DEER TRAIL, Colo. — Residents in the small eastern Colorado town of Deer Trail went to the polls Tuesday and voted to reject a measure that would have allow them to shoot down areal drones.

There were 181 votes and the proposal and 73 percent of the voters shot down the idea of shooting down drones.

Mayor Frank Fields had been candid about the drone hunting proposal, saying he knows the idea seemed crazy to some of his constituents.

He hoped by charging $25 for a permit, he would be able to bring his town some of the money it desperately needs.

The voters also voted the mayor out of office.

“Let this town make a little money, otherwise it’s going to sit here and die,” he said.

The proposal was not centered on a conspiracy theory that the government is spying on Deer Trail residents.

Fields said he doesn’t believe drones are flying above his town at the moment. Instead he envisions a festival where people would pay for the right to partake in this 21st-century hunting.

Not everyone in town was on board. Many Deer Trail residents have said the idea is making the farming community with less than 350 registered voters look like a national joke.

“If this was such a great idea, why haven’t you heard of any other little town across the United States saying this is a great idea, let’s do it?” one resident asked.