and i feel like they might screw you over. Say youre up close and personal with an elk or deer or whatever, just waiting for a shot opportunity, and you get hailed on your radio.... opportunity gone

[Indian Summer]

You hit the nail on the head when you said to give the location of the animal. That is a key point. It is not legal in Montana. Neither is a phone. Neither is using a trail cam there for the same reason which I think is ridiculous because it doesn't tell you where the animal is.... only where it was.

It is legal to use radios for anything you want in Wyoming.

Those are the only 2 states I know the laws for other than Pa where it is also legal.

[Fridaythe13th]

I know in Minnesota you can not use radios for hunting except for coyote and then you have to have a piece of paper signed form the the DNR and it only good for 3 years.

[wawhitey]

You hit the nail on the head when you said to give the location of the animal. That is a key point. It is not legal in Montana. Neither is a phone. Neither is using a trail cam there for the same reason which I think is ridiculous because it doesn't tell you where the animal is.... only where it was.



It is legal to use radios for anything you want in Wyoming.

Those are the only 2 states I know the laws for other than Pa where it is also legal.

Wow so montana game department makes laws about what you can say on your phone?? Thats absurd

Trail cam law is dumb too. I have 23 of them and i honestly just have them as more of a hobby to keep me occupied outside of the season than as a tool for hunting. I put them places where i already know there are lots of game animals. At times i put them where i have no intention of hunting, just to get good pics.

[under H2O hunter]

You can use your cell phone to talk to your buddies in Colorado letting them know " WHAT YOU SEEN" As far as radios go I would cation anyone from saying " HEY THERE ARE ELK RIGHT HERE or RIGHT THERE" as the DOW considers this "Herding animals" I have spoken to them about this before. They monitor radio traffic but they are not able to monitor cell phone traffic. So if you have cell phone coverage I would recommend you use a cell phone to text or make a call. If you use a radio make sure to use a past tense verbiage. Good luck

[WapitiTalk1]

Legal in both ID and WA.

[Rangerz]

Legal in NV. If you are worried about the noise, many have headsets or you can just turn it off.

[Elkduds]

Now that the legality question has been covered, let's consider ethics. Ethics are those personal laws we follow, regardless of legal rules. IMO, using radios to pursue or take game reduces fair chase, so I don't. Besides, a radio is pointless when I hunt alone. Hand signals? You bet! Smoke signals? Prolly not, in droughted CO.

[Fridaythe13th]

We did carry radio's but was to check in, we turn them on at the top of the hour in mid day ( 11 Am 2 Pm) to see if anyone needed help or if they got one. If possible of course. This year in the short time I hunted I never got a response, everybody was to far away. The day we did get a bull we had the radio on from 12:30 to 7 that evening, no answer. Everyone was hunting, which is good.
The 1st year I hunted CO there was a group of 3-4 people calling out a bull. I herd shots in the distance turned my radio on to see if we had gotten one. The guys were telling each other there is a bull coming up the mountain a minute later more shots, radio: bull going down the mountain more shots, bull got away, or so it sounded like they missed.

[WapitiTalk1]

Honestly, my radios are normally only used for "check-ins" or God forbid, emergencies. I'll carry one in my pack and give my partner (or another team) one of them. If we're in radio distance, and not in the heat of elk battle, they get turned on at the top of the hour by whomever has one. We can check in that way and see what's going on and discuss each other's plans. They're nice for after dark, "hey are you OK down" there check-ups also.

Looks like you and I were typing at the same time Friday

[pointysticks]

i love them. but i dont use them for any real hunting.

i dont think it helps much. you might get a useless statement like : "it's right there in the bush in front of you, by the big grayish rock"

hmm..yea right. i love them (Rino) for letting my hunting party know where i am.

[Indian Summer]

I should be a little clearer on the trail cam laws in Montana. You can use them but not when hunting season is open. ANY hunting season. I agree as do many that it's ridiculous. Same goes for their "no lighted nocks" law. Why not?

I'll tell you one very valuable use for radios: This year my partner had filled his tag before me. So he was at "The Glassing Tree" just watching. I shot an elk. Double lunged it and broke the off side shoulder. Those buggers don't always die easy and it ran off like nothing had happened. So naturally I followed up looking because I knew the shot felt good. After a bit I got on the radio and asked if he saw anything. He said absolutely... one of them was staggering bad. Then two elk went into a little draw and only one came out. The brush was really high and you pretty much had to step on an elk to find it. He ended up walking me right to the downed animal. Uphill.... higher..... ok right. Now downhill by that lone pine. Ok now sidehill straight back to the left. I was pretty surprised when I looked up and there... 10 feet away was a dead elk. I had walked past it a couple times. Without that radio I guarantee I would never have found it.