Wildlife agencies have been using fake deer—from basic to elaborate models—to catch poachers for years, but South Carolina’s Department of Natural Resources is now on the cutting edge of technology thanks to a donation from the Quality Deer Management Association.
QDMA’s Foothills Branch recently donated a robotic deer replica to their state’s DNR, complete with tail twitching, head bobbing, and a moving front leg. The 22-pound robot is covered with real deer skin and sports removable antlers to pose as either a buck or doe.
The branch began saving money in order to fund the project during the summer of 2015, including funds raised by the branch’s August 27 banquet. Members reached out to the SCDNR to see if the agency had any requests for needed equipment, to which the department responded with the robot.
The deer is used to catch poachers in the act of shooting deer illegally. When a report is made to the DNR, officers can set the robot in an observable area near the suspected poaching site. If a hunter tries to shoot the deer, officers can immediately respond.
The robot is a design of Custom Robotic Wildlife, a Mosinee, Wisconsin, a company specializing in blending wildlife taxidermy with mechanization. Owner Brian Wolsiegel has created the robots for more than 13 years. The products have been used in 48 states in the US and all of the providences in Canada.
Combatting poaching is one task for the robots, but CRW also provides hunters with a moving target for practice shots. The On Target Motion Systems, tracked archery targets shot at many 3D archery competitions, are one of the products CRW makes.
This video shows a CRW robotic deer in motion.
Video by Custom Robotic Wildlife via YouTube
Cover Image: SCDNR