Colorado deer hunting season

When a drone flies into its airspace, Deer Trail will consider it an act of war.

You can only shoot at drones flying lower than 1, 000 feet.

Unless your life is in danger, you can only fire up to three shots at a drone.

Some at the August meeting thought the drone-hunting ordinance might be a good idea. Others used words like "stupid" and "a joke" to describe a proposal that they worried might become an embarrassment.

To many, that's exactly what it has become.

Out in the loping, golden plains about an hour's drive east of Denver, this little town of lonesome homes and chain-link fences looks a lot like the other hubs that sit astride Interstate 70 as traffic streaks toward Kansas: Blink, and you miss it.

Then things in Deer Trail (population about 550) changed when the town's trustees split 3 to 3 on the ordinance, automatically kicking the proposal to the residents for a vote. In doing so, the trustees managed to garner national media attention for Deer Trail at a time when drones are poised to become a part of everyday life.

Mention the word "drone" and locals hang their heads or throw up their hands. The idea is either a money-raiser for the town, a dangerous joke, or — according to its creator — a stand against the federal government, corporations and drug dealers.

"I have declared the sovereignty and the supremacy of the airspace of my town, " said Steel, 49. "This is an act of sedition, and I proudly state that."