www.cnn.com/2004/US/11/16/life.hunting.reut/index.html
HOUSTON, Texas (Reuters) -- Hunters soon may be able to sit at their comp uters and blast away at animals on a Texas ranch via the Internet, a pro spect that has state wildlife officials up in arms. 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 o ut of hand. "This is the first one I've seen," said Texas Parks and Wildlife Departme nt wildlife director Mike Berger. "The current state statutes don't cove r this sort of thing." Underwood, an estimator for a San Antonio, Texas auto body shop, has inve sted $10,000 to build a platform for a rifle and camera that can be remo tely 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 p osted in the wild are used to snap photos of animals. 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, Unde rwood 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 im ported 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 tha t 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 op tics," Berger said. Underwood, 39, said he will offer animal hunting as soon as he gets a fas t Internet connection to his remote ranch that will enable hunters to ai m the rifle quickly at passing animals. He said an attendant would retrieve shot animals for the shooters, who co uld have the heads preserved by a taxidermist. They could also have the meat processed and shipped home, or donated to animal orphanages.
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