An infrared thermal imaging camera captures a deer in the woods at an unspecified location, showing the grass at 45.8 F and the deer's fur at 78.2 F. The camera brand has been cropped out of the original image. (license link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en)
Mark Taylor via Wikimedia Commons
It’s morning in a hunting blind at the Santiam Valley Ranch, a private duck hunting club near Turner, Oregon. It’s cold and wet. But it’s not hunting season, so Mike Totey isn’t shooting.
“I remember going out with my dad and uncles and family friends before I was even hunting,” Totey says. “I cherish those memories. You know, I lost my Dad 10 years ago and he was one of my favorite hunting partners.”
Totey is the conservation director of the Oregon Hunters Association.
As the cost of thermal imaging cameras has dropped, from thousands of dollars to about $200, Totey says, more hunters have started using them to find deer or elk. But officials are cracking down on hunters using the technology.
Pointing to a tangle of blackberry bushes less than 10 feet away, Totey explains that the benefits are obvious.
“There are pheasant and quail out there,” he says. “Upland birds, tight under cover. If you had thermal imaging, maybe you could find those over in that thick brush there.”
A few years ago, the state made hunting with thermal imaging cameras illegal. Totey says the Oregon Hunters Association agrees with the ban.
“They evolved pretty quickly and started getting used in the hunting community and people were like, ‘You know, I think that might be crossing a line,’” he says. “For some people it crossed a line much sooner than others. Others might say, ‘I don’t think that line has been crossed at all and I don’t understand why I can’t use it.’”
Oregon Hunters Association Conservation Director Mike Totey, pictured in Turner, Ore., on March 12, 2025, says thermal imaging in hunting is controversial — some see it as ethical, others don't, with opinions varying on whether it crosses a line.
Kristian Foden-Vencil / OPB
What would happen if someone brought a thermal camera to Totey’s hunting blind?
“We’d tell him to basically take it back to the truck. We can’t have that out here,” Totey says. “Just because you’re not the one holding the device, doesn’t mean you’re not benefiting from it or using it.”
In December, the Oregon State Police and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife arrested 13 hunters in Clackamas County and seized 14 infrared devices allegedly used for hunting.
“We’ve been receiving a lot of complaints about thermal users involved in hunting,” said Lt. Clint Galusha with the Oregon State Police.
Thermal imaging equipment and rifle seized during the arrest of 13 hunters in December 2024.
Oregon State Police
He’s one of 128 wildlife enforcement officers in the state. He said technology is constantly evolving to make hunting easier, whether it be rifle scopes with clearer glass that automatically calculate range, duck decoys that move like the real thing, or just clothes that are warmer and lighter.
“I think in general, technology, as it increases, we have to look at the regulations and how they affect ethical hunting and fair chase,” Galusha said.
Lt. Clint Galusha of Oregon State Police emphasizes that evolving technology, from advanced rifle scopes to realistic decoys, requires ongoing regulation to ensure ethical hunting and fair chase practices.
Kristian Foden-Vencil / OPB
The Oregon Hunters Association defines ethical hunting and fair chase as the sportsmanlike and lawful taking of a wild animal in a manner that doesn’t give the hunter an unfair advantage. Unfair means the deer or elk or bird should have a reasonable chance of escape.
The OHA wants fair chase hunters to understand that hunting is not only about what is legal, but also about what is honorable. The group said technology shouldn’t reduce the skill of hunting to simple shooting.
Brian Wolfer with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said poaching with illegal tech affects other hunters, because it reduces the population of the species.
“We are setting the hunting season relative to the population, and so you have that reduction in opportunity for lawful hunters,” Wolfer said.
There are lots of longstanding technological prohibitions for hunters. For example, they’re not supposed to use lights at night, because it robs prey of the ability to use darkness to escape.
“We don’t allow people to use scopes that electronically link with range finders, or phones that would automatically adjust point of aim, and things like that,” Wolfer said.
But not everyone follows the law, and laws change significantly from state to state. Galusha said people flout the laws for many reasons.
“Some shoot for the thrill of killing. They’ll leave them and the meat would be wasted,” Galusha said. “Some harvest it and give to others, their family or friends. Sometimes it’s just cutting off the head, and taking the head and antlers as a trophy.”
Fines for poaching in Oregon can reach $50,000, and jail time is an option. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has a tip line to report unsporting conduct at 1-800-452-7888.
The Clackamas County District Attorney’s office has filed several different wildlife charges against the 13 hunters arrested in December.
Oregon State Police are not releasing more information at this time citing an ongoing investigation.